Palm Pre hacked and running on Verizon

It's not the fabled GSM Pre, but PreCentral forum member Cleanser has apparently managed to unlock his Pre's CDMA radio and get voice and SMS service on Verizon -- data's still a no-go, but he's working on it. Other devices have been flashed between the networks for years, so we've no doubt that this is possible, but we doubt it'll ever be super-easy -- according to Cleanser, the hardest part was getting someone to add his device's MEID to the system, and that's always gonna be tough, regardless of VZW's big talk about open network access. Still, it's heartening to see a webOS device on another carrier -- Palm, you want to maybe do this up official sometime? Video after the break.

[Via PreCentral]

[El Capitan @ Jul 10th 2009 12:00PM]

Verizon? Ew

[Anticrawl @ Jul 10th 2009 12:40PM]

Fact - http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/5167/factbest3g.gif

I for one enjoy my Verizon service out here in New Orleans and my $49.99 unlimited minutes/data/text plan on my Blackberry.

[FNG @ Jul 10th 2009 12:57PM]

?

best carrier I've had. and I've had them all




that's what she said.

[el Capitan @ Jul 10th 2009 1:14PM]

I coudn't agree more.

Wait a minute.....!?

[tyler @ Jul 10th 2009 1:20PM]

Yeah, it sucks having good service everywhere..

[MW @ Jul 10th 2009 2:25PM]

Crappy store personnel, great service otherwise.

[JOe @ Jul 12th 2009 11:20AM]

ignorance ew

[cbgoding @ Jul 10th 2009 12:00PM]

No blurrycam comment? What's wrong with you, engadget?

[anexanhume @ Jul 10th 2009 12:22PM]

This never ceases to amaze me.

"I can spend countless hours hacking a device to run on another network, but I'll be damned if I can take 30 seconds to properly focus the camera on the device."

[Anticrawl @ Jul 10th 2009 12:44PM]

Bleh I replied to the wrong comment. I might as well run with it and say that those results were concluded BEFORE Verizon aquired Alltel/US Cellular.

[Anticrawl @ Jul 10th 2009 12:46PM]

But without a doubt I'd go Verizon if I was (and am) a traveling business man, but were I just a local user Sprint would be my best bet thanks to all the cool phones/features/cheap plans. AT&T would be a desperation choice if I somehow managed to live in the middle of nowhere with them as my only local provider.

[Dan @ Jul 10th 2009 12:52PM]

How do you get that plan for $50?

[Anticrawl @ Jul 10th 2009 12:58PM]

A special unlimited plan they ran for a short while to push their blackberries when they first came to verizon. So long as I keep my plan paid I keep the contract. And people say cell contracts are bad.

[KC @ Jul 10th 2009 1:32PM]

That video does not prove anything. Maybe the hack was just to change the Sprint icon to a Verizon icon.

You are correct about the "take 30 seconds to focus the camera". If you watch the video, the door handle is always in focus. That guy has to learn something about minimum focal length about his video cam.

[Will @ Jul 10th 2009 4:06PM]

@kc: turn your speakers on, it clearly says 'verizon wireless', and you can hear it programming the phone.

[BrokenMonkey @ Jul 11th 2009 1:04AM]

I'd bet the lack of focusing was the combination of two things: using a crappy point-and-shoot that doesn't focus up close, and using a camera with a tiny screen so you can't tell if it's in focus while you're filming it.

[El Capitan @ Jul 10th 2009 12:01PM]

Verizon? Ew

[El Capitan @ Jul 10th 2009 12:02PM]

Stupid messed up comment system...

[Leindurstit @ Jul 10th 2009 12:35PM]

That's OK. A good comment deserves a double-post.

[XGM @ Jul 10th 2009 12:54PM]

Just click once, one problem solved...

[Justin @ Jul 10th 2009 1:40PM]

Never really liked Verizon either, but they do have the largest number of customers and the most ubiquitous network in the US. The Pre would have sold much better had it been released on Verizon first.

[Josh @ Jul 10th 2009 12:02PM]

Glad to see this happening, get the data going and we'll talk, webos and verizons network could be a big win

[crashcarstar @ Jul 10th 2009 12:02PM]

So when exactly is VZW going to open up their network to allow exactly this to happen?

