Related
My company developed a product that uses GSM/CSD mode to send voice encrypded using 256 bits Rijndael. I don't know if in Europe my product works. I have a XDA working fine here in Brazil. I will apreciate if my software could be tested using the XDA and XDA-II (we don't tested-it with the XDA-II), because we don't have how to test-it in Europe.
My site is http://www.raseac.com.br , and in the site we have a working demo with 128 bits security and one minute of conversation per call. We have also a manual in PDF format (in english).
I will apreciate some help from Europe.
My personal e-mail is MOD EDIT: REMOVED EMAIL
Please erase the [REMOVE] in the e-mail.
Thank You.
Cesar Bremer Pinheiro
cesarbremer said:
My company developed a product that uses GSM/CSD mode to send voice encrypded using 256 bits Rijndael. I don't know if in Europe my product works. I have a XDA working fine here in Brazil. I will apreciate if my software could be tested using the XDA and XDA-II (we don't tested-it with the XDA-II), because we don't have how to test-it in Europe.
My site is http://www.raseac.com.br , and in the site we have a working demo with 128 bits security and one minute of conversation per call. We have also a manual in PDF format (in english).
I will apreciate some help from Europe.
My personal e-mail is MOD EDIT: REMOVED EMAIL
Please erase the [REMOVE] in the e-mail.
Thank You.
Cesar Bremer Pinheiro
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you might consider looking also for European based solution, similar but using specifically MDA / XDA for encrypted comm
http://www.cryptophone.de/html/products_en.html
BTW when you consider introducing fully fledged and operational version for wm2003 ??
regards, monika
Thank you for your interest in our product.
We will test our product with the wm2003 in the next month, but we can't have a date limit to finish the compatibility test yet. There are a lot of hardware available to run our product. I will remember you that we are selling software (not hardware like cryptophone), and to sell our product we need to make compatibility tests in a lot of hardware . Our idea in this case is, if you have a hardware available (like the XDA), you only need to buy a software (and not the hardware that you already have). You investment in this case will be US$149,99 for the 128 bits version (US$ 249,99 for the 256 bits) in order to have a solid voice encryption product. Our product uses a TAPI modem linked with a PocketPc 2002 handheld by cable, bluetooth or a compactflash connection, and uses fixed, cellular and satelite lines. We tested the Raseac Secure Phone it in a lot of hardware (we have our product in our lab running in a XDA). We don't know about the CSD (Circuit Switched Data) quality in GSM networks outside Brazil (we are asking the readers to test-it and send us their comments). The bonus in this case is the use of a solid 128 bits voice encryption software free for one minute of conversation per call, with no limits in the number of calls (our freeware version).
Thank you.
Cesar Bremer Pinheiro
Sorry for the mistake in the price: The correct values are US$149.99 for the 128 bits version and US$249.99 for the 256 bits version.
Thank You.
Cesar.
How do we know if the software is actually carrying out the encryption, and that the voice is actually being encrypted is there something obvious that will let me know this.
The encryption is the easier part to be done in this system, if you see the user's manual, the most part of the system is the user interface and its architecture (our strongest point is our system design).
If you made a system that sends and receives voice without encryption, in our case you have 90% of the work done (error correction, codec optimization, software optimization). Think about reading the voice signal, compressing this signal using a voice codec, building the telephony interface, optimizing the code (our system is full-duplex), working a lot to optimize the code and let it running with quality), and until now i am not talking about encryption.
You can see in the google a lot of stuff about encryption (random number generators, hash functions, encryption functions), the encryption library available is huge.
After that work done to send and receive voice in a 4800 bauds line, you will see that 95% of the job is done. But i will remember that: To this system be a security system, all this design must be done before build the system. It is very dificult to transform a voice transmition system in a good security system(almost impossible) if you don't thing in security before building the system.
Now a little bit about encryption.
