I have a problem: I like to collect GSM phones. Right now, I have seven.

From left to right.

• MOTORAZR V3
• MOTORIZR Z3
• MOTOSLVR L7i (current phone in use)
• Motorola V188 (running V220 software)
• Sony Ericsson K700i
• Nokia of some description
• Samsung T619

Ugh.

Just got MIDPSSH to work on my Razr. Had to perform a few hacks to get around the T-Mobile Firewall (SSHD now listens on port 110), but there is some perverse pleasure in seeing a linux command prompt on my Razr.

Maybe I need to do some real work now.

Technorati Tags: Razr, SSH, MIDPSSH, T-mobile

On my trip to Europe earlier this month, I picked up a Razr V3 that had been abandoned by one of my colleagues in the UK. Sitting in a drawer, it looked so lonely and abandoned.

It probably wishes it had stayed there.

Since I got it, I have been exploring all of the sites and boards that discuss the various hacks that people have performed on this magnificent piece of technology. Short of some of the advanced procedures (still trying to figure out how to convert the bluetooth into a directed energy weapon), this is not the same phone I received two weeks ago.

I have flashed the firmware (twice), switched on the Autoupdate feature for the Time/Date, and removed all of the Vodafone specific branding that came with the device.

I now understand how you can become heavily involved in phone modding. This device, which is a simple V3 that you see everywhere, is more powerful than my first 386. I can cruise the Web using Opera Mini, check directions using Google Mini-Maps, and use it as a modem if I am ever stuck for a connection somewhere.

I also have the Motorola Phone Tools software installed, so I can control my phone over USB.

A lot of what I have learned and done over the last three days is definitely in a “grey zone” as far as Motorola is concerned. However, given the number of people doing this, Motorola should open up their tools and let people know how to make the mods they want.

In fact, I would love to see Motorola should run a contest to see who can build the coolest Flash pack for the V3 that can be used by anyone. That would build intense customer interest and would make the V3 even more of a geek toy than it is now.

It is the single coolest gadget I have ever owned. It even outranks the Treo and the Zen Micro.

For those of you out there into the risk of turning your slek and sexy phone into a brick, I suggest Motox or MotoModders as places to start.

Long live MotoModding.

Technorati Tags: Razr V3, V3, Moto, MotoModding, Motorola, hacks, flash, modding

I have been recovering from travelling, working like a dog for the man, and trying to fit in some time with my family. Been a long couple of months around here, and we have to start ramping up soon for the three-week adventure back to the Homeland, aka Canada.

I have also developed a new addiction, but that is for another post…

Technorati Tags: Life, Razr

When I got to the London office, I started talking about how I had an addiction to sexy GSM phones, and showed off my collection. I then noted that the Motorola Razr seems to be a pretty hot commodity these days in London. My colleagues laughed, and one of them pulled his old Razr out of a drawer, effectively saying that it was so last year.

Since the Razr was unlocked, I asked if he was doing anything with it. So, I am now the proud owner of a first-series black Razr, a London office cast-off.

Seems that all of Europe wants a Sony-Ericsson W-series or the Nokia N-series. Razrs are so old school.

When I arrived in Germany with my Treo 600 now relegated to backup position by the Rzr, one of my German colleagues was bemoaning the fact that any PDA phone was horrendously expensive. I then offered him up the Treo 600, which I had adopted from its previous owner. After a hard reset, he spent the rest of the day fiddling with it, and grinning maniacally.

Sometimes technology just finds its way to the right place.

Technorati Tags: Razr, Treo 600, European phones, GSM