Screwing around with CDMA handsets is no fun at all. You’ve taken the SIM card out of the equation, so a hefty chunk of the data that defines whether or not you can connect is stored on the carrier’s server. As such, getting a phone like the Palm Pre onto Verizon is as much social engineering as it is technical hackery.
The above video shows the early results of an attempt at just that. The process is by no means for faint of heart: first you have to unlock the SPC, then you have to call and convince a Verizon rep to add your Pre’s MEID to your account. It’s not that VZW employees aren’t generally willing to add the MEID – it’s that they often have no damn clue how. Then there’s still a bit of modification to be done on the phone itself by way of some rather intense software. In the end, only voice and text are currently working, though they hope to have data cracked sometime soon.
[Via Giz]