Hackers versus Nokia 2-2: new firmware breaks latest hack

Symbian has the annoying habit of wrestling control of your phone out of your hands. Many applications, especially freeware, need to be approved by the censors at Symbian Signed before you can install them on your phone. Customising menus, icons and folder names, getting rid of the camera shutter sound, backing up messages, settings, and calendar entries without PC Suite, increasing the alarm timeout on Sony Ericsson phones, seeing what's in the system folders, ... you need to hack your phone to make it do what you want.

First the hackers used a program called AppTRK to connect your computer to the brains of your phone to set it free. Nokia's firmware updates killed it.

Next came HelloCarbide, which allowed you to hack your phone from within, without the need to connect it to a computer.

But the latest firmware for the Nokia N82 won't let you run HelloCarbide. It won't work on new Nokias like the N96 either. Hackers versus Nokia 2-2, and we're waiting for the hackers to take the lead again.

There's still a way to have the latest N82 firmware hacked, but only if you apply the hack before you update your phone:
1) Install the hack on your phone while you still have the old firmware.
2) Make a full backup of your phone memory.
3) Update your firmware.
4) Restore the backup of your phone memory.

Of course this won't work if you buy a new phone that already has the latest, hackproof firmware. And Nokia may lash out with new firmware that breaks the backup/restore method, so think twice before you decide a firmware update is worth the risk of having your phone all locked down again.

• Guides for hacking Symbian, installing unsigned programs, making backups without PC Suite, modifying menus and icons, switching off the camera shutter sound, and more: symbianhack.site666.info