Slashdot Mirror
Hacking the Motorola v265
phoric writes "Unfortunately, Verizon Wireless cripples their phones so that you have to use their fee-based service in order to add new ringtones, or to transfer the pictures you take with the camera. The Verizon logo conceals the date display on the main screen and covers over the top portion of the background, among various other corporate silliness. Selling a device that is intentionally crippled is just plain ridiculous. Of course, the only natural thing to do in a situation like this is to hack it."
that would seem like something that should have been mentioned...
I switched from Verizon to T-Mobile and have been very happy with them except for lack of coverage in some places. I can dial up my favorite ISP with my bluetooth phone for no extra fee, and did I mention I got a bluetooth phone? Verizon Wireless appears to have only heard of bluetooth about 3 months ago, and they seem to have only a brushing acquaintance with that European phone maker, Nokia.
Unfortunately, T-mobile may be history pretty soon, and that likely means more consolidation and less competition in the U.S. mobile phone market.
What's the next best option? Cingular or Sprint? I hear terrible things about Sprint's service, and Cingular just merged with AT&T Wireless, which had a horrendous reputation for customer service.
it's = "it is"; its = possessive. E.g., it's flapping its wings.
Unfortunately, Verizon Wireless cripples their phones so that you have to use their fee-based service in order to add new ringtones, or to transfer the pictures you take with the camera.
Unfortunately, you can easily buy a data cable w/ software to hook up to your computer, which lets you transfer pictures, movies, ring tones, address book, etc. My friend and I use it on our samsung phones.
As for wallpaper, it's not bad if you've got a data cable (or built-in IR (like I've got) or Bluetooth), because it's free (unless the bastards at your phone company disabled it. Shenanigans like that are why I won't look at Verizon
Verizon doesn't disable that feature, at least not on all phones. The LG VX7000 I have now, and the LG VX4400 I had before it, can both transfer ringtones and wallpapers over the data cable for free. You don't even need to buy Verizon's cable; you can get one for $10 at Radio Shack or on eBay.
Visual IRC: Fast. Powerful. Free.
I've got the same phone; I bought it while being fully aware of the crap that Verizon pulls. Luckily I'm not really affected by the limitations, I just use BT for handsfree operation and I'm not into crappy digital pictures (got a real camera for that). They do however have a decent network and 90% of my friends are on Verizon, so switching wasn't really an option for me.
.mid. I haven't tried it personally (just got a couple of tunes from a friend who did it - you can msg them from phone to phone). YMMV, use it at your own risk, blah blah all disclaimers apply... but let me know if it works for you :)
Anyway, there is a workaround to the mp3 ringtone block. Apparently you can convert the mp3 to 32kbps, mono and email it to @vzwpix.net. When you get the message, save it as a ringtone. Voila, free (almost) mp3 ringtone. Some people find it helps if you rename it to
If con is the opposite of pro, is Congress the opposite of progress?