Our design is completely different from vast majority of the voice systems designs, we use block mode encryption and CBC mode encryption. The vast majority of the systems designs uses streaming mode. We generate an external random file in order to use the random numbers by the system. You can analyse this random file, it passes in the Diehard test (you can download the Diehard test and submit our generated file).
Each contact used by the system have its own master key, and you can edit this contact master key.
If you change one bit of this contact master key in your handheld, you will not be able to do the voice connection with the other handheld.
After reading our user manual, available in our site, you will see that this system was carefully built having security in mind, because you will see that you will have a 50 pages manual with a lot of information about security, and I invite you to read this manual (again, you will see a lot about our system design in this manual).
The Raseac Secure Phone security system spec will be published in february, and after that we will ask for an independent organization to analize our source code and publish the results (We think that the common user doesn't have the competence to analyse the source code). Our source code will not be available to the public only because commercial reasons, we sell software for commercial hardware available in the market (unlike our competition that sells proprietary hardware and have the copy protection inside their proprietary hardware), we have our system copy protection inside our code and we want to protect our intelectual property.
A little bit more about proprietary hardware systems: If you sell a hardware system and publish only part of the system (you can't garantee that the operational system was not changed in a dangerous way to compromise the security), the source published doesn't garantee the security at all.
Thank you.
Cesar Bremer Pinheiro.
MOD EDIT: REMOVED EMAIL
Please erase the [REMOVE] in the e-mail.
is it available in Asia?
Hello,
I am new to the forum and also the owner of an HTC Fuze. I have been playing around recently with the GPS on the phone and got me thinking. I live in NY and we have a CORS network of gps base stations that are fed by the use of ntrip.
I was wondering if their was any way to use the gps signal on my phone and the connection to this CORS network to give me sub inch accuracy on my phone...then not sure what I would do with it then. But I do live on a farm and I would like to see some type of precision agricultural use.
I guess I need a way to have the GPS on the phone talk with the GNSS internet radio and then give me spot on guidance and such.
Please let me know your thoughts or if I need to explain better.
Thanks,
Clayton
bump
bump. Any ideas? Anyone
Great idea cwrisrey !
That will save the cost of a geodetic device, which is many times the cost of a Fuze. Further, it will lead the accuracy of the buildin GPS into millimum class.
Not dig into this further, would you go further to tell these:
Is that CORS data encrypted?
Is that accessible through public internet or VPN?
Is there copy right or intellectuall property right issue involved? (I don't think so, but better make it clear first)
Once again, great idea. Please do remember to update this thread once you got any progress. Thanks.
More info
Hello wg5566,
This site would probably answer alot of your questions clearer than I could:
http://www6.nysdot.gov/spiderweb/frmIndex.aspx
* Is that CORS data encrypted?
-I don't believe so, I think that it is just a form of compression, to distribute across the internet.
* Is that accessible through public internet or VPN?
Yes, the NYS CORS anyway. It accessible from the public internet (although they require you to register with them) But I believe there are other free streams. I also believe it was modeled after being able to be sent threw GPRS.
* Is there copy right or intellectuall property right issue involved? (I don't think so, but better make it clear first)
-I believe the ntrip is based on a GNU, I think the source code is available. http://igs.bkg.bund.de/index_ntrip_down.htm
Windows CE version:
http://www.ilmb.gov.bc.ca/crgb/gsr/downloads/installGNSS.CAB
Please, let me know your thoughts...
Thanks,
Clayton
My fast thoughts:
First make sure there is no satisfied freeware currently available for WM.
If so please ask a moderator to move this to the development & hackings section. And Add tyis sentence on the title: Call for developers for revolutionary GPS app!
I'm sure somebody here can develop this. You know the geodetic device was invented many years ago with very weak profiles comparing to current WM devices. The hardware on our phone should be capable to deal with these calculations, and the WM Pro platform should be capable to support such an app. Anyway it should not be a biggy for many masters here. But it is a biggy for gps users with high accuracy demand for any reason.
