Life on the Spot! Life and Leisure in Doha, Qatar

It's a good day for iPhone/iPod Jailbreakers! You can now Jailbreak your iPhone 3.1.2 and iTouch too! George Hotz (aka geohot), the kid who was the first to unlock the original iPhone back in 2007 and then iPhone 3GS in July of this year has come up with blackra1n. It's a  jailbreak for ALL devices running firmware 3.1.2. So for those who upgraded to the 3.1.1 and lost their jailbreak, you can now even move to 3.1.2 and still jailbreak your iPhone! A big note though, blackra1n only jailbreaks your phone and not unlock it. Meaning, if you bought your phone in the the US and using it here in Qatar, you still won't get signal from Vodafone or Qtel even if you use blackra1n. Those iPhones bought through Starlink, Vodafone, or Hong Kong, Australia, Italy or other countries selling officially unlocked iPhones, you're good to go!

Here's what to do:

1. Download and install the latest version of iTunes.

2. Update/restore to the original iPhone OS firmware 3.1.2 on your iPhone by using the latest version of iTunes.

3. Download blackra1n. This only works for Windows. Click on the Windows Logo to start your download.

4. Start blackra1n app. If you are on Windows 7 or Vista, run the app with “Windows XP Compatibility” mode by enabling it from the “Properties” tab to avoid any errors during the jailbreak process

5. Click on “make it ra1n”

6. blackra1n will do its magic. Just wait until your iPhone/iPod reboots.

7. You should now have “blackra1n” in the list of applications on your iPhone. Run “blackra1n” from your iPhone/iPod. Download Cydia and install it.

8. Reboot your iPhone/iPod. You should now have fully jailbroken iPhone or iPod touch running on firmware 3.1.2 !

Continue reading "blackra1n - jailbreak for iPhone 3Gs 3.1.2"

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It seems Starlink Qatar is going to try and bring the iPhone in Qatar. Although on the Apple website, Vodafone Qatar is listed as its distributor, they still don't have any agreement with Apple itself thus they can't sell the iPhones at a distributor price. Apple has a contract with Vodafone itself but not Vodafone Qatar. Anyway, Starlink Qatar ha sannounced that it is going to bring the iPhone in Qatar. For how much? I don't know yet. They haven't announced the prices yet. Hopefully, they'll be much cheaper than what Vodafone is offering. For sure though, these phones would be unlocked and a year warranty and support would be provided to those buying the iPhone from them. Here's the rest of the story:

Starlink is bringing the latest iPhones to Qatar at great prices, the retailer has announced.Starlink claims it will be among the first stores in the country to have the iPhone 3GS 32GB and the iPhone 3GS 16GB.The iPhone 3GS 32GB offers a range of functions and features, and the ability to add new applications seamlessly, making it one of the fastest and most advanced Smartphones on the market.The iPhone 3GS 16GB is set to be offered at one of the most competitive prices in Qatar. Both phones come with a one-year warranty and support promise.“By bringing the latest and most powerful models to Qatar, we’re providing a huge range of power-packed features at a price we know our customers will enjoy,” Starlink CEO Alan Sinfeld said.

Continue reading "Starlink Qatar to offer latest iPhones"

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Vodafone Qatar has started selling iPhones at their stores today. Apparently, these iPhones have diamonds encrusted on them. Hmmm...I need to verify this as the prices they are selling them for do indicate that there might be some precious stones on them.

iPhone 3G 8GB QR2,600

iPhone 3GS 16GB QR4,500

iPhone 3GS 32GB QR5,200

WTF! An iPhone 3Gs for a whooping QR5,200. They must be dreaming! If you get the chance to buy it on ebay, Australia or Hong Kong, you are likely to pay no more than 3,200QR for the same model. Officially unlocked too! The ones Vodafone Qatar is selling are also unlocked but the price is exorbitant.

If you are still interested, you can get the iPhone from any Vodafone stores at Landmark Mall, Villaggio Mall, City Center Mall, Al Khor, Lu Lu Hypermarket and Musheireb Street.

On their promo blurb, they say:"These will go quickly so run, don't walk, to the Vodafone store nearest you!". In my opinion, don't even bother getting up.

Continue reading "Vodafone Qatar Offers iPhone with Diamonds!"

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Vodafone is offering free mobile internet to its subscribers for the month of September. One thing you have to note though, you only get the first 300 MB for free. Anything more than that would cost you an arm and a leg, well, 10 QR for every MB.

Here's more info for those interested.

With Vodafone's Mobile Internet you get:

• Fast 3G access to the Internet.
• 300 MB Free Mobile Internet all September for all customers.
• Access to great content like Al Jazeera news and sports.
• Mobile email so you can easily keep in touch with your friends, family, and colleagues in Qatar and overseas.

Existing customers automatically get this and do not need to do a thing other than to start enjoying the Vodafone Mobile Internet service right away.  No separate subscription is required and more than 1.100 phone types are automatically configured for the service.

If your phone is not compatible with the automatic service, you can configure it manually with the settings below.

• Connection Type: VFQ Mobile Internet
• Access Point Name: vodafone.com.qa
• Authentication: Normal
• No user name and password required
• IP address: 10.101.97.102
• Port Number: 80
• Homepage URL: http://mobile.vodafone.com.qa

Continue reading "Vodafone Offers Free Mobile Internet for September"

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It seems that Vodafone Qatar doesn't have an agreement with Apple to provide the iPhone for Qatar customers. Apple has an agreement with Vodafone but not Vodafone Qatar. This is the reason why Vodafone is listed as an official seller on the Apple Website but it seems the global agreement doesn't include Qatar.So for those of us who have been waiting for iPhones to be legally available in the market, we might get disappointed if Vodafone Qatar doesn't get any deal with Apple.

Arghh, and all this time, people have been expecting Vodafone Qatar to provide the iPhone. Another disappointment from Vodafone. Vodafone Qatars' explanation can be read on Gulf Times.

Continue reading "No iPhones from Vodafone"

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