007SH without smartphone contract

[mrcrispin]

Hi everybody. I have cast a covetous eye on the 007SH; however I do NOT want to get a smartphone contract with Softbank. Rather, I use want to use it with an ordinary (and active) Softbank contract USIM, and do all data access through WiFi.

I'm waiting to pay the full retail price (over 81,000 yen, ouch!), so Softbank should be willing to unlock the 1seg and multimedia features, right? And, since it is a Softbank SIM, it ought to work for phone calls without a hypersim, right???

Well, I'm not sure. I've heard rumors that Softbank smartphones refuse non-smartphone SIMs even though it is a Softbank SIM; and that the only way to fix this is to root the phone and replace the Phone.apk.

Does anyone know the facts?

My friends in Japan suggest that I wait until xmas time, when lots of keitais show up in Yahoo auctions; and that it ought to be possible to get it at lower prices and hacked as necessary. I'm probably going to follow that advice.

For this purpose, I specifically want a Softbank branded phone, with Softbank apps and the galapagos toys such as 1seg and IR, and hacked only as necessary. Of course, SIM unlock is ideal; but it's alright if it'll just work with a non-smartphone active Softbank SIM. I don't want to fart around with hypercards, and intend to do data only over WiFi. But I certainly want 1seg to work. I have plenty of other capable unlocked Android phones to use with non-Softbank SIMs.

[yamanote]

PM tokyo_dom and ask re the 1seg/multimedia-without-a-sim unlock- I believe he paid full price for his 005SH and got it multimedia unlocked.

No idea re the rest. Best to ring up SoftBank or some white-ROM store and inquire, I doubt many members on here know the intricacies of the SoftBank USIM restrictions, since the majority of members here are overseas.

[martindesu]

I can't help much on this issue, but I know for a fact that the iPhone SIM won't work in anything else other than an iPhone. Softbank seem to have some kind of SIM authentication going on between smartphones and keitai, but I have no idea what the details are. Will do some digging.

[cheeseus]

PM tokyo_dom and ask re the 1seg/multimedia-without-a-sim unlock- I believe he paid full price for his 005SH and got it multimedia unlocked.

No idea re the rest. Best to ring up SoftBank or some white-ROM store and inquire, I doubt many members on here know the intricacies of the SoftBank USIM restrictions, since the majority of members here are overseas.

Do you mean that there's a chance the 005SH is multimedia-locked (and SB will unlock it if you buy from them at full price)? I am thinking of getting one for myself and using it with a hypersim obviously.

[yamanote]

Ask tokyo_dom for more information, but from what I understand the 005SH is, from the factory, 'multimedia locked'. This lock means that you can't use it as a PMP without a valid SoftBank USIM inserted (or a hypersim inserted). With the lock removed (SoftBank will do this if you pay for the entire phone outright) you can use it as a PMP without any SIM inserted.

[cheeseus]

Ask tokyo_dom for more information, but from what I understand the 005SH is, from the factory, 'multimedia locked'. This lock means that you can't use it as a PMP without a valid SoftBank USIM inserted (or a hypersim inserted). With the lock removed (SoftBank will do this if you pay for the entire phone outright) you can use it as a PMP without any SIM inserted.

When I spoke to tokyo_dom he didn't mention anything about a multimedia lock but really, this is an important issue. I though the 003SH / 005SH worked just fine when you insert a HyperSIM...

[yamanote]

When I spoke to tokyo_dom he didn't mention anything about a multimedia lock but really, this is an important issue. I though the 003SH / 005SH worked just fine when you insert a HyperSIM...

Re-read my post carefully.

This lock means that you can't use it as a PMP without a valid SoftBank USIM inserted (or a hypersim inserted).

With a hypersim or valid SoftBank USIM inserted everything will work fine. The multimedia unlock just lets you do everything (except for phone related things obviously) without a SIM inserted, has no effect on it being used with a hypersim.

[cheeseus]

Re-read my post carefully.

Yeah, I wasn't sure if I was getting it correctly, got confused, sorry. You know, the SoftBank series before these Androids all had multimedia lock which wouldn't lift even with a hypersim...

With a hypersim or valid SoftBank USIM inserted everything will work fine. The multimedia unlock just lets you do everything (except for phone related things obviously) without a SIM inserted, has no effect on it being used with a hypersim.

A sigh of relief

Really had no idea SB could lift the multimedia lock by inserting a code (I guess). Does the same then apply for previous flip models?

[yamanote]

The Androids have no multimedia lock in the 'traditional' sense (reprovisioning prompt, lock down of camera/music/video players). Plenty of locks on my 940SH though...