Switching to iPhone 3G: Use the old iPhone as WiFi iPod instead

Ohkay, so you don’t like to hand-down your first gen iPhone and like to keep on using it no matter what. Because you’ve earned it with your own sweat and blood, so you can’t let it go away just like that.

Another alternative, and IMHO the most sad way, is to downgrade your iPhone as a WiFi-enabled iPod Touch. As what an AT&T spokesperson has confirmed that neither AT&T nor Apple will prevent de-activated first-generation iPhones for serving as surrogate iPod touches.

The spokesperson said: "If the [original] device is not re-activated as a wireless phone after you’ve upgraded to iPhone 3G, it will still work as an iTunes player and can access Wi-Fi.”

That would means old iPhones can still surf the web, check email, and browse the mobile iTunes store when connected to WiFi. Additionally, they'll be able to function as a handheld gaming device and widescreen video iPod with calendar and photo functions.

Further more, it's recommended that current iPhone owners who take this approach to upgrade their original iPhones with iPhone Software v2.0 (which includes the App Store) on July 11th prior to de-activating the devices, as it's unclear whether upgrades to non-active handsets will be possible.

Uh, oh. That doesn’t sound too good, and if you’re thinking to change mobile wireless carriers than the original AT&T; or you had an idea to use all of your iPhone’s current features without its wireless carrier’s service, you need to read below Q&A first:

Q: I am a satisfied Sprint "Simply Everything" customer, but I'm an iPhone fan as well. I've read about software that allows you to unlock your iPhone, however, I'm afraid that if I unlock an iPhone and use it on Sprint's network, I'll lose functionality. Do you have any experience with unlocked iPhones?

A: If you unlock an iPhone and use it on another carrier like T-Mobile, you will lose the visual voice mail feature and the 3G support but the handset will operate just fine otherwise. The main caveat is any software updates from Apple will "lock" the phone again to AT&T, so you'll have to download those at your discretion. But in this case, I'm getting ahead of myself. Even if you unlock it the iPhone, will not work on Sprint's network because Sprint uses an incompatible technology.

Hey, don’t look at me. I’m just the news carrier, don’t shoot the sad bearer but shoot the source instead ~LOL~ Just joking… Well, at least you have another option with those iPhone stacks right?
Sources are from:

• AT&T says original iPhones can be deactivated and used as WiFi iPods (AppleInsider)
• On Call: Getting ready for the iPhone 3G (Crave)

[blogged with my Treo 750v]