Database Info

[Q] Certificate Store in WP7

Hi,
As per the subject, I have been given a Windows Phone 7 device and been tasked to see if a root/user certificate can be extracted from the phone.
We install certificates onto mobile devices such as iPhones, to allow IPSEC VPN tunnels and secure access to exchange servers.
Using the tools I found on this site, I have managed to unlock my test WP7 device, installed the root and user certificates on my WP7 (I downloaded it from our test site) and I also install Advanced File Explorer on WP7 phone.
Based on my rudimentary research, the Certificate Store is not accessible on a WP7 device and the only to remove a certificate from the store is to reset the phone to factory settings.
In the root of the WP7 phone, there is a file called drmstore.dat. I have used Advanced File Explorer to copy this file to my desktop and using NotePad++ see that it does have some MS root certicates in there. But is this the file that would contain the user installed certificates?
My WP7 experience is limited to 3 days so far, so was hoping somebody could point me in the right direction wrt to file location. From what I've read, the OS does seem to be designed really well, so I am hoping that it is indeed impossible to extract the certificate from the device.
The only reason we are doing this test is to work out if the new phone is secure as it is getting difficult to get hold of Windows mobile 6.5 phones as the days progress. The problem is that WP7 phone dont support disk encryption yet (or so I believe) hence the worry ...
Many thanks in advance for your help and pointers.

if the phone is locked then it is really impossible to get it off the phone.
after the update from MS we aren't able to unlock the phone again so I think it is pretty save.
maybe you could look at a dump of a rom to find out where the serts are stored.

Thanks for your reply.
There are interesting times ahead.
The Chevron WP7 exploit will be closed but hte Touchxplorer developer claims that his solution will still allow full file access to system, so I am waiting with bated breadth to see how it all pans out. And who knows, we may have Nokia announcing that they will be using WP7 as an OS for their Nokia hardware on Friday.
Since I am not to au fait with the structure of WP7 phone (and I don't even know why I was given this job considering my hacking skills are about 5%) would you have an inkling as to where they sort of could be kept or how to read or even create a dump of the ROM?
Many thanks. I will search on the forums to see if I can get more information.
Thanks again.

[Q] Will it work as iOS in regard of apps?

Hi,
I would like to change my current phone (ZTE Blade with Android 2.3). I am not to happy with the phone and not to happy with Android either. I got iPad1 but I am not a big fan of iOS as well.
All Windows Phone devices looks cool and prices for decent model are not as high as for iPhone. Unfortunately WP is very unpopular and since none of my friends got one there is no way I can find out few things about it.
Perhaps you will be kind enough to answer my questions?
1. On iOS there is no problem in getting apps from different markets. I live in Poland but with VPN service I got access to NBC, ABC, Hulu, etc. Getting an app is simple - you just switch iTunes account and as long as US or UK app is free I can download it without problem.
Android is a bit more difficult... had to root the phone (with some help) and for stuff like that I need to look in the internet no in Google Play shop.
As far as I know WP requires Live ID and this determines what is available to us. Switching Live ID's = hard reset :-(
So, question is: can I get (and how difficult is it) apps from US and UK markets to my phone?
If answer to Q1 is YES (with some details, please ) - than:
2. Will it work on any WP device or (like wit Android phones) some of them are "no go" in this area?
3. Does WP has a VPN client/support?
4. How features like above will or do influence Windows 8? Both WP & Win8 would be a great tandem but from what I know it looks that MS will try to "lock" both in order to make cash on appstore. Is this correct?
5. One more thing, is it possible to use WP device as GSM router for other devices (like in Android phones)?

Hi,
Some short answers here too
Your phone out of the box with your live id can't download/install apps from other marketplaces. It is possible to sideload apps, but I haven't done it so far, 'cause in Germany and for me I found everything needed. Don't know how the situation in Poland looks like.
WP7 does not support VPN. VPN will come in WP8, as Microsoft said in some dev blogs.
MS won't lock W8 to the new store. But you have to differ between W8 x86 and W8 RT (ARM). W8 RT will - I suppose - have some sort of lock like WP7 (and possibly WP8).
Yes, it's called Internet Connection Sharing, but it is not enabled on all devices. It depends on the device manufacturer. WP7 is able to share the connection, but if the manufacturer don't want the device to do it or maybe they want to save money in the development of the device ( ) you can't to it without some little hacking.

Does any one knows... if I will buy let say Lumia 800 in Poland, will I be able to:
- connect to the VPN service I am using?
- install Netflix (US market only)
- install Hulu + (as above)
- install BBC iPlayer (UK market only)
- usie the phone as mobile router
Where do I look for info. - how to do it?

The only current way to VPN on WP7 is to connect to a network that is already using a VPN (WiFi, such as by Internet Connection Sharing from your PC, or by plugging in the phone to the PC and running the Zune software, which will create an Ethernet-over-USB network for the phone).
I can't say for sure about the Marketplace access. It will depend on your credit card, your Microsoft account, and your VPN (if you use one), and possibly even your mobile operator.
Sharing the phone's Internet connection is a supported WP7 feature, but I'm not sure if the Lumia 800 supports it yet. The feature is called "Internet Sharing" and is in the Settings hub. It's available on all Samsung Windows phones, and I think on all HTCs too. Not sure if it's on the Lumias yet, but Nokia has said they were working on it some time ago. Note that if your carrier blocks or requires payment for this service (sharing the cellular Internet connection), the phone will block the feature until you comply. There are hacks to work around that restriction entirely, but those hacks are only currently possible on Samsung, HTC gen1, LG, Lumia 710, and a few Lumia 800 phones.

