Leaked memos from both Rogers and AT&T indicate that although we know that you won't be able to leave the store without activating the iPhone 3G, they're in fact bricked from the factory, to make unlocking and jailbreaking even tougher.

Excepts from the full Rogers document, as posted in a Canadian iPhone forum:

Bricked: Default state of the iPhone, only emergency calls allowed.

Requirement 1)

* Download/Install 'Store only version' of iTunesIn order to unbrick the iPhone in store (which is a requirement of the iPhone Sales Process), you must have iTunes version 7.6.3b4 installed on your computer. This version has a special 'Activation Only Mode' that must be enabled and used in store.
* The iTunes version that is currently available on the Apple website is version 7.6.2. This version does NOT have the activation only mode and as such please action the following steps to complete the installation of version 7.6.3b4:

1) Download and install 7.6.3b4 from the following link. Do not attempt to use any other version of iTunes as V7.6.3b4 is a specific activation only module designed for in-store use.

https://attache.apple.com/AttacheWeb...QNmUHPjRZRI%3D (don't bother trying; will error out with max number of downloads completed message)

2) When you enter the link above you will be asked if you want to 'open' or 'save' the file. Select 'Open'. The file is 102mb and may take 5 to 15 minutes to download, depending on your connection speed.

3) Once downloaded you will see a window containing two files. One file is for a Mac and the other is for Windows. Please double-click the Windows.exe file.

4) A small 'warning' window will pop-up that advises you to extract all files –Please do so.

5) An 'Extraction Wizard' will start. Click 'Next'.

6) You will be asked where you want the files to be extracted to. The default location (a temporary file) is ok, so select 'next'. You will then be advised that the extraction has finished. Click 'Finish'.

7) A new window will appear with the extracted files in (both Mac and Windows). Double click on the Windows.exe file. You may be presented with a Windows security warning. If so, select 'Run' as the files are safe. There may be a delay before the next step starts.

8) Pop-up windows and instructions will guide you through the rest of the installation process. You must close MS Outlook (if it's open) before completing the installation.

9) During the installation process you will be asked if you would like an iTunes shortcut on your desktop – Please do so.

10) You may be asked to restart your computer – Please do so if asked.

11) Once you have restarted you will see an iTunes shortcut on your desktop.

12) The download process is complete – you must now follow the following steps to complete the process.You MUST now enable the 'Activation only Module' within iTunes.

13) Create a shortcut on your desktop by right clicking on a blank space on your desktop and selecting 'new' and then 'shortcut'.

14) A 'Create a shortcut' wizard window will appear. In the box within the window marked 'Type the location of the item', please type or copy and paste the following bolded text in this EXACT format.

15) Please ensure you use the whole of this text with all punctuation/grammar exactly as specified:
"C:\Program Files\iTunes\iTunes.exe" /StoreActivationMode 1

16) Click 'Next'. You will be asked to enter a name for the shortcut. use:
iTunes Activation Module

17) Click 'Finish'. You will now see a new iTunes shortcut on your desktop with this name.

18) This shortcut is the Activation Module and should be used to unbrick the iPhone. When you first start this version of iTunes there will be a terms and conditions agreement that you will need to "accept' in order to proceed.

What's still more interesting is the details following that last statement (18). It says:

Note: As of July 11 2008, an updated version of iTunes (7.7) will be publicly available from www.apple.ca. It will have the activation only mode built in (like 7.6.3b4) so you will not need to use unique Weblinks to download it. As it is a publicly available version of iTunes it still needs to be configured for store use. Therefore you MUST 'enable' version 7.7 in the same way as you did for version 7.6.3b4 that is detailed above.

It sounds like version 7.7 of the public download of iTunes will have this unbricking code built-in. Thus, if you use it as above, you should be able to unbrick your phone - assume all the above is true, naturally.

AppleInsider has a similar memo (from AT&T) but it doesn't go into as much detail as this, so it's unclear if 7.7 will work similarly for AT&T. It is clear that AT&T phones will also ship bricked, however.

All this complexity has to have you wondering if the Apple and AT&T salespeople will be able to activate as many phones as necessary. It's possible - sounds probable in fact - that all this is going to cause the expected lines to be even more annoying - and long.

Source: By Tech Ex http://technologyexpert.blogspot.com/