Edit: Did you try install that wince cab on your phone? I think some of WINCE apps can just run on WM. Please backup your data first.
Edit2: I tried to install it on my device, at first it did not show up in start menu, then I found the cab just put files and shortcut in the folder names in French. But there is no registry involved in the cab. Only three files. And then program UI itself is in English. Just run the executable from the folder will go right out of the box. So please try it. I did not try to connect & loggin yet, due to not registered account.
Edit3: Looks like the cab is only access the data from internet, convert the data format and export the data, but we still need a geodetic/gps software to process/use the data.
Disclaimer: I attatched these three files for the only purppose of exchanging software developement infomation. Anybody if download it please do not use it for any purppose other than this. Thanx.
Some thoughts on the subject
Hi All,
The idea of using NTRIP to make a Windows Mobile GPS device sub-meter accurate crossed my mind. After some research I found this thread.
Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find any software capable of doing this. My idea is that it should be possible to accomplish this goal, using a combination of existing tools (which would be really cool!).
As wg5566 notes, there is a (WM) tool called GNSS Internet Radio, which is capable of downloading NTRIP corrections. It turns out this software works, but does have some flaws. Someone wrote another open source tool which is better (?), but unfortunately it isn't built for Windows Mobile (see: http://lefebure.com/software/).
More searching revealed a (dead?) project on codeplex: SharpGPS. It's an unfinished demo. It does however seem to be designed to do exactly what we're suggesting in this thread.
My idea: Completing the WM version of SharpGPS with parts of GNSS Internet radio / lefebure NTRIP client should result in a tool that's capable of upgrading a WM devices' gps signal to sub-meter accuracy through RTK/DGPS corrections over NTRIP.
Any ideas / suggestions about this?
It's already been done for the commercial market
Land surveyors, construction companies, and farmers use RTK GPS and RTK GNSS correction services on a regular basis. Some are free and some are paid subscription. They can be either NTRIP protocol with casters or individual TCP or UDP connections. Examples of software available are Carlson SurvCE and MicroSurvey. Read Carlson's support site for how they deal with the data flow using such networks on SurvCE (Windows Mobile and CE).
I have worked in land surveying using such equipment, and it generally requires dual frequency receivers, RTK corrections, and high quality antennas to achieve 1-2cm 95% CI horizontal precision. The current GPS chips in cell phones are only single frequency and so the best you could expect under ideal conditions is 2'-3' precision using some form of differential correction like WAAS or beacon or DGPS via NTRIP. Under average conditions, the precision will likely be in the 10-20' range. The dual frequency receivers take care of the large errors caused by radio waves traveling through the ionosphere.
Due to the limitations of batteries, antennas, and space for more chips in cellphones, the future of location accuracy will likely include some combination of GPS/GLONASS and cellular radio signal frequency timing calculations from cell towers. True Position, with its U-TDOA technology, is one example of measuring the time differences of cell phone radio waves using cell towers with known coordinates. Rumors (from surveying journals) have it that there are current patents in place that can allow for sub foot precision using such methods when sufficient cell towers are present for multilateration.
Has anyone found success on this topic? WM or Android...
Would be very interested, since there is a free NTRIP feed available in Switzerland... anyone?
*bump* it up
Been there still trying. Problem is no carrier phase off internal gps.
Grimli said:
Hi All,
The idea of using NTRIP to make a Windows Mobile GPS device sub-meter accurate crossed my mind. After some research I found this thread.
As wg5566 notes, there is a (WM) tool called GNSS Internet Radio, which is capable of downloading NTRIP corrections. It turns out this software works, but does have some flaws. Someone wrote another open source tool which is better (?), but unfortunately it isn't built for Windows Mobile (see: /lefebure.com/software/).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lance lefebure is a really cool guy I'm sure he wouldn't have any problem building a wm version but it is going to takea lot more than that to get rtk to a cell phone.
