How do I go about unlocking my Nokia phone?
On the earlier software versions of the 3210/5110/7110, it is possible to unlock your phone simply by using a M-Bus cable and a piece of software. You can use either NokiaTool or Nokall (personally I would suggest Nokall as its more straight forward)
Software versions that cannot be unlocked in this way:
3210 v5.31 & above (5.31 & 5.36 can be done by shorting pins - see below)
7110 v4.88 & above
5110 not known yet
Nokia and the operators got wise to the fact that people were unlocking there phones with a simple piece of software, they now use a better method of locking. The 3210 version 5.31 & 5.36 can be done, but involves opening the phone up and shorting pins - which can render your phone useless if done incorrectly. Details on this can be found here. Be warned - there have been so many posts with people asking for help because they either:
a) attempted to open the locks on their 