Possible Technical Glitch in iPhone Activation

Just came back from the iPhone India launch. Here is a list of what all went down.

Breaking News:

• Windows was being used to activate the iPhone!

• Person who bought the phone second, got it almost an hour late.
• Around 30 people bought the iPhone today.
• The Mobile Store will also be retailing the iPhone, most probably only with Airtel.

Seconds before the launch there was silence and someone had the balls to shout  – “iPhone sucks.” That was me!

Now for the glitch:

According to the sales rep:

Apple has a database of IMEI nos. and first 4 digits of the no. on the SIM card. Now these 4 digits allow Apple to know whether the phone is from Airtel or Vodafone and maybe same goes for the other international operators. The IMEI & first 4 nos. tell Apple whether the phone is legit or no.

Also, I can use any old Airtel SIM card with my new iPhone.

Now, under the assumption that a consignment of iPhones being sent to India has a certain range of IMEI nos. if someone is able to get the range of the IMEI nos., which I may add is pretty simple as the IMEI is printed on the back of every phone.

Coupling the facility of being able to use any old Airtel SIM card & the ability to find and spoof the IMEI no. 1 can theoretically fool iTunes into thinking that this is a legit phone.

Coming to the event, the event was drab. Onlookers were asked to come up on stage and sing songs. There were mimicry artists & magicians.

7 out of 10 people had no clue what-so-ever about what was happening.

Here is me at the event: