iOs & iOs Apps (inc iPhone, iPad, iPod, iBrick)

nice nail polish Joe, have you been reliving your 'daft punk sent me fan mail' glory days?

and why the hell are you banging a screw with a hammer... it doesn't work like that.

If the iPhone has been on a contract with 02 for more than 12 months the 02 will unlock it for you, go to the website and fill out the form - if not Zipphone seems to do the trick

If the iPhone has been on a contract with 02 for more than 12 months the 02 will unlock it for you.

Really? that's fantastic to know, need to get a cheaper monthly limit as O2 being the tight wad they are, refuse to offer me some kind of disability plan.

Why would they?

because he's deaf?

I've been with two phone company; Orange and T-Mobile, I spoken to them about having a 'custom' plan to fit my need as I never used up my call, the only time I do is when the missus want to borrow my phone, and always going over my text limit.

They were good plan, 750 text with no call for £15 a month with Orange, and then T-Mobile with their 'disability plan' giving me 1000 text and 100 minutes call for £15, reasonably good plan.

O2 just look at me with disbelief as if I've done a poo on their mother's blossom and then ask for dessert when I asked them about it.

Ed it's the kind of thing that getting the RNID (or similar) to talk to them about would be a good idea- with a company like O2 anyone you could actually get to speak to will a) have no power whatsover, and b) will not give a flying fuck.

I've been with two phone company; Orange and T-Mobile, I spoken to them about having a 'custom' plan to fit my need as I never used up my call, the only time I do is when the missus want to borrow my phone, and always going over my text limit.

They were good plan, 750 text with no call for £15 a month with Orange, and then*** T-Mobile with their 'disability plan' giving me 1000 text and 100 minutes call for £15, reasonably good plan.***

O2 just look at me with disbelief as if I've done a poo on their mother's blossom and then ask for dessert when I asked them about it.

Wait, back up, for £15? T-mobile told me they didn't have a "disability plan" when I called the T-mobile disability team, and this what I got offered instead:
Flext 35 + web'n'walk (18 months) £34.04
Your plan includes:
web surfing and e-mails
Unlimited* internet browsing and email on the move.
£200
Your credit can be used up on UK calls, texts and picture messages. VAT saving: Your allowance and costs to call, text and send pictures have reduced and show on your bills.

RNID doesn't have any sort of mobile contracts, and I'm pretty sure they may been approached before, but they did do some reviews on some ugly phones.

Anyway, sorry, back to 02 3G Iphone.

Althought I wasn't forced to use O2 really, the unlocking option would be the easiest to just switch phone than trying to get O2 to give me the support I needed.

RNID barely have any kind of power, they can't even go against says Apple for not including subtitle in movies and such from the iTMS.

As a body they have almost no power, however as a body representing deaf people they should have quite a lot- how many deaf people are there in the UK?

I would imagine quite a lot, that's a lot of buying power if organised.

about 9 million give or take in the UK, however that included hard of hearing (i.e. old people with poor hearing).

The only way I can find out the number of profoundly deaf people is 7,500 based on statistic of those who use sign language as their first language, if we were to believe that number thought.

So 7,500 profoundly deaf people, one handset per person on say a £25 per person contract is £2,250,000 per year.

Obviously that is assuming that you would get all of the profoundly deaf to sign up, which is never going to happen, but it's a figure that is difficult to ignore I would say- and something that it would be worth one of the groups set up as advocates for the deaf to pursue.

Figures look more impressive if we take say half the nine million people as our sample size...

Perhaps you should preusade them for us then Damnit? :)

Ed - have you ever looked at a Dora phone - i just got my aunt one, they are specially designed to work for people who are partially deaf - they arent all that to look at but it has made a huge difference to my aunts ability to use a phone. Sorry if i am being well wide of the mark in recomending them!

http://www.matobmobile.co.uk/index.php?id=doro_phone_easy_410_gsm_mobile_phone_for_the_elderly

Ah it's nothing to do with the mobile at all, nearly all the mobile are perfectly fine for deaf people since the introduction of short message service, it's more than fine.

It's simply just O2 not having a 'disability plan' like other operator that's the problem, and being on the iPhone I'm stuck with them paying a silly charge for 500 minutes call.

Thanks for the suggestion thought.

If you hunt for iphone unlocking there's loads of advice on how to get yourself out of the 02 handcuffs.

Neil, been busy, but I'll try and call tomorrow.

I used RedSnow on my iPhone 2G, which also works on the newer iPhone 3G. What usually happens is the newest firmware isn't unlockable because they're still working it out. The best thing to do is find the newest firmware that is unlockable and download that, install it (essentially down-grading from newest) then unlock it. It's all quite simple, if you still need help I can do it for you if you want?

iClarified's blog has loads of step by step guides with screenshots, plus links to any required software, so that's always a great place to start.

Ed - have you ever looked at a Dora phone - i just got my aunt one, they are specially designed to work for people who are partially deaf - they arent all that to look at but it has made a huge difference to my aunts ability to use a phone. Sorry if i am being well wide of the mark in recomending them!

http://www.matobmobile.co.uk/index.php?id=doro_phone_easy_410_gsm_mobile_phone_for_the_elderly

Ah it's nothing to do with the mobile at all, nearly all the mobile are perfectly fine for deaf people since the introduction of short message service, it's more than fine.

It's simply just O2 not having a 'disability plan' like other operator that's the problem, and being on the iPhone I'm stuck with them paying a silly charge for 500 minutes call.

Thanks for the suggestion thought.

Perfect phone for my dad, he's blind as a bat.
SMS is also fine for me, I hate the sound of my voice anyway.
I dunno about Ed, but I really hate hearing aid loop systems/radio aids, I find they very rarely work for me!

Hello, I've got one of these... it's not Richey's before you ask, and it's stuck on 02. I want to unlock it so I can shift the SIM to another network.

Bring it to the SE drinks next week (Tue), leave it with me for a day, pick it up when you can, sorted.

I do believe that it is ridiculous that there is not a tariff for deaf people.

The UK has roughly 65 million residents- so the 9 million that Ed has identified is 14% of the total population (please check my maths- I got a b).

If we go back a step and take say 50% of people registered as deaf that gives us 4,500,000 deaf people who might take a £25 per month contract- or £1,350,000,000 per year.

Would somebody please check my maths before I launch a mobile phone company for the deaf?

I dunno about Ed, but I really hate hearing aid loop systems/radio aids, I find they very rarely work for me!

I don't use them, I just don't speak on the phone (or listen).

I don't use them, I just don't speak on the phone (or listen).

Meant in general Ed, those phones do have them hearing loops, but I meant in general, banks, cinemas etc. I do tend to yell at people that I'm deaf and stop calling but thats it.

Damnit, don't ask me about maths, I got an E

didn't you work in a bank?
is this why the finances of the country are so fucked up?