Japanese iPhone - hardware different so can't jailbreak?

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Japanese iPhone - different hardware so no jailbreak/unlock/tether?

iPhones in Japan are tied to the Softbank network and aren't able to be bought unlocked. I am living in Japan and about to buy an iPhone but would like to clarify the situation here before making the purchase.

Please excuse me if this thread should be in the "iPhone apps" section - I'm not sure which is most appropriate.

A number of people have told me that Japanese iPhones have some different hardware which means that many of the advantages of jailbreaking can't work on them.

I would really appreciate some help/advice/answers to any of the following:

1. Of course most of the time I'll be happy to use the Softbank network, but I occasionally travel overseas and would like to use the phone when in Australia, the UK and Asia. I have been reading that by Jailbreaking and installing Ultrasn0W this will allow an iPhone to be unlocked. Does anybody know if this strategy will work for a Japanese iPhone so I could use local sim cards when travelling?

2. Japanese iPhones have the shutter sound switched permanently on while taking photos, something I really hate. Will jailbreaking allow me to turn this sound off?

3. Similarly for tethering - are Japanese iPhones similar to those from other countries that I will be able to tether to my MacBook Air after jailbreaking?

Thanks in advance for any help.
 
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1. Yes, it will allow you to use the phone on most networks in these areas.
2. I'm not sure, but there are loads of fixes for little things available on Cydia, you may be able to find something that does this, though I can't say for sure.
3. Yes, you should be able to. There are lots of apps that make tethering a possiblity, a notable one I used to use on my 3G/3GS is PDANet, although there are many others, you should be able to see some on the Cydia homepage (once it's jailbroken).

Although I've not had a jailbroken iPhone since iOS 3, and I know iOS 4 jailbreaking is very complicated, so you'll have to take lots of care doing this, and remember it will void your warranty. Good luck :).
 
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iPhones in Japan are tied to the Softbank network and aren't able to be bought unlocked. I am living in Japan and about to buy an iPhone but would like to clarify the situation here before making the purchase.

Please excuse me if this thread should be in the "iPhone apps" section - I'm not sure which is most appropriate.

A number of people have told me that Japanese iPhones have some different hardware which means that many of the advantages of jailbreaking can't work on them.

I would really appreciate some help/advice/answers to any of the following:

1. Of course most of the time I'll be happy to use the Softbank network, but I occasionally travel overseas and would like to use the phone when in Australia, the UK and Asia. I have been reading that by Jailbreaking and installing Ultrasn0W this will allow an iPhone to be unlocked. Does anybody know if this strategy will work for a Japanese iPhone so I could use local sim cards when travelling?

2. Japanese iPhones have the shutter sound switched permanently on while taking photos, something I really hate. Will jailbreaking allow me to turn this sound off?

3. Similarly for tethering - are Japanese iPhones similar to those from other countries that I will be able to tether to my MacBook Air after jailbreaking?

Thanks in advance for any help.

I have an iPhone 3GS and have had my phone jailbroke and unlocked while with Softbank. You will only be able to unlock the phone if your baseband is old. I also have friends who have jailbroke/unlocked iPhone 4's, but again they are on an old baseband. If you just recently bought your iPhone 4, than unfortunately you won't be able to unlock your phone with ultrasn0w and use it in other countries.

There are several apps in Cydia that allow you to turn off the shutter sound.

You shouldn't have any issues with tethering to your macbook pro. I have an unlimited data plan with Softbank, so tethering to my macbook pro on a long train trip is nice.

Hope this info helps.
 
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At the present time, Ultrasn0w can only older iPhone4s with a baseband of 01.59.00 or older. If you got ahold of an older iPhone4 with the 4.1 or lower firmware which was never updated, you would be able to unlock it via Ultrasn0w. Ultrasn0w can not unlock newer iPhone4s which come from Apple with a 4.2+ firmware installed. (They come with a newer baseband installed.)

A future update to Ultrasn0w is in the works, but there is no ETA. Could be days, weeks, or months before a version is released that works on newer basebands.
 

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