[darkstar @ Jul 10th 2009 12:04PM]

holy SHINTO!!!

[bighap @ Jul 10th 2009 12:05PM]

Yeah, having the best coverage in the US is so ew.

[CHRiS @ Jul 10th 2009 12:30PM]

brainwash much? Verizon has LOTS of dead spots in Las Vegas, call them about it, and they say keep driving, you'll get to a better spot - with some pompous ass attitude. I hate Verizon, and all their slow ass data networks here, and as well, as all their customer service folks who I am very nice to and seem to have some high horse attitude when anyone calls in and says something isn't working right. I got rid of that piece of shit storm and the worse cell company in the USA, Verizon after my 2 weeks of hell.

[Platinum_Skeet @ Jul 10th 2009 12:55PM]

Every network has it's weaknesses over in Colorado Verizon and Sprint are pretty much everywhere but T-Mobile and AT&T have issues so it's all on location. Not every company has the best coverage everywhere...

[216 @ Jul 10th 2009 12:06PM]

how does that pic prove that its running on VZW?

[Josh @ Jul 10th 2009 12:17PM]

the read link is your friend

[Drew @ Jul 10th 2009 12:06PM]

Verizon eww indeed, but this may lead to esn swapping which may lead to getting it on Sprint w/o the everything plan... SERO 4tw?

[Brandon L @ Jul 10th 2009 12:33PM]

I'm sure while that might work for a while, they'd catch on pretty quickly.

[iofthestorm @ Jul 11th 2009 12:04AM]

Isn't ESN swapping very illegal?

[Matt @ Jul 10th 2009 12:09PM]

If this is possible with the Palm Pre why isn't there more news of the iPhone running on Verizon?

Or did I just miss this when the iPhone first came out?

[Jeremy W @ Jul 10th 2009 12:12PM]

Verizon uses CDMA, and the Pre is a CDMA (and GSM, but that doesn't matter) device. The iPhone is GSM, which means it can't work on Verizon's network.

[why not the LS2LS7? @ Jul 10th 2009 12:13PM]

Pre is a CDMA2000 phone, the iPhone is a GSM phone. So it's very difficult to move the iPhone over to Verizon (which uses CDMA2000) than the Pre.

[Trimzulu @ Jul 10th 2009 12:13PM]

Are you serial?

[Kamokazi @ Jul 10th 2009 12:15PM]

Or maybe you have no idea how basic cellular technology works, since Sprint and Verizon use CDMA and ATT and T-Moblie (and most of the rest of the world) use GSM, there're it's technically impossible to use the iPhone on Sprint or Verizon.

[why not the LS2LS7? @ Jul 10th 2009 12:15PM]

Can't is a little strong. 3G GSM is CDMA and the iPhone does that, and in fact the iPhone is sold in Japan for use on CDMA networks.

So if you had unlimited access to the iPhone, you maybe could program it to run on Verizon's network. But as a hacker, your ability to modify the behavior is a bit more limited.

[spookthehamster @ Jul 10th 2009 12:29PM]

@why not the LS2LS7?

Same technology does not mean same frequencies.

[Ron @ Jul 10th 2009 12:33PM]

W-CDMA exists in Japan, also known as 3G which is a GSM only thing. There are no known CDMA iPhone in existence. Won't be until Verizon starts doing LTE probably. The Japanese iPhone takes a SIM card, last I checked the ESN/MEID of a phone doesn't reside on a SIM ;)

[CHRiS @ Jul 10th 2009 12:34PM]

@whynot,
W-CDMA ≠ CDMA

[Steve @ Jul 10th 2009 12:36PM]

Verizon = CDMA
iPhone = GSM

[Frankenstein Black @ Jul 10th 2009 1:22PM]

@Ron

Exactly! Verizon will not see any type of iPhone until LTE (4G). And I (not to brag or anything) am probably one of the most qualified to prevent Verizon from LOOSING MILLIONS in equipment gray/black-market reselling when they transition to a device detached SIM subscription model (which is something they have NO experience with). Aye yo Ivan, hit me on the cell ;^)...

