UCAN

"...the Cubic phone could save 50% to 90% off your per minute international roaming rate."

I don't call London and I don't call France, but I always jump at a deal when I get the chance. Ha ha, that was lame. But according to a recent article written by David Pogue in The New York Times, there now exists "A Cellphone Without Borders." I don't really know what that means. Did cell phones ever have borders? If these theoretical borders were eliminated, wouldn't they charge one flat rate no matter where you called? Because to me that's what "no borders" means. Apparently not to David, but that's a topic for another post.

Cell phones still have borders, but thanks to a new company, Cubic, the price of those borders could come down dramatically. Cubic is attempting to leverage the communciations potential of the Internet to cut the costs of roaming international cell phone calls, much like the way Interent phone companies like Skype, Vonage, and Jajah have reduced the cost of international landline calls (see our Internet phone company comparison and review post). The difference is that the Cubic phone works like any regular cell phone and calls do not need to be initiated or routed through your computer.

For $135 or $219 (Windows Mobile) you can get the Cubic cell phone and MaxRoam SIM card. Depending on where you want to call and your current carrier, the Cubic phone could save 50% to 90% off your per minute international roaming rate. Yeah, pretty good stuff. The Cubic phone works in over 160 countries and, similar to VoIP, you're allowed to pick a local number for your phone. Unlike most VoIP plans, Cubic lets you pick up to 50 local numbers in cities around the world. That means if you have family or friends in Glod, Kazakhstan and you pick a number in Glod, your family and friends pay local rates when they call you. Double good stuff.

But the Cubic phone isn't all good and double good stuff. Calls aren't placed like normal cell phone calls. Well, they're sort of placed like normal calls, until the part where you wait for a call back when you're told that your call is being placed. The Wi-Fi calling option also leaves a bit to be desired. For an extra flat montly fee you can receive ulimited calls from Internet hot spots, or place them for a cent a minute...pretty much turning your cell phone into a VoIP phone. The drawback is that unlike the T-Mobile HotSpots plan, the Cubic phone drops your call if you move out of the hot spot. Basically, asking you to pretend that you are not on a cell phone....which was the whole point of using a cell phone instead of a computer. Last, because the phone essentially does not know what country you are in, you must enter a country code and area code every time you dial out, even if it is a local call.

BUT THE BEST PART IS....You can buy the Cubic MaxRoam SIM card without purchasing the phone. But, the real question is, did you skim this post for the most important text? Or, are you just attracted to bold caps? Well, either is fine by me, because who can resist bold all caps text? Not me, that's who. The MaxRoam SIM card will work with any GSM phone (only T-Mobile and AT&T in the U.S.). However, the phone must be "unlocked" (see our guide to Unlocking your Cell Phone). What this means is that you can use your normal cell phone when travelling overseas (as long as you have switched out the SIM card) and pay up to 90% less than standard roaming rates. And that's what I call: triple good stuff.

Note (10-2-2007): The MaxRoam SIM card currently costs 30 pounds (yes, English pounds). At the time of publication for the NYTimes article this meant the SIM card would cost $40. Due to the dollar's rapid depreciation in the past couple of days, the SIM card now costs slightly more than $60.

Have you been receiving debt collection phone calls and messages from 800-684-8429? If so, you are not alone. A UCAN member recently filed a complaint regarding incessant phone calls and messages she had received about someone else's debt from the number 800-684-8429. The calls appear to be made on behalf of HSBC Bank, or Orchard Bank, a banking and credit provider. Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, debt collectors must honor any request to cease telephone communication and contact you only in writing.

• Tell HSBC to quit calling you and Stop Debt Collection Harassment using our sample letter.

• If HSBC is calling you about a debt that you do not owe, send them a Collection Agency Debt Dispute letter.

(you can also see my local news interview on Iphone hacks, open networks, and cancelling your cell phone contract. Please share your thoughts on cracking the Iphone.)

The days of soldering parts together to unlock your iPhone are over.... unless you just enjoy soldering, and in that case, as you were. For everyone else, put your soldering guns away. Today, a San Francisco-based group is claiming to have developed software that will allow users to "unlock" their AT&T iPhones so they can be used on other networks. In the US, the only other GSM carrier is T-Mobile, but that gives you one more choice than you had before.

Perhaps the most important point to make is that there is a strong argument that using the software to unlock your iPhone is legal, as long as it is for personal use. Basic American copyright law protects the software code, or firmware that runs the Iphone and locks it to AT&T's network. Additional protections exist from the always controversial Digital Millenium Copyright Act (let's just say that if a laws appeared on celebrity gossip sites, the DMCA would be front and center most days). The DMCA offers additional protection to rights holders by restricting users of copyrighted material from circumventing technological protection measures intended to restrict access to the copyrighted material. This includes accessing content even for legitimate, fair uses of content. However, in November of 2006, the Copyright Office approved 6 exceptions to the DMCA "anti-circumvention" restrictions.

While there is nuance to discuss, and attorneys will appear on both sides, one of these exceptions clearly included provisioins allowing consumers to unlock their cellphones "for the sole purpose of lawfully connecting to a wireless telephone communication network."

"For the sole purpose" is the key phrase here. It indicates that you, for your personal need to use your iphone on a communication network other than AT&T's, can circumvent protections AT&T has embedded into its phone. On the other hand, you will not likely see a bunch of unlocked phones on Ebay in a few days, since circumventing technological protection measures in order to make them available for sale would not be viewed as for the "sole purpose of lawfully connecting..."

That said, there is a key grey area that will likely decide the future of unlocking your iphone. This is the concept of whether it is legal to distribute, for free, the code that allows users to unlock there phones. There will be a great deal of disagreement on this subject, but a good argument from attorney Bart Showalter suggests that if the software is narrowly focused on busting the network lock, it would likely fit into the anti-circumvention exception to the DMCA. In other words, if the Copyright Office granted users the right to unlock their cell phone for certain reasons, it would be an illogical contradiction to then say that distributing the means (software code) to exercise those rights is illegal. At the very least there is a basic argument to be made(though some IP lawyers will scream secondary liability a la DeCSS) that anyone distributing this is certainly not directly circumventing Iphone firmware, and is simply making available software that allows users to do something that the Copyright explicitly permitted.

Either way, the unlocking of the Iphone is proof positive that consumers demand networks that allow them to use the technology and software of their choice.

Check out these links as well

• Engadget story on Iphone crack
• Engadget Iphone crack legalities story
• PCWorld's article on DMCA challenges to Iphone hackers
• UCAN interview on Iphone hacks, open networks, and breaking your contract

To be honest, I've never seen an iPhone and I've only talked to three people that have seen other people with iPhones. But the people that I have seen with an iPhone went up a minimum of 10 cool points in my book. I think I would pass out if I saw an actual iPhone. Personally, I'm waiting until the 2nd generation model is released. Early rumors indicate standard packaging will include one supermodel girlfriend (or boyfriend). At least that's what some guy in my apartment complex says, and he predicted the touch screen keyboard over two years ago.

Tech blogger Rob Rankin is also passing on the first gen iPhone (I think its mostly because the girlfriend rumor) and he has a review here. Did you know the iPhone can't take video? My phone can't either, but come on, we're talking about iPhone. He also points out a number of other issues such as poor call quality and lack of PC compatibility. If you are interested in buying an iPhone, or if you are like me, and want to feel better about not having one, check out his column.

This one is just for those of you who are serious about an iPhone...Teletruth.com has an excellent evaluation of the iPhone /AT&T contract. Not only does the iPhone contract lock you in at maximum, or near maximum rates, but there are a number of limitations (or,gotchas) not included in other plans.