Very good ,thanks.
Ed hardy bikini said:
Very good ,thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you are confused just ask questions and I will do my best to answer them. I am in the ag industry and deal with RTK networks and different ways of connecting them and tons of different gps units on a daily basis.
Look at this:
http://stakemill.wordpress.com/2010/07/19/ashtech-mobile-mapper-100-supports-esri-arcpad-10-0/
and this:
http://www.ashtech.com/-2359.kjsp?RH=1272644205746&RF=1270806507068
Is that still a phone !?
wg5566 said:
Look at this:
Is that still a phone !?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope PDA with support for external GPS with a builtin reciever that even sees glonass satellites (russian constelation). That was made specifically to do RTK mapping. It does have a GSM radio for data to connect to the cors.
Phone positioning using CORS
To perform a CORS (Network Reference correction we need a GGA stream from the GPS in your device. This allows us to remove the anomalies and provde the correction stream. As phones use a sirf II chip or similar they do not have input capability to output the NMEA stream to achieve this.
This one works great! it will connect to an Rtk receiver and get the nmea string from it or will use the internal GPS to be able to register on the CORS network. It will then stream the corrections over Bluetooth to a receiver or even a repeater radio. It won't however correct the internal GPS. http://antrip.dyndns.biz/Home/DownloadTrial
So... I'm rather new here and I'm not 100% sure that this is the correct forum to post this in (since I know it says "xda developed apps/games only"). However, I have seen commercial Android apps discussed here before... so... *shrug*.
Let me first say that I am not the developer... I just think this app should get some attention.
Pixie Network Monitor by 9bitlabs (would post a link but my account is restricted. ;-) )
It is a network monitoring app similar to Wireshark, but for Android. It is $4.99 on the Android market, it requires root, and it does not work on all phones (since not all phones can have their wifi put into promiscuous mode). There is a companion app called "Pixie Probe" available on the market for free. Pixie Probe will determine whether or not your phone is compatible with Pixie.
I have tested it out on my Evo (running CM6.1 RC1) and it seems to work amazingly well.
Pixie does not contain all of the features of Wireshark/Kismet. This is from the Pixie FAQ:
Q: What's the difference between Pixie and a desktop tool like Kismet?
A: The biggest difference between the tools lies in how they interface with the network. Kismet interacts directly with the wireless adapter and places it in monitor mode, allowing it to hear any packet over the wifi, even if it is not associated with a network. This can be problematic with some hardware, but many of the newer wifi chipsets work great with Kismet.
Pixie, on the other hand, is constrained by Android. Rather than expose the wifi adapter as an 802.11b device, Android actually hides all of that functionality: the wifi connection actually appears to system processes as a plain old Ethernet device. This means that we don't get monitor mode and we also don't get to see wifi-specific data, such as beacons and associate/disassociate packets.
On the plus side, Pixie runs in your pocket and that's harder to do with Kismet, unless you have very large pockets. Pixie is also significantly easier to set up for folks without Linux experience.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Pixie website gives very detailed information about the app, so I suggest you go there if you want more info.
In any case, I hope other people find it useful.
(long post warning...I'm placing the summary first for those who don't care to read the whole thing)
***
In summary, I want a mobile platform that I can tweak until I get it exactly as I like it; that will sync with Windows desktop and server platforms (this is a strong preference, not a "must"; upon which I own things and don't have to worry about them being stolen or broken; that doesn't tell everyone and their mother where I go and what I'm doing; and on which I can listen to Sirius radio; and to which I can transfer data back and forth via USB without any permission based cloud interface. It must also be compatible with Slingplayer software and I have a strong, strong, preference for a slideout QWERTY keyboard, but I'd sacrifice that if I have to for the above functionalities. I'm currently on ATT, but it doesn't have to be that way
***
I am thinking about purchasing a new phone. But the market is a bit more complicated than when I purchased my current phone (HTC Diamond), so I hope that you guys can give me some advice.