[why not the LS2LS7? @ Jul 10th 2009 1:30PM]

Ron:
Actually, W-CDMA is CDMA. You're trying to say W-CDMA != CDMA2000. That is indeed true. That's why I said with unlimited access, you probably could make it work, but hackers cannot. It would take some significant reprogramming of the baseband, to say the least. And the existence of the SIM slot in the iPhone doesn't mean the baseband requires a SIM to operate. It's just programmed to use it normally. There are plenty of combination CDMA2000 and GSM phones on Verizon (Blackberries), so technologically the iPhone may not be far off. No one on here can say it is impossible, just that we'll never see hackers able to make it work.

spook:
The frequencies are not a problem. Verizon only uses 850MHZ and 1900MHz, which are both supported by the iPhone (as AT&T uses them also).

[why not the LS2LS7? @ Jul 10th 2009 2:35PM]

Strike that last probably I put in there, I should have typed maybe.

[Ron @ Jul 11th 2009 2:13PM]

@whynot Never said GSM *requires* a SIM card, just one of the main ways those without knowledge distinguish the two (I myself have a few phones/devices that have no SIM card slot). W-CDMA is so far off the CDMA2000 spec that it actually does fall in the GSM arena (more specifically, the 3G thats used by GSM operators). Sure, with a buttload of baseband hacking anything is possible, but really...with everything else that goes into making a phone work with another carrier/service type, why not just wait? Verizon can easily block the phone without even lifting a finger.

And FYI, the "global" Blackberries that Verizon sells have two chipsets--GSM and CDMA. It also has a SIM card slot!

[Eh? @ Jul 12th 2009 11:35AM]

@why not the LS2LS7?

The radio transport having the acronym W-CDMA in it means nothing over the fact that it stands for "Wideband-Code Division Multiple Access"

W-CDMA does not understand standard CDMA and vice-versa, no amount of programming access to a device will change that. Both are forms of the CDMA protocol, yes, but that's where the similarities end. Even to rip out the UMTS (GSM+HSPA) chipset and insert a 1XRTT/EVDO chipset, any network the device would try to communicate with would just ignore the device as the handshaking and various broadcasting "languages" are handled by different radio controllers. Normal CDMA towers just don't speak W-CDMA.

The Combo blackberries on the CDMA carriers have 2 very different chipsets in them, 1 for 1XRTT/EVDO and one for GSM/EDGE (or in some cases UMTS), each with their own radios that broadcast over their respective air interface protocols. Each chipset does not know how to communicate with the other's radio controller.

Let's say by some miracle you were able to alter the firmware of a chipset to be able to communicate with the other radio controller. That doesn't get you anything as then the network you're trying to connect to doesn't speak the language your device is trying to talk to it with, and the tower wouldn't recognize your device or hand it off to anything else if it could as it wouldn't know where to send it. On large cell towers that have a multitude of antennas and handle multiple carriers, those towers have different sets of co-located cellular equipment built to talk to their own carrier's networks. The different carriers' antennas on that tower don't know the other equipment even exists.

[p3t3b2 @ Jul 10th 2009 12:17PM]

I'm calling BS on this, the video precentral has, the person never demonstrates voice or text. Only a so-called programming is shown.

[edgar wong @ Jul 10th 2009 12:24PM]

I don't see whats the hurry of paying $50 more a month for a similar plan on Verizon when Sprint gives me everything under the sun for $99. Even free Telenav GPS which ATT just released for their iphone and are charging an additional $9.99 to their already hideously expensive plans. Sprint has great coverage and awesome data speeds. Also, the most dependable data network :)

http://palmwebosblog.com/palm-pre/sprint-named-most-reliable-network-in-pc-worlds-3g-comparison-tests/


But to each their own.

[Tab @ Jul 10th 2009 12:27PM]

If Only Sprint (When It Was Still Sprint Pcs) Had Stayed GSM. Does Anyone Else Remember When They First Came Out With Wireless Sprint Was GSM For A VERY Short Time. Sorry About The Caps But Am Typing This In T9.