ExtraBITS for 24 September 2012
Two quick ExtraBITS for you this week — an explanation of why the CDMA iPhone 5 has an unlocked GSM SIM slot and Glenn Fleishman’s Boing Boing report from the unusual XOXO conference.
Verizon’s Unlocked iPhone 5 Due to FCC Requirement? — As the iPhone 5 got into people’s hands last Friday, several Verizon Wireless subscribers noted that their iPhones were unlocked both for international use and for other U.S. carriers. James Duncan Davidson explains that Verizon isn’t doing this out of the kindness of its corporate heart, but rather due to an agreement with the FCC for licensing the 700 MHz C block of spectrum for its LTE network.
A Conference About Tech That Is Full of Love — If you regularly attend technology or engineering conferences, you might enjoy editor Glenn Fleishman’s account at Boing Boing of the recent XOXO Festival in Portland, Oregon. XOXO brought people who make things together with those who have new methods of reaching customers, an audience, fans, or colleagues directly, such as Kickstarter and Etsy. Beyond the content, the conference captured a magic that’s rarely found in such events.