I have been a Windows Mobile user since 5.0. What I loved about WM is that I could come here and read about the various hacks, mods, and custom roms and generally find something to address any problems I had, or find a way to modify the phone to meet my preferences.
I love the mobile version of Office and I use it constantly for work purposes. I especially like being able to sync outlook contacts on both phone and device, and that I can make presentations from the phone, and can open and manipulate Word and Excel.
I was also using SiriusXM 6 by tcbush over on Geekstoolbox to listen to satellite radio. Unfortunately, Sirius has taken down their legacy servers that streamed content to third party providers. So it does not appear that I can listen to satellite radio any longer via my mobile device.
It is this turn of events (Sirius radio) that is my main motivator for seeking a new phone. I could listen to Sirius via the web, but that requires a Flash player and I can't find a version of flash for WM 6.1. I have both Opera Mini and IE. So, if any of you know a way for a WM 6.1 device to listen to Sirius, you will have solved my immediate problem and saved me some money. I would really appreciate that.
But on the larger scale, I know that one day I will have to replace my beloved Diamond. Her slideout QWERTY is starting to jiggle, there are a few scratches on her beautiful face even though she hasn't gone a moment without a case and screen protector. Every now and again her D-Pad loses its way, and I have to reboot. Alas, I fear the end is near. *sigh*
So, in looking over the current landscape, I see three options: iphone, Android, and WM7.
Apple products to me are out for personal preference reasons.
That leaves Android and WM7.
Problem 1:
I enjoyed my prior experience of owning a WM phone supported by a network of generous, friendly developers who found ways that we could modify our phones to our hearts' content. I also like the fact that I own my phone and all its content. Once I install or tweak something, then that's it unless I decide to change it.
But the current market seems to be based on a top-down control model. From what I've read, owning a phone with the current tech is like owning a home on leasehold property or in a HOA: You pay full price for ownership but you do not enjoy the rights of control normally associated with that ownership. It seems that the devices are locked, difficult to unlock, find ways to re-lock, and that a Nanny-server may at times uninstall or disable software that it doesn't like.
I just don't get it. Has the culture embraced a model where a user pays a provider only to be told by that provider what he can and cannot do with the property he has purchased?
Of course, my perception of these issues could be incorrect. I recently went back to school and have unplugged from most external things. I haven't been following the "insider info" on xda for nearly two years. If I'm wrong, please tell me.
Problem 2:
User tracking. Sounds Orwellian.
I get it that the cell provider can locate you. I understand the technology reasonably well for regular Joe, and I understand that the network needs to know where you are. But until recently, the cell provider could not release those records without a warrant or some emergency confirmed by law enforcement like a lost person, etc. I actually worked with Sprint in conjunction with the police to attempt to track a stolen phone. However, it now appears that the manufacturers themselves and many app developers are bypassing the law by tracking users without their consent. Am I right on this?
I've read a number of articles on the Apple and Android tracking problems - generic apps tracking you and reporting your movements to Apple, Google, etc. Apps turning on the mic or camera at intervals and tracking your surroundings or conversations. Route these concerns through the awfulness of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, the Patriot Act, and the fact that both the post-digital presidential administrations (Bush II and Obama) seem intent on eroding what remains of our privacy, and it makes me uncomfortable. To make it worse, Google and Zuckerburg are both in bed with the Obama administration, and stories of their privacy infractions are epidemic.
Yet none of the progs I use on my WM 6.1 device use tracking (that I know of). So, in a very short time, it appears that the culture of mobile communications has gone from an ownership model with Constitutional protections to a free-for-all where you essentially pay big brother to track you.
I have heard many of my younger friends who have grown up in the big-government era use the default: "If you have nothing to hide, then you have nothing to worry about." But that's exactly backward. The law presumes your privacy and allows infractions only after due process. The current culture seems to presume lack of privacy, and treat privacy-seekers as an anomaly. And the tech seems to reflect the culture rather than the law.
