Just won an iPhone4 and have a few questions...

[23travis]

Ok, I'm a bit of a newbie to this stuff, and I looked around for other posts to answer my questions, but can't seem to find any. Sorry if I seem a bit ignorant, but I really AM new to this. I expect to get it tomorrow and would like to get into it right away.

1) The phone I won is "Contract Free". Does this mean that it's Unlocked? If it's not, should I do so before I decide on my provider (if it's possible yet)?

2) I probably won't be able to get it going with a provider for at least a week or so (being unemployed, money's tight). Will I be able to use the apps that don't need a provider, like the iPod? Also, will I be able to connect via WiFi?

3) Would it be good to jailbreak before I get a provider? BTW, I kind of have an idea of what a jailbreak is, but could someone please explain exactly what it does?
OK, found that article on jailbreaking, so I answered this question for myself. Any help on the other two would be greatly appreciated,

BTW, I am the guy that won it on intomobile last week if knowing that will help.

Thanks in advance!

23t

[iWieduwilt]

Questions 2 and 3 both depend on the answer to question 1. If it's a contract free phone, it may not even be activated. And if it's not activated and you don't have an AT&T sim card installed then you will not be able to activate your phone.

2) if you do manage to get it activated, it will run just as it normally would with a service provider but without the ability to make calls and text. Your iPhone will basically be an iPod touch until you can get service.

3) also if you manage to get the iPhone activated, the only time you will need to unlock the phone (jailbreak then unlock) is if your service provider is not comtable with an unjailbroken iPhone.

[23travis]

So, what you're saying is that I may just have a brick until I get service of some kind? (In regards to answer 1.)

[iNT3Rv3NTiONZz]

no matter what provider it is youll need to habe a sim card at the ready so you can activate it. if its contract free then chances are its factory unlocked (meaning you can use any sim)
you can go on wifi without a contract, but will have to be activated

what is jb? basically apple uses something called a sandbox for each app running on yoir device, this stops apps from having full system control. by instead only allowing them to use specific APIs. one such example is being able to view/edit photos from the camera app using apps such as photoshop..
when an idevice is exploited the sanbox is modified to allow more than just the specific APIs to b executed from that app, giving it and you more power over your device

[23travis]

Thanks for your help. I have an old SIM card from a phone I cancelled service on. Will that work, or do I need one that's active? I know I'll probably have to cut it down to size...

[CaptainChaos]

Contract free could mean that you don't have to obligate to a contract with a provider. It doesn't necessarily mean it is unlocked. Depends on what country you are in or what country the phone is from.

[23travis]

I'm in the US, and the phone is probably from the US, too. It should be here within the next couple hours, so I'll find out then.