Operators locking handsets Symbian Signed

[Rafe]

Simon Judge is reporting on his blog that some operators (Vodafone Japan) are locking down S60 3rd Edition handsets so that only Symbian Signed applications can be installed. This means that self-signed applications can not be installed.

Read on in the full article.

[N/A]

Not a new thing in Japan; it was already done by Vodafone for the 6630 (a Symbian OS 8.0a/S60 2nd Edition Feature Pack 2 device).

[Rafe]

Ah N/A thanks for that. I never saw it come up with the 6630. I imagine it actually better this time round since so much software is being Symbian Signed.

[viipottaja]

So now even the Japanese have the chance to enjoy the first taste of the N-series

[N/A]

One thing that might be worth noting is that the signing check on pre-Symbian 9 was only done at the installation time for the .sis file. Easy to circumvent; unpack the .sis on a PC, or install on some device without this restriction and just copy the individual files.

With Symbian 9 and its Platform Security in place this approach will not work (which should make sw piracy a bit more difficult for the cases where the application depends on protected capabilities that actually require Symbian Signing).

Though, I think operators should still allow permit unsigned or at least self-signed apps.

[rbrunner]

I guess that Symbian is on a very delicate walk: Do not offer enough security, and some carriers threaten to jump ship and look for other OS that they can lock down as of their liking. Offer too much or too expensive security, and you angry the developers and ultimately power users that do not get enough choice of third-party software...

If only the "normal" smartphone users, all those millions of owners of S60 phones, would be a stronger voice in this concert, on the side of the developers of course

[krisse]

If you are a "power user" though, surely you'd be able to buy a smartphone sim-free instead of using a network-provided one?

I'm a bit confused though, I didn't think they had any S60 models in Japan, just their own UI for Symbian (called SOAD or something).

[N/A]

NTT DoCoMo has their "MOAP" platform in their "FOMA" range. Those are Symbian 6.1 based with Fujitsu doing the sw for various manufacturers providing phones.

However, Japanese operators have also Nokia S60 models starting with the 6630, then 6680. Latest is the N71 introduced as the Vodafone 804NK.

[nj7]

It´s because a things like taht, that mine phones are all network free. I don´t like the stuff they install, it occupies precious RAM space and some times even they remove thinga like bluetooth. May be a little cheap, but we never know what kind of device we have.

[zero3son]

Hello! I got the nokia N71 (804NK here in Japan) Well as we all know, it cannot install third party applications or themes (unless symbian signed). How about the ring tones? I' ve converted some ring tones to aac format using the pc suite. I can play them on the phone but whe I try set them as ringtone it says "Unable to set as ring tone unprotected format". Is there a work around for that? Do the tones need to be DRM protected or some thing? I've got the sony DRM packager, Nokia mobile internet toolkit. Can anybody give me tips on this one? Your help is very appreciated. Thanks!

[kirre]

In Italy, TIM has locked the phone to accept "only signed" applications

I've got N73(Softbank 705NK) in Japan and still it's locked.
Only Symbian Signed application allow to install.
Is there a way to install application without sign such as extracting a
sis file?

I have a Nokia N73 from Softbank here in Tokyo. "NK705" is their designation for this model. It is indeed sadly crippled. In addition to the install lock described in the article above, there are also other restrictions. For example, .mp4 video files copied to the phone do not play on the bundled RealPlayer. The first frame is visible, then when "play" is pushed, the phone launches RealPlayer, then stops with the following error message: "unable to play media clip". This seems a bald-faced lie for "won't play unless you buy it from us". There is no alternate Symbian-signed vid player for this phone, so it can't be used to play back home vids, converted DVD files, mp4 clips emailed from home, etc. I have yet to put in one of my mp3 files and see if it plays, but I doubt it would. I had the Softbank (then Voda Japan) Nokia 6630, and it simply would not play any music files not purchased thru the provider. I was able to use HalWin to un-sis an Ogg Player and play my music that way, but it seems the unsis-then-copy-to-phone approach to installs does not reliably work on Softbank's version of the N73. In addition, the new version of Symbian OS .sis files is no longer compatible with HalWin or other unsis tools. There are newer versions out there, but they are command-line Python apps which are beyond my current capability. And, reading the above, it sounds like they may not work anyway. How incredibly irritating that I have to pay for this phone, but it is crippled.

my dutch vodafone e50 s60 v3 is also locled to signed applications..

My Nokia N73 / Softbank 705NK also is locked. I get "certificate error" for nearly every application and theme I try to install.

Even worse, it does not play my mp3 tunes. Only m4a.

Why impose such hard restricition at the point of this high end phone looses its best capabilties??? Besides the camera, because of this restrictions It is meaningless for me to spend extra money for this phone.

I am wandering if I can change the firmeware of the phone, turning it into a normal N73. Does anybody knows if it is possible?