Am I crazy? Even if I am crazy, is there a way to block this tracking? And, if so, does Android or WM7 better lend itself to blocking this tracking?
Problem 3:
USB data transfer.
WM7 doesn't support smart cards. But, the devices seem to have adequate on-board storage for my needs. However, from what I've read, I'll need to use Zune (on WM7, don't know about Android) to move data back and forth. Is that correct?
I currently use Windows Mobile Device Center to transfer files back and forth via USB or Bluetooth, and I really want to keep that functionality.
Thank you if you have read this far. And, given those criteria, what are my best options?
Droid X2. Get it.
Droid X2
Droid X2. Get it.
+1
Thanks for the responses. I've done a bit of research on the phone you recommended, and some research in general. I really need to spool back up
It looks like there are apps out there like WhisperMonitor that will help with my privacy concerns. Actually, it looks like there are Android Apps to address most of my concerns.
I'll keep researching that to determine how much functionality I'll have to sacrifice. And I appreciate the responses. Love the dual core structure of this phone. From what I've read, the benchmarks don't differ too much from single core phones, but it looks like the dual core really helps with load distribution and multi-tasking.
It will be hard to leave Windows...been with it since it was Pocket PC 2000. But atm, it appears that Android may work best for me.
I agree Droid X2, although VZW is expensive, its the best network
Off the basis of wanting a slide out QWERTY and Windows Phone 7, I would go with the HTC Arrive for Sprint. You still have Windows Phone, you can get Sling Player from the Marketplace, and it has a slide out QWERTY that when it slides out, angles the screen for better typing the way I look at it.
samsung galaxy s2
or atrix
If you QWERTY I'd wait till my4g slide if it launches with s-off. I don't imagine you'd be keeping the os in tact.
The g2 is also a beautiful phone. Amazing specs for the good hardware.
T-Mobile is also cheapest, I find, of the four carriers.
The epic 4g seemed nice. Hummingbird (Samsung 1ghz processor) is very nice and has a great gpu.
If you're looking to use google talk video chat, avoid nvidia tegra 2 chips.
Google's suite of software is pretty sweet. Google docs works nice, and there's an app for that.
As long as you download from android market you're good from malware. (If you do get it from market, google does pull the app from the store AND your phone, that's the only time I heard them doing this, and that was once instance.)
Besides... Supporting your developers is a great thing.
Did I miss anything?
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App
IMO almost any of the android phones would work for what you have in mind. As you pointed out in your follow up post there are apps out there for your privacy concerns. I've had a Moto Droid and now the HTC Thunderbolt. Both have been synced with my works exchange servers with no issues, google apps work great with Office docs, and the available roms and other customizations are almost endless.
Also, don't get hung up on a QWERTY keyboard. I swore I would never have a phone without one, but now that I do I actually don't really miss it.
Edit:
USB data transfer - very simple to do with android. Install a driver for the phone and then connect to your pc with a USB cable. Your pc will recognize the sdcard as removeable storage. Just select it in My Computer and drag and drop anything you want to move like you would for moving any file around in Windows.
Hey,
Germany is implementing EU-Alert (ETSI TS 102 900 [1]) at the moment and referring to the local News, it is a huge mess [2].
But let's start at the beginning.
CellBroadcast is a core component of each mobile network generation (2G,3G,4G,5G,...) and part of the 3GPP spec. CellBroadcast basically allows the network to send a simple SMS to all mobile phones connected to a specific base station. Thes SMS-CB are sent with a Message Identifier (aka Channel, aka Topic) which gives them a special purpose by convention. e.g. ID / Channel 50 is often used for area related information [3], while channel 207 might broadcast local weather information. Since not all Channels are standardized, there is also the option to broadcast an Index that lists all channels with a description. And since users probably don't want any message broadcasted, users have to subscribe to these channels.
