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Editor's note: CNET editor and Crave contributor Dong Ngo is spending the next month in his homeland of Vietnam, and plans to file occasional dispatches chronicling his impressions of how technology has permeated the culture there. Click here for more of Dong's stories from abroad.

HANOI, Vietnam--Every obstacle presents an opportunity. I saw this firsthand in Hanoi.

The obstacle in question: the iPhone 3G. Since its launch, it has proven a much tougher nut to crack than the original iPhone. Without a viable software-based unlock solution, the only way to make the phone work with any GSM carrier has been the use of a proxy SIM. Put this piece of very thin circuitboard in the iPhone 3G atop the carrier's SIM, and you can make calls and text on a new network.

(I did experience some problems using the proxy SIM, including short battery life, instability, and, most seriously, incompatibility with iTunes.)

Unfortunately, the recently released 2.2 software update, for now, has made the iPhone 3G impossible to unlock--unless you happen to be in Hanoi. Here, I met a man who takes the job quite seriously and gets it done the hard way, literally.

His name is Tuan Anh Do, and he's a 29-year-old businessman who owns five cell phone repair shops. A big part of his business is servicing the iPhone and iPhone 3G, and that often involves getting those devices unlocked at the hardware level.

One of his shops is on Nguyen Du street, a relatively small, quiet block in Hanoi. It's located in a typically narrow four-story house, with one floor serving as a reception area, and another holding the accounting department. The top floor is the workshop, where the magic happens.

Here I witnessed a brand new iPhone 3G getting its hardware unlocked and was really impressed. This is how it happened. … Read more

A couple of weeks back, I wrote a blog on Scosche's Kickback clear case for the iPhone 3G. In that post, I said I'm not into fragile-looking cases, which is how the Kickback looked to me in pics.

Since then, I've been able to try the Kickback firsthand, and while I still maintain that it looks fragile, it doesn't feel as brittle as I originally thought it would, and in some areas actually feels bendy.

Now, I haven't conducted any hardcore drop tests, but I did do a wimpy 2-feet-high drop-on-carpet test (twice!) and so … Read more

The European Union is considering a requirement that all cell phone batteries be easily replaceable, which might cause a problem for Apple's iPhone.

AppleInsider spotted that particular directive in an article in New Electronics, a U.K. trade publication, on the latest set of computer-industry regulations under consideration in Europe. The EU is thinking about enacting a new directive on batteries similar to its RoHS (Reduction of Hazardous Substances) directives from a few years back that forced the computer industry to eliminate harmful chemicals and/or materials from its manufacturing processes.

The "New Batteries Directive" would require … Read more

When I watch movies on my iPhone 3G, it's usually in a setting other than my home, like on the bus or plane. I've never used it as a replacement for my PS3, for example.

Having said that, I'm sure there are those who use their iPhones for everything no matter the setting. If you've ever had the desire to prop up your iPhone horizontally--you know, without using a cup shoe of something--and use it as a movie player, Scosche has a solution.

On Monday it announced the Kickback, a polycarbonate iPhone 3G case with an … Read more

Recently, I asked iPhone 3G owners to tell me if the 2.1 software update had fixed the widespread issues with dropped calls, short battery life, and faulty 3G connectivity. Now, just over a week later, I've wrapped up your comments.

At the time of this writing, we received 56 comments (I had to discount a few because they weren't on topic). While this is an entirely unscientific survey, almost half (48 percent) reported significant improvements in all areas, 20 percent reported no positive changes, and 32 percent said that it fixed only a few issues while leaving other problems unchanged. I've included a sampling of comments after the break.

As for me, I have to fall in the neutral camp. On the upside, backups on our iPhone 3G review model are quicker, contacts load faster and application crashes are nonexistent. I never had many dropped calls, so I didn't see a change there, but the keyboard lag has improved as well.

On the downside, however, I haven't seen much a battery life improvement at all. Still I can only get a day's worth of battery, even if I leave it resting on my desk for a few hours. Though one satisfied reader said he was happy that his iPhone 3G now lasted a full day rather than a few hours, I still think that's unsatisfactory.

What's more, I'm still wondering exactly how the update changed the 3G feature. In its release notes Apple promised that 2.1 would bring "improved accuracy of the 3G signal strength display." So what exactly does that mean? Like my colleague Dong Ngo, I've seen a few more bars on my display but the 3G reception seems to be about the same.

Finally, some readers said that after the 2.1 update their iPhone started fetching e-mail far less frequently. I've haven't seen a change in that area so please tell me if you have.… Read more

As per usual, at the most inopportune time when I was already running late, I decided to sync my iPhone as I was getting ready to leave home today. Like clockwork, iTunes asks me if I'd like to update to Firmware 2.1. Would I? Unlike last time, I actually downloaded the update and took off to make my a Saturday class.

During a break, my fellow iPhone-laden class attendees got out their iPhones to check email, text messages and voicemail and the discussion turned to Firmware 2.1.

"Did you get it?" one fellow classmate asked … Read more

Though iPod news dominated Tuesday's Apple's "Let's Rock" event in San Francisco, Apple CEO Steve Jobs did spill a bit of iPhone news. Jobs said that coming this Friday, Apple will release the anticipated 2.1 software update. What will it bring? Well...Jobs didn't really say, except that is a "big update" that would fix "lots of bugs."

The pesky bugs should be no surprise to current iPhone 3G owners as they've been widely reported since the handset launched two months ago. Specifically, the fix should bring fewer … Read more

In a crazy world, Apple would announce a "we-are-so-sorry" iPhone swap today: All first generation iPhone owners and all new iPhone 3G owners would be given a new free iPhone Plutonium, which, of course, has endless battery life. Perhaps this massive reset could be founded by the liquidation of Halliburton or perhaps as part of a massive government effort to promote consumer-spending, oh wait, that was Fannie May and Freddie Mac....

Stranger things have happened. What's the line? We can only hope for change?

But seriously folks, the biggest complaint I've seen (and experienced) is dismal … Read more

Apple and AT&T are facing another lawsuit over the iPhone 3G.

This time, William Gillis of San Diego is suing the two companies, claiming that they "have misrepresented the speed, strength, and performance of the 3G bandwidth network," according to freelance journalist Justin McLachlan. Apple has acknowledged the complaints over the iPhone 3G's reception and has promised to fix the issues via a software update.

Apple was sued in August over the iPhone 3G by an Alabama woman who claimed that the company deceived consumers by promising that the iPhone 3G would be "twice … Read more