Member of the iPhone Club

As of today, I'm the (proud) owner of an iPhone 3Gs 32GB (Black). Ever since the release a couple of years ago I really wanted an iPhone. The problem is that we can only get an iPhone in combination with a T-Mobile plan here in Holland, and alternatives to the T-Mobile plan are relatively expensive;

• You need to cough up the entire amount for a SIMLOCK free iPhone in once (several hundreds of euros) or
• Get the T-Mobile plan and let them remove the SIMLOCK (for a fee). Initially less expensive, but you're still hooked to their two year plan.

Either way, an iPhone cost around 800 euros, whether you pay it at once or spread the costs over two years. Since I didn't like to finance T-Mobile for a plan, since I already got a pretty good deal, I went out and bought an iPhone.

I could have gone to Belgium (which is the cheapest of all options), but experience learned that they are most of the time out of stock. And I didn't feel like driving all day through Belgium. So I decided to pay a bit more, but with the certainty that I could get one. Another advantage is that the shop was right 'around-the-corner' (only a 30 minute drive).

Anyway, after popping the KPN SIM into the phone I attached it to iTunes. Within 20 seconds I had my own iPhone running on the KPN network.

Configuring and loading it up with data is peanuts. Especially if you have an Mac. Mail, Addressbook, Calendar, everything gets synched. Even the passwords for your mail accounts (you need to allow access to the keychain while syncing for the first time).

After that came the configuration part that is operator dependent. If you're with the official T-Mobile plan, everything regarding MMS, Voicemail etc. is set. With a brand new SIMLOCK free iPhone, you need to do this yourself.

Setting up voicemail

Have the phone 'dial' the following: *5005*86*voicemailnumber#
Where voicemailnumber is the number you dial for accessing your voicemail. For KPN in the Netherlands: 1233 (or +31 6 1200 1233 if you want it to work abroad)

Setting up MMS

The original settings have changed. More info here.

Go to Settings -> General -> Network -> Cellular Data

Within the MMS part op that screen enter the following:

APN: portalmmm.nl
Username: kpn
Password: kpn
MMSC: http://mp.mobiel.kpn/mmsc
MMS Proxy: 10.10.100.20:5080
MMS Max Message Size: <leave empty>

After you set those settings, you need to switch of the phone and put it back on again. After this you should be able to send an MMS over the KPN network.

Applications I installed

within the next 10 minutes.

• Google Earth
• Pathé
• Flickr
• Bokeh
• NetNewsWire
• TweetDeck
• Twitterific
• XSPhone

On my list of to-do's

• Figuring out how to get Tethering working on iPhoneOS v3.1.2.
• Find some good (cheap) photography apps.
• Figure out how to sync (contacts and, calendars) multiple PC's/Macs without screwing things up.

The to-do's might become posts on its own.