Since decades now, CellBroadcast is also used for public Emergency Warnings. This means that, by definition of a country, a specific channel is used to broadcast Emergency Warnings. Long time ago, in many countries it looks like Channel 919 was used for this purpose. For this to work properly, mobile phones were instructed to subscribe to channel 919 by default and also use a special ringtone (even if muted) to alert such a message.
Later - over 12 years ago - additional channels from 4370-4399 were standardized in ETSI TS 123 041 [4] for public warning systems like CMAS, EU-Alert, KPAS. All using the same channels which is beneficial for global roaming.
Android of course supports these public warning systems specified in ETSI TS 123 041 [4] since at least Android 4.2.2 [5]. And nations that use these systems already, like CMAS in the US, report very high and reliable coverage.
However, referring to German news [2] and government, not many phones that are currently on the market will actually support EU-Alert in Germany, despite already supporting EU-Alert in Netherlands or CMAS in the US.
How is this possible when exactly the same SMS-CB is broadcasted, just in a different country?
Golem [2] says that Samsung and Google already confirmed that EU-Alert is currently not supported in Germany, but updates will be rolled out to recent devices.
This strongly suggests to me that OEMs like Samsung and Google actually added country specific filters/configurations for these public warning systems to their phones without deploying a reasonable fallback. Public warning systems based on ETSI TS 123 041 [4] thus may only work in countries that were known to use these systems when the phone was released.
Isn't this an obvious issue?
Google said, starting with Android 11+ it will be possible to update the CellBroadcastReceiver App via Google Play. So devices with Android 11+ will likely receive an update to support EU-Alert in Germany. For Android 10 and older, OEMs will have to supply updates.
What also confuses me is the fact that all Android Phones I own (Nexus 4 with Android 5, Nexus 5X with Android 8, Pixel 3a with Android 12) here in Germany do actually offer the setting for Emergency Warnings and they are already enabled by default. So I assume they would work? Did Google actually deploy a sane default configuration here already?
But if they did - why isn't it working on ALL Android 11+ Phones already? I'm pretty sure my Pixel 3a uses Googles CellBroadcastReceiver App which is provided through the Play Store. So all Android 11+ phones should already use the exact same App?! Or am I wrong here? So what is this update Google actually needs to provide?
And does this also mean that with Android 11+ OEMs are not allowed / cannot implement their own Emergency Warning CellBroadcastReceiver?
This topic is really confusing to me
Shouldn't it be really simple?
All phones, regardless of the OEM, should have a proper SMS-CB Application which allows you to subscribe to custom channels, view the index, and manage your SMS-CB Messages.
Phones should also be aware of special channels to apply special ringtones etc if needed, but they should have a sane fallbacks!
A phone that knows about NL-Alert and CMAS may call messages on Channel 4370 received in the Netherlands "NL-Alert". But when it receives the same message in Germany, it shouldn't just drop it! It should display it as warning and call it whatever it wants. And if it doesn't know about CMAS / EU-Alert, it should just receive it as regular SMS-CB.
Can't be that hard?
Interestingly enough, Samsung phones allow you to subscribe to custom channels. Google phones do not :/
Should there be a better / more enforced standard, so that a country that wants to implement CMAS/EU-Alert in the future doesn't have to rely on OEMs help?
And finally some technical Questions:
I found zero Apps for Android that would allow me to subscribe to custom CellBroadcast Channels on my Google Android phones. Is this even possible?
Also, is it possible to test these CellBroadcasts somehow? Is it possible to write an App that can inject SMS-CB into the system?
Sorry for the long post, but I think this an important Topic.
Let me know what you think
Do you have experience with these Emergency Warnings already?
