Hack your own cell phone; it's free and legal!

[skyedogrocks]

Saw this on our news last night.  Very interesting!  Has anyone ever tried to do this?

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/asseenon5/13750781/detail.html

[livecam]

I have considered it but it has to be done with extreme caution.  If you mess up the phone,  explaining what happened to your carrier might be difficult.

In my case I had to exchange a phone because some of the touch sensitive keys became inoperative.  After receiving the new phone I found that methods of updating ringtones, picture, and video files etc. no longer worked.  After some research I found that Verizon had updated the phone's firmware and that the new firmware basically blocked those features so you would be forced to pay for them from Verizon rather than doing it yourself with some convenient software.

It turns out that the "older" version of firmware is available online as are the necessary tools to the flash the phone back to that version.  I downloaded the goodies and seriously thought about doing it until cold feet stopped me...also I found another way to get the job done while leaving the phone alone.

The moral of the story is to be careful and be prepared to have a non working phone if you do try to hack it.

[skyedogrocks]

I don't think I would try this on my own, I am not the most technically inclined.  However, I might visit the store they are talking about since it's in the building that my work is in (when I actually go into work!).

It seems cool though!

[Hawkeye]

I didn't get a chance to look into it yet, but I probably will try it.  The only thing is that if you do this make sure to have the replacement warranty on the phone.  This way if you mess it up you can report it lost and get a replacement for like $30 or whatever your replacement fee is.

[Hawkeye]

Here is a great how to video on how to get police transmissions on your cell phone.  Enjoy (This Is A Spoof Video).

http://www.break.com/index/cell_phone_hack.html

[kitkatz]

Good grief. I cannot even remember to take the phone with me!