[Jonathan Weston @ Dec 19th 2005 12:04AM]

Please do not email me with questions about your phone

[ v710 Info Page | Seem Hacking | SMIL GW ]

[This is a copy of my article published in Pen Computing Magazine : Original Copy ]

Manufacture an amazing piece of technology and then cripple all of the good features so you can profit. This is how many v710 users describe their new Bluetooth-enabled phone from Verizon. The v710 appeared to be a truly amazing product from the manufacturer's initial feature list - Bluetooth support, Megapixel Camera, POP3 email, and Instant Messenger. That is, before Verizon decided to disable several of its features for what many believe (and what Verizon doesn't deny) was an effort to drive up revenue. If all you plan on doing is talking on the phone, you won't have any problems - the phone functions with all Verizon-approved hands-free devices. Then again, who would pay the hefty $519 list price for a phone if they just wanted to talk on it?

After buying the new v710, many consumers quickly discovered they were unable to perform several basic functions which other similarly equipped phones, from other carriers, were capable of doing. Simple functions, such as sending a phone book record to another phone or a picture to a laptop computer, exist only in some locked area of the v710 noone can access. This is because some critical Bluetooth profiles have been deactivated on the handset; primarily OBEX (Object Exchange) , OPP (Object Push Profile), and SPP (Serial Port Profile). These services are responsible for transferring photos and phone numbers or performing synchronization with a PC wirelessly. Lack of these feature has also caused many vehicles with Bluetooth support (such as the Prius, Acura TL, and BMW) to malfunction. The only sure-fire way to transfer anything to or from the phone, in fact, is to shell out $60 for a TransFlash memory card - and new versions of Verizon firmware are being leaked out showing this feature has already been crippled in future releases. Looking around for the POP3 email client or instant messenger? It was advertised as a capability by the manufacturer, but you won't find it either, because Verizon had those features switched off as well. The irony is that Motorola, who doesn't sell these handsets directly to the public, has done a significant amount of advertising on their own for a handset that, thanks to the carrier, will never exist in its advertised state.

I decided to call up Verizon and get to the bottom of the matter, and engaged in a discussion with Verizon's Corporate Handset, Product Distribution, and Marketing honcho, Brenda Raney, asking targetted questions about many of these features and why they were not on the phone as expected. Apart from the usual "we never advertised these features" spiel, I was very shocked to see that Verizon was so up-front and open about their hostile attitude regarding consumers.

Q. Many people feel that Verizon has specifically disabled these features to force them to use your Get-it-Now and PIX Place service.

A. And your point is?

Q. Well, these features are available in phones from many other carriers, and people feel cheated.

A. Verizon does business unlike any other carrier, and we make no apologies for that. ... [Those features] don't work with our business model. Every customer is certainly entitled to their own feelings.

Q. Do you foresee that OBEX/OPP will be enabled anytime in the near future?

A. No.

Q. The average joe can go out and fork over $60 for a TransFlash card, which will allow them to transfer pictures, MP3s, whatever...and at no profit to Verizon...so why not just enable these features on the phone and give the customers a break?

A. That's where the security issue comes in.

What Security Issue? I had heard this story from Verizon, which was that they were investigating security issues with the phone, but this appeared only to be an afterthought in comparison with Verizon's profitability needs. The story didn't appear to hold water, and I got the feeling she understood that. Bluetooth has some basic front-line security designed to prevent someone from arbitrarily transferring files to/from the phone without performing a "bonding" ritual. On top of this, the v710 sports a "stealth mode" where it will remain invisible from discovery unless the owner specifically makes it visible (at 60-second intervals) so there's little chance a stranger will even know it's there let alone have the MAC address. If you're still concerned about Bluejacking, the Bluetooth radio can be shut off entirely with a couple of button presses, which is what most users do anyway to conserve power. If you want Fort Knox, you got it...and even if someone did Bluejack you, they'd have to be within smacking distance. The real security issue appears to be what Verizon allegedly considers a "revenue leak" in providing handsets with such features.

Lately, however, Raney has been telling a slightly different story - that mysterious contracts require Verizon to protect BREW games and applications, but this smells funny too. For one, every BREW application is digitally signed on the handset's electronic serial number, making it impossible to run one BREW app on another phone even if you did copy it. In fact, one consistent gripe from Verizon customers is that they have to purchase the same game over and over again whenever they swap out a damaged handset or upgrade. Even more awkward about this, however, is that enabling Bluetooth features such as OBEX and OPP don't normally require providing access to every file on the phone - in fact, uncrippled handsets sold by other carriers (as well as nearly any other piece of Bluetooth-enabled equipment) only allow access to a very small subset of directories on the handset for performing specific tasks (such as transferring photos, ringtones, and music). Even laptops configured to share files via Bluetooth don't allow the client to access the entire filesystem (unless the laptop's owner specifically sets it up that way). BREW applications are hidden deep within the filesystem structure and would risk no additional exposure by enabling the crippled Bluetooth profiles. Ironically enough, BREW games can already be copied using a $20 USB cable - a capability Verizon seems to take very little interest in. As I said, however, you can't do anything with them once they're copied leaving any attempt at piracy pointless, just like Ms. Raney's poor excuse.

Q. So what would you say to the consumer who paid for this phone and expected to receive [these features]?

A. [When a customer buys a phone] there's a level of risk. ... We never advertised these features.... We have a fifteen day satisfaction guarantee.

True, this handset (like all Verizon handsets) do in fact have a 15-day return period - no questions asked. So why don't people just take it back? The problem seems to go back to suspicious misinformation provided to customers and Motorola's seemingly suspicious relationship with Verizion. Many consumers quickly phoned Verizon's customer service department upon realizing the phone lacked some basic functionality. Verizon, rather than telling their customers that the features were crippled, quickly steered them to Motorola for answers. Motorola, in turn, has been informing customers from day 1 that the features were on the way - just hang onto the handset until November 2004. November quickly turned into "December", which has now turned into "at some point in the future". In my discussion with some top people at Motorola (including a lead PR person and a software engineer), I made this known, and was informed that this was a miscommunication in their tech support department that needed to be fixed. I would have believed them if, three months after the fact, they weren't still propagating this misinformation. So like good little customers, most took Motorola at their word and hung onto their handsets beyond the two