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An Open Source Alternative to Verizon's GetItNow?
"A bit of explanation: Recently, I was trying to find ringtones for my LG cell phone, and was having some difficulties in figuring out how to even get them onto my phone without the cable.
Finally, I contacted Verizon Wireless via email.
My original email: 'How do I provide content *I create* on the GetItNow network AND/OR how do I SMS the content to my own phone?'
Their response was to first explain how to use GetItNow to download ringtones (many of which really suck, none of which are free). They continued with 'You are unable to SMS Get It Now created from any websites to your phone
and [we] apologize for any inconvience this might have caused.
To my humor (due to the fact that every application I had downloaded had crashed), they also said: 'Verizon Wireless requires extensive lab and field-testing of the Get It Now
applications we choose to offer, to ensure that our customers get the highest-quality applications in the marketplace
today. (Emphasis, mine)
In response, I asked: 'How would an open-source developer put applications onto the get-it-now phones without charging customers for use of the program? And, while we are at it, can I only use Brew to write applications for verizon phones, or can I use Java?'
They gave me the link to the GetItNow developer site (click on Developer Zone at the bottom) and said, 'Verizon Wireless does offer SMS downloads of ringtones and graphics through our Vtext.com website.'
As a side question: I would prefer to write my applications in Java instead of Brew (which Verizon GetItNow does NOT support). Has anyone had experience using any of the Brew-in-Java implementations (like the one from IBM)?"
I looked at this after my gf chose a verizon phone for me (I'm quite happy with pay as you go, I like being in touch but have no desire to shoot the sh*t for hours).
Basically you have to join the program, pay qualcomm to unlock your phone and then pay around $1000 per phone to have your app tested.
They're unlikely to let you in because people are paying $$'s for games that are poorer than open source equivalents. The $$'s go to subsidise the cost of handsets.
I got discouraged, but feel free to poke around the brew websites + user forums for more info. As much as it screws homebrew development brew seems fairly popular (read profitable).
TryMicroDevNet which is a developer orientated site for J2ME, but only provides links to the authors web site for listed apps. (and you have to be a member..)
Another one is Midlet.org, but I've been mailing the site admin for 2 months trying to get a J2ME RSS reader I wrote posted on the site, with no reply. The downloads look like they were last updated on Jan 23rd and there is a fairly lively forum.
You can download via wap at http://midlet.org/wap
GAGIN is "get around Get It Now" and is a copy of Qualcomm's AppLoader for BREW (distributed without permission of course) with a binary patcher to let it do more than load BREW apps.
It let me see files, but not download or upload them to my 1monthold Motorola T720c.
BALpatches are other binary patches to AppLoader.
If you get the "update" for Motorola TrueSync 3.1, you can install it without having an earlier version (again, in violation of the EULA) and use a $16 USB or serial cable to syncronize Outlook or PalmDesktop to your phone. It also comes with USB drivers (for Windows of course) to handle the USB-to-serial (I think the T720 just has a Prolific chip or integrated IP to handle USB) and let you use the phone as a modem.
PST is a Motorola app for messing with all sorts of really deep, nasty stuff in your phone. The guy who distributes it (google beavermjr) supplies a patch, but that didn't come down right for me, so I don't know what it does. PST comes with a large collection of USB drivers, so I assume the app isn't talking to the phone with a set of AT-command extensions.
HowardForums have a lot of frustrated Verizon subscribers discussing how to use the capabilities their phones already come with without paying VZW $more.
I have a Windows COM port "interposer" that watches traffic & colors in the display window according to direction. It would be good for reverse-engineering the protocol for implementation in open source. I'll post the name when I find it again.
Verizon's premire camera phone, the LG VX 6000 is hackable. When you press [MENU] it will give u a selection of options. Press 0 and a service code message will popup. The code is "0000000". A new menu opens up, which is full of cool features from FCC tests to changing ur phones call priority on the network. There is also a section for brew, where u can change the IP adddres of where Get It Now connects to. Use this if u want to upload games to ur phone for free.
If you had looked on SourceForge you would have found BitPim which lets you play with the embedded filesystems of most CDMA phones. It also does phone book, calendar, wallpaper, ringtones and other stuff for several models. And it ships on Windows, Linux and Mac.
They do this in Japan. I have a phone that I bought for about $60, they have an over the air provisioning service, but they also allow you to load custom apps just by visiting a URL. They prevent piracy by refusing to allow you to access content on the phone(it's probably possible, but most people just don't bother with it)
Meanwhile Verizon doesn't allow you to run custom apps on the hardware you bought.
Now I gotta go back and use their crappy service again, really blows!
The problem is that verizon cripples most of their phones such that you cannot download files via the web. Additionally, verizon phones don't speak j2me, they speak Brew. Brew apps require an expensive proprietary SDK and then can only officially be installed via their GetItNow interface (i.e. Verizon gets to bill you a few bucks per download).
There are ways to install brew apps via a data cable, but you still need a generated license file from Qualcomm for the thing to run. Getting this file runs upwards of $1000.
This actually reminded me that I had called and bitched to the Verizon Wireless executive offices and talked to a VP there who *assured me* that a program was in the works to upload these progs and ringtones, etc. for free via the data cable. A good year ago. Damn, wish I wrote her name down...
Oh well. I'm thinking I'll switch to T-Mobile anyway. The data rates on VZW are just ridiculous and they're far and away the worst when it comes to BS like this.
Sprint PCS offers what you're looking for. Let me rephrase that, they let you do what you're looking to do. Basically, they use J2ME which you can download the SDK for (free) and then download to your phone. Verizon uses Brew which doesn't let you do that, they require you to go through them.
With Sprint you can roll your own apps and download them from the web if you have your MIME types set correctly. Google for it, you should find all the info you need.
it certainly is a 'nokia' thing.
might have something to do that here in Finland you can't sell packages that have a phone+gsm subscription(rationale is that it becomes too hard for the customer to evaluate the REAL price of the phone when the price is tied into a monthly subscription and complicated fees). also ther newer(series60) phones would be pretty much reduced to useless crap if there weren't the huge number of 3rd party apps available.
besides, this way there has been an enermous number of companies that have done apps and games for their phones, as it is very easy to start doing.
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
So far, I'm very happy with the T720 - the only negative is it takes about 30 seconds for the phone to boot up - other than that it's been great.
Brian
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check out http://www.3gupload.com
I've found that if you use phone_number@vzwpix.com you can attach jpegs up to about 30k. Oddly, if you send a
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