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Locked phones that handcuff consumers to their network provider can finally be challenged by two important events. The first is the simultaneous announcements by Verizon, Sprint, and AT&T of plans to open their networks. The second event is the commercial release of a software product called Houdini, which unlocks cellular devices so they can easily be moved from one service provider’s network to another.
A ruling by the US Copyright Office in November 2006 pronounced that unlocking cell phones was legal. But what brought the issue to a head and to the attention of nationwide media was a New Jersey teenager who created a solution to unlock Apple’s iPhone. The funny thing is that unless consumers had decided to move their phone from one network to another, they may not have realized that the practice has been pervasive for years, and it’s only recently that handsets have been worth fighting for. All this makes the appearance of Houdini well timed in the market.
Houdini is a simple, inexpensive software tool that unlocks cell phones and smartphones and then reconfigures them with system settings of another service provider. The product is designed for wireless dealers, service providers, retailers and wholesalers to free phones from the boundaries imposed by carriers and handset manufacturers. It is undemanding enough for anyone with limited computer or handset knowledge to operate.
After connecting a specialized data cable to the wireless device and a USB port on a PC, the software application launches its auto-detect feature and does the work for you. Abracadabra! Houdini recognizes the phone model and software version of the current wireless service provider and after a few mouse clicks, it automatically reconfigures the device to the newly selected service provider. On screen instructions are provided for any further programming that is required to actually activate the phone on a new wireless network. A separate module designed for wholesale use allows up to 65 devices to be “Houdinied” at once.
Measuring RF Sensitivity
Another useful feature included in Houdini is a process that measures the receiver sensitivity of a handset. “The sensitivity measurement allows Houdini’s retailers to test a walk-in customer’s handset and determine if it is performing good, bad or somewhere in-between. Everyone has dropped calls, but you don’t know if it’s the system or the handset,” says Paul Posner, founder and creator of Houdini.
Posner is a twenty-year telecom veteran based in San Antonio, Texas. He has also launched Pocket Communications, an immensely popular flat rate PCS service similar to MetroPCS and Cricket covering south Texas. In the course of 18 months, Pocket has “taken South Texas by storm”, he says, “and currently has over 240,000 paying subscribers, achieved record penetration rates, and turned profitable in just nine months despite competing with Cricket in San Antonio, and being the only major market in the US where two flat rate providers compete head-to-head”.
While Pocket Communications is a local service provider, locked phones is a national issue causing major battles between the consumer and carriers. Unlocking handsets is as much a consumer-friendly venture as providing affordable flat rates.
Houdini is proud to be doing something that is pro consumer, which is significant to Posner’s strategy in business: “Work hard, work smart, and always do the right thing.” Giving people the use of their own phones across carriers and networks fits-in to that strategy very well indeed.
Paul Posner Pocket Communications 2819 NW Loop 410 San Antonio, TX 78230 210.447.1201 office 210.387.3146 cellphone