Smash the phone?

April 3, 2006 9:03 PM

What are cellphones good for? I just got my first one and I certainly love it. The phone part and everything, but what more can I do to it?

I'm sorry but I have 2 WRT54G and two Xboxes and I've hacked them all, is there aything cool you can do with a cellphone like that? Probably not smashing the hardware out of wack, but software wise? I have a Sony Ericsson 7520a. I need to at least figure out how to get ringtones etc onto it.

posted by Napierzaza to clothing, beauty, & fashion (16 comments total)

Howardforums would probably be a good place to start.
posted by Dipsomaniac at 9:05 PM on April 3, 2006

You can send text messages and pictures to people!
posted by cellphone at 9:24 PM on April 3, 2006

i use www.hipcal.com and send text message reminders to myself. its unbelievably helpful.
posted by willmillar at 9:28 PM on April 3, 2006

You can give yourself a tumor! I'm going to name mine "Earl".
posted by CRM114 at 10:08 PM on April 3, 2006

In terms of hardware mods and general hacking, not recommended. They're not like that.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 10:17 PM on April 3, 2006

Go to Sony Ericsson's website, find the developer's kit, and read the docs. Mobile phone vendors are great about providing development tools for free. Don't expect your network to help you much though.

Developing applicatoins for cellphones is a complete nightmare because there are so many different models. If you really like the idea of hacking cell phones, learn as much as you can. Then offer your services to your local mobile applications developer (and since this is the internet, your "local" developer could live in Lisbon, and you in Sapporo).

The quality of many professionally developed* mobile applications is often worse or not much better than what a hobbiest would produce. Pros are streteched too thin to cover all models, so they often get one or two right, and the rest are crap. If you are passionate about learning your phone, and then others, you might be able to make a buck or three.

*by "professionally developed," I'm talking about the universe of all pro-developed apps, not just the ones that came bundled with your phone, or are blessed by your network. Much of the shareware stuff is crap, and it is very hard to find a skilled mobile developer.
posted by b1tr0t at 2:02 AM on April 4, 2006

Using my cell phone's AIM client, unlimited text messaging and word-matching in my AIM client at home, I was able to control my computer's audio remotely from my cell phone.

Advantages include when your roommate calls you from Phoenix and you're in DC and he's complaining that your computer is both locked and blaring Oakenfold. One quick IM to myself and it's shut off.

I could also lock the computer remotely, launch my email client and more.

:-)
posted by disillusioned at 2:22 AM on April 4, 2006

I've found exactly one practical use for the camera in my phone: taking pictures of places that I will eventually need to go back to. Works great for signs in parking garages
posted by nathan_teske at 3:28 AM on April 4, 2006

Along the same lines as nathan_teske's, suggestion: 1) use your cell as a microrecorder by leaving messages for yourself on voicemail and 2) use your address book to store info other than phone numbers (e.g. frequent flyer number). Or maybe your phone already has a built-in recorder and PDA ...
posted by zanni at 4:29 AM on April 4, 2006

Going deeper into the phones tends to be more difficult. Most manufacturers don't like people fiddling with the phone firmware.

Siemens used to make firmware updates freely available on their website, but afaik there was never any source for them.

Motorola uses Linux in a couple of their models - the E680 is one of them. There are third party developer sites that offer some open-source stuff for these phones, but I'm not sure what its status is.

I have a RAZR, and I've heard that the firmware updates include some kind of public-key signing on certain parts of the code to stop others from modifying it. Just a rumor mind you. I get the sense that a lot of modern phones are capable of far more than the manufacturers want you to have access to.

Phones are generally very closed devices. Your best bet is to use J2ME or BREW to write apps.
posted by lowlife at 5:26 AM on April 4, 2006

The calendar/alarms/to do functions.

Set an alarm when you make an appointment (e.g. haircut) and you'll never be rummaging thru bits of paper again.

Sync with your Mac/PC and vaguely organised nirvana is yours...
posted by i_cola at 5:58 AM on April 4, 2006

The calendar/alarms/to do functions.

Set an alarm when you make an appointment (e.g. haircut) and you'll never be rummaging thru bits of paper again.

Sync with your Mac/PC and vaguely organised nirvana is yours...
posted by i_cola at 5:58 AM on April 4, 2006

For un-ergonomic uber-nerdosity, you could install an SSH client.

MidpSSH is a great and free J2ME client.

Idokorro sells a number of clients for some Nokia and Motorola phones, as well as Blackberries.

Finally, PuTTY for Symbian OS (rarer on the US market, but there are a few phones around) might do the trick for you.

Realize that doing this will take a good deal of futzing with the phone and won't be the easiest-to-use SSH client, but the nerd-cool factor is quite high. And once you get it to work, it's quite satisfying.

It is also highly dependent on how much of a money-grubbing, restrictive bastard your cell phone company is. That is to say, a lot of companies restrict your ability to install new software, alter their settings, or even create TCP/IP connections to/from certain ports. Installing new software and changing settings is easier to deal with once you have a USB data cable linking your phone and PC. But if they've restricted your data service capabilities, then there's not a lot you can do about it (other than pay a lot of money for so-called 'complete service', typically).

I've found T-Mobile to be the most (good) hacker-friendly amongst these. They offer fairly unrestricted and cheap data plans and don't completely bash up their phones. Also, I happen to like their customer service. I'm completely unaffiliated with them, other than having used their service in the past.

Oh, and before messing with anything, back up your current firmware and settings, otherwise you might end up with a dead phone. Happy hunting, and howardforum is a great place to start.
posted by Mercaptan at 6:23 AM on April 4, 2006

You can search Google from anywhere via text message.
posted by mbrubeck at 9:19 AM on April 4, 2006

I don't know about hacking your phone, but most common apps I use other than call are:
- Reminders
- Tip calculator
- Camera (which surprised me)
- Browser (only to read e-mail)
- listen to music via mp3 player (only recommended if you have a 256mb SD card. what's the point of having 3 songs on your phone?)
posted by like_neon at 9:29 AM on April 4, 2006

You pretty much need to ditch the Sony Ericsson and get a 'phone that with the Series 60 operating system (eg. all recent Nokias), then you can write apps in Python, Java, C++, &c., as well as being able to install a huge array of existing apps that do a variety of geeky things.
posted by jack_mo at 3:26 PM on April 4, 2006