[1] https://www.etsi.org/deliver/etsi_ts/102900_102999/102900/
[2] https://www.golem.de/news/cell-broadcast-warum-es-am-warntag-ruhig-bleiben-koennte-2206-165822.html
[3] https://source.android.com/devices/architecture/modular-system/cellbroadcast#channel-50
[4] https://www.etsi.org/deliver/etsi_ts/123000_123099/123041/11.04.00_60/ts_123041v110400p.pdf
[5] https://cs.android.com/android/plat...ternal/telephony/gsm/SmsCbConstants.java;l=58
Hey! I was just researching something about this. Thanks for your detailed post.
I am from Chile and, in my case, my operator had subscriptions to two channels: 919 and 920.
In order to see the Cell Broadcast menu in the Messages app, I had to override a CSC setting (I use a Samsung device), particularly "CarrierFeature_Message_DisableMenuCBMessage") because it seems some Chilean operators ordered Samsung to hide it.
Even then, the Google Cell Broadcast app would not let me modify settings other than test alerts.
In my country these emergency alerts are quite unreliable and are often sent by mistake or to the wrong place (i.e. sending a tsunami alert to an area more than 100 km away from the coast).
Shooting Star Max said:
Hey! I was just researching something about this. Thanks for your detailed post.
I am from Chile and, in my case, my operator had subscriptions to two channels: 919 and 920.
In order to see the Cell Broadcast menu in the Messages app, I had to override a CSC setting (I use a Samsung device), particularly "CarrierFeature_Message_DisableMenuCBMessage") because it seems some Chilean operators ordered Samsung to hide it.
Even then, the Google Cell Broadcast app would not let me modify settings other than test alerts.
In my country these emergency alerts are quite unreliable and are often sent by mistake or to the wrong place (i.e. sending a tsunami alert to an area more than 100 km away from the coast).
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Can you explain how you disabled this CSC setting and on what samsung phone/os?
You can see Googles/Androids latest default configuration for Chile (MCC 730) here:
https://cs.android.com/android/plat...apps/CellBroadcastReceiver/res/values-mcc730/
The config.xml really has some restrictive features enabled :/
Thanks for your reply!
Please note that all the following information assumes you have rooted your device. It's impossible to override this configuration otherwise.
My device is a Galaxy Note20 Ultra (Exynos version, SM‑N985F) running Android 12, One UI 4.1.
As you might know, Samsung devices include several packages named “CSC”, which define settings according to a sales code matching with a region. For example, a device sold in Chile without a carrier uses the sales code CHO, while one sold by operator Movistar uses the sales code CHT.
In the Galaxy Note20 Ultra, the CSC packages are stored in /optics/config/carriers/single (older Samsung devices might use /omc/).
Once you find the sales code matching with your current configuration, you can grab two files: cscfeature.xml and customer_carrier_feature.json. Taking CHO again as an example, the files would be /optics/config/carriers/single/CHO/conf/system/cscfeature.xml and/optics/config/carriers/single/CHO/conf/system/customer_carrier_feature.json.
These files are encoded, but OmcTextDecoder can take care of that.
In the case of CHO, customer_carrier_feature.json has the value "CarrierFeature_Message_DisableMenuCBMessage":"TRUE", which hides the cell broadcast menu in the stock Messages application. Just replace “TRUE” with “FALSE”, save the file and push it to its location. The next time you reboot your system, it will be applied.
Regarding the link you sent, I think we could get around that configuration by decompiling the GoogleCellBroadcastApp.apk through Apktool, modifying the restrictive values, and then pushing the APK to the device, replacing the original version.
Thank you!
Let me know if you managed to patch your original CellBroadcastReceiver.apk!
I actually tried using Runtime Resource Overlays (RROs) which is described on the official docu about CellBroadcast in Android.
You can find the result here: https://github.com/xsrf/android-de-alert
However, I didn't quite get these RROs. It looked like in Oreo you can use RROs to overlay any resource of any app without any permissions or matching signatures, which is quite a surprise to me?!
On my phones with more recent OS, I get signature mismatch errors and also it looks like apps now have to define what resources can be overlayed ...