(keitai-l) Re: Installing symbian native apps on Vodafone 702NK

From: <Martyn_Williams_at_idg.com>
Date: 03/23/05
Message-ID: <OF799C46FA.DD8FA91D-ON49256FCC.007DD38B-49256FCC.007EFA4A@idg.com>
Folks,

Let's spare a thought for the operator here .... by having the phone set so
that it will only accept signed applications (issued by Symbian for several
hundred euros) it drastically cuts down on the chances that users will
install buggy apps that mess up their phone or install torjans and viruses.
These Symbian viruses making the headlines aren't signed and so phones set
to only accept signed software are immune - at least at present. Why should
the operator care about this .... because if you trash your phone, who are
you going to call? Vodafone, right? It makes no sense for them to carry the
heavy support weight of all these users doing stupid things with their
phones and it could also hurt their brand image if people complain about
bugs and such.

So, I don't think its entirely unreasonable - but I'm sure some will
disagree with me!

As Johan mentioned, you can change this setting in the phone to allow for
installation of unsigned apps ..... except on the 702NK! It seems that
Vodafone Japan (presumably not being subject to the same competition and
market forces as in Europe) has hard coded this selection so that even if
you make the change in the menu, the phone still won't install the apps!

Luckily, there is a well advertised way around this. You need to obtain
some software that unpacks the Symbian SIS files and then unpack them
yourself on your PC and drag and drop the files over to your phone by hand.
I'm using some software called Unsis on my Mac. There are a couple of
Windows apps too. This works with almost all packages and also allows
installation of themes too (Themes are packaged as SIS apps too).

You can find details (in Japanese) here:

http://series60.sakura.ne.jp/6630/pukiwiki.php?%C4%B6%BE%A1%BC%EA%A5%A2%A5%D7%A5%EA%BE%F0%CA%F3
http://series60.sakura.ne.jp/6630/pukiwiki.php?%C4%B6%BE%A1%BC%EA%A5%A2%A5%D7%A5%EA%A4%CB%A4%C4%A4%A4%A4%C6%A4%CE%B5%C4%CF%C0

To my mind it seems like almost the perfect solution. Enough of a hassle
that only the truly geeky or dedicated will bother - exactly the people who
realize that if they mess up their phone they only have themselves to
blame!

Good luck with the method above. It's a bit fiddly but works fine for me. I
recommend trying to add a couple of themes first - these are easy because
they consist of just two files - and then moving onto applications. Agile
Messenger is great little app and FExlplorer lets you delve inside the ROM.

Regards,

Martyn
Received on Wed Mar 23 01:07:08 2005