Thanks for your answer.
As much as I would love to dump Android - I simply can not :-(.

What is the latest on App releases for RT?

I have a 64gb and cover on preorder, and should get it by Friday. Every day I have been Googling the latest Microsoft Surface and app store news and I am totally frustrated about the lack of info out there regarding the apps and other news other than the comparisons to Apple , blah blah blah I don't have the ability to load a preview of Win 8 or desire to go through the hassle,
Either Microsoft is very good about keeping the media at bay, or there is very little info or activity going on regarding App development. Is there a current App count and list somewhere of what's been developed and what's in the works. Last count I heard MS was at about 3600 US apps last week, but were expected to hit the 5k goal. So what's the latest.
Exciting and frustrating at the same time.

guitar1969 said:
I have a 64gb and cover on preorder, and should get it by Friday. Every day I have been Googling the latest Microsoft Surface and app store news and I am totally frustrated about the lack of info out there regarding the apps and other news other than the comparisons to Apple , blah blah blah I don't have the ability to load a preview of Win 8 or desire to go through the hassle,
Either Microsoft is very good about keeping the media at bay, or there is very little info or activity going on regarding App development. Is there a current App count and list somewhere of what's been developed and what's in the works. Last count I heard MS was at about 3600 US apps last week, but were expected to hit the 5k goal. So what's the latest.
Exciting and frustrating at the same time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Found an interesting site regarding the Apps on Windows Store
http://www.winappupdate.com/
Here's the lowdown from the sire:
"As of today, there are 7,873 Windows Store apps available worldwide. Of these, 88% (6,964) are free – mirroring the percentages first seen much earlier this month. The number of apps added per day has been rather significant, and includes 459 apps worldwide that have been added since I polled yesterday.
Almost all applications are available in both x86 and x64 architectures. Only two apps appear to solely target Windows RT (ARM), 31 target only Windows 8 x64 and don’t have Windows 8 x86 or Windows RT support. The gap I first noticed some time ago is still there, however. While almost all apps support Windows 8 on x86 and x64, 6% of apps do not support Windows RT on ARM at this time. This may change after GA when developers can test on Windows RT systems – but it may always stay lower, reflecting the challenges of developing WinRT apps on Windows RT that I have heard from several developers.
Speaking of developers, there are now 3,367 distinct developers who have apps available on the store at the current time.
Of the total number of apps added since I polled yesterday, 219 were added to the US Windows Store (likely added to others as well). Something interesting happened this week, though. More apps have been added to the Chinese Windows Store than US English. As a result, the US Windows Store is now the second largest, at 4,516 Windows Store apps – while the Chinese Windows Store features 4,795 Windows Store apps."
So it looks like MS will hit their goal of 5,000 US apps by launch. The question is how many quality apps will there be at launch.
But with Bluestacks for RT officially announced, then we will also have all the Android apps as well, but not sure how that will work as far as implementation.

At last someone other than me has pointed out about bluestacks lol

lumpaywk said:
At last someone other than me has pointed out about bluestacks lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you turned me onto Bluestacks (LOL). If it works as intended and is fluid (Not a crummy emulator) then that is a game changer for app counts with all the "fluff" apps which everybody seems to want.
I personally don't need a bunch of fluff apps and it looks like the majority of what I want is alreadiy planned for RT or released already.

[Completed] Cortana In Windows

Microsoft’s digital voice assistant was introduced on Windows Phone 8.1 back in early April, and since then the company has been working hard to refine the service and launch it globally. On mobile.
But an appearance on the Windows platform is all but a formality.
And now we have an official confirmation. Of sorts. Marcus Ash, the group program manager working on the Cortana project fired off a series of tweets over the weekend, revealing that the software titan was indeed planning to port Cortana to the desktop.
Only after finishing work on the Windows Phone build, that is.
This is what he said on the matter:
“4. After we execute on #1 – #3, we have started to THINK about #Cortana on #Windows so more #Microsoft customers experience her.”
And followed it up with another tweet, saying:
“5. In a future state, the best experience will still be for #Microsoft customers that own all #Windows devices. Best work is on our devices.”
So basically, the idea is to provide a fully featured experience on Windows Phone, first and foremost. This is clearly the top priority for now.
Once this goal is achieved, however, the company will start focusing on other projects for Cortana, including porting the service to Windows 8.1. In case this takes time, and development requires more effort, then the digital assistance might debut with Windows 9.
And judging by how thing are going, chances are that the next full version of the operating system will be the one that arrives with Cortana built in.

This might help the Windows Phone Users. So it might be more Pertinent to post
Windows Phone 8 Development and Hacking > http://forum.xda-developers.com/Windows Phone 8 GeneralWindows Phone 8 General
I do not believe you had a question per se in mind.

[Q] When is Notesmartly going to launch on Android ?

Hi friends,
I have been using this cool app on my iPad and iPhone .Ever since then I am so looking forward to get it on my Android phone .
Their website had a pre-signup for Web,Mac, iPhone ,iPad and Android couple of months ago. But now they have removed most of them with their respective app store links. For a sec I was grinning ear to ear as I thought they are now live across all platforms. But Alas! they have launched on every platform except for the Android and Windows platform.
Have you signed up for their Android release or any release for that matter ?
When is it going to release on Android?
DO let me know
PS: the website is www dot notesmartly dot com
Regard
Adri Wilburn