After threatening to hack my new Verizon Razr V3c for a few weeks, I finally got around to actually doing it. Despite my wacky work on my old Nokia (blue LEDs! Custom operator logos! Homemade Van Halen ringtones!), I’m not a “because it’s there” phone hacker. I usually have a goal in mind; the mods come from functionality desires. This is no different.
The Razr is a great phone but Verizon has crippled some of its key functions. The thing has a USB jack on the side of it but you can’t transfer files. That’s dumb–but it’s absolutely unacceptable when you realize the V3c has 1.3 megapixel camera in it. So…I can take pictures but I can’t download them? Well, yes you can, says Verizon…for a fee. Just email them to yourself from the phone at a quarter a pop.
Um, no. I’d rather de-cripple the phone and let it do what Motorola intended.
I admit I was scared. However, with the wealth of information at Mark Venture’s site, I was fairly well armed. It took me a few times to get it right and I did do it wrong once or twice, but I dodged any personal damage and now I can transfer ringtones and photos back and forth the way I want. This invalidates my warranty but makes me feel…righteous.
Those of you out there who know me in real life, let me borrow your Verizon V3c overnight and I can free you from the shackles of shitty $2 Shakira ringtones. If you want to risk it, that is. Kat’s pink Razr is slated as Experiment #2.