vB Easy Archive - What can be done with inactive Blackberries?

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What can be done with inactive Blackberries?
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Posted by: paddedcell

I work in IT in my company and have been collecting the unused one's (after upgrades or after users give up).

I was wondering what (if anything) I can do with them. Any hacks? Can I put linux on them?

Put your techie/geeky/hacking hats on... if you had time to kill and had internet access... what would you download or how would you hack into this.

Thanks.

Posted by: GregGebhardt

A blackberry is not soemthing you can "hack" at will.

RIM is quite proud that they CAN'T be hacked!

If they were easy to "hack", what good would they be for secure use?

You, being in the IT at your company should know there is no hacking into the Blackberry OS.

Posted by: steva11

blackberries are pretty restricted to customization. no linux option, basically it's changing appearance (themes and stuff) or installing 3rd party apps.

Posted by: DubDub

Donate them to a homeless shelter or other organization that distributes them to people in need, generally battered women, to act as an SOS device. They are enabled for 911 only.

Be sure you wipe to get rid of all data and remove the IT Policies.

Posted by: steva11

yeah, that's a really good idea, women's shelters could really use them.

Posted by: Bcollins521

Paperweights too....good to hold down the stack of papers on your desk from a busy day

Posted by: metal_geek

Blackberry Shuffleboard?

Posted by: mebiuspower

Posted by: paddedcell

OK thanks folks. I hack around with cell phones and such.. just thought there would be something that could be done with them, while they are in my posession. We actually use them for users's wanting a blackberry, but don't want to buy a new one. I just setup a guy the other day with one.

As for me and IT, my whole team is at a bit of a loss when it comes to knowing about BB's. we run the enterprise activation and hand them over to the user. I'm hoping to learn more through playing with these old ones.

Thanks for the feedback from all.

Posted by: steva11

check out www.blackberry.com/btsc for lots of stuff

Posted by: SDEEDY

You could put them through the Blackberry Trade-up program.

Posted by: paddedcell

Quote:

Originally Posted by SDEEDY

You could put them through the Blackberry Trade-up program.

Cool idea speedy. I'll have to look into this...
Now where is that thread for "Best Blackberry Model on the Market"????? ;-)

Posted by: Mr. Bond

Which BlackBerry's were you using prior to the upgrades?

Posted by: paddedcell

Quote:

Originally Posted by AccessCellular

Which BlackBerry's were you using prior to the upgrades?

I have a couple of 4290's at my disposal.. but haven't "used' any for any period of time that would constitute... experience! LOL.

Posted by: Mr. Bond

Quote:

Originally Posted by paddedcell

I have a couple of 4290's at my disposal.. but haven't "used' any for any period of time that would constitute... experience! LOL.

Ha ha. I've heard that the Smithsonian is looking for new things to fill their shelves

Posted by: WhiteBerryPearl

Quote:

Originally Posted by DubDub

Donate them to a homeless shelter or other organization that distributes them to people in need, generally battered women, to act as an SOS device. They are enabled for 911 only.

Be sure you wipe to get rid of all data and remove the IT Policies.

Oh wow I didn't know that's how it worked, that's great

I have a stash of collected cell phones, I will have to send them on over!

Posted by: sempai

Quote:

Originally Posted by GregGebhardt

A blackberry is not soemthing you can "hack" at will.

RIM is quite proud that they CAN'T be hacked!

If they were easy to "hack", what good would they be for secure use?

You, being in the IT at your company should know there is no hacking into the Blackberry OS.

uh, except that the oldschool radio models could be re-flashed to run GoodLink.

so. yeah.

Posted by: DCookSta

Quote:

Originally Posted by sempai

uh, except that the oldschool radio models could be re-flashed to run GoodLink.

so. yeah.

Never heard of this...which oldscool models are you talking about?

Posted by: sempai

Quote:

Originally Posted by DCookSta

Never heard of this...which oldscool models are you talking about?

Any of the Mobitex models, except for the "pager style" one. I don't think there was a GoodLink install for those.

Also, it is interesting to note, that in DC on 9/11 the only method of communication that I had that was reliable was my Mobitex BlackBerry. the GSM and CDMA networks were completely congested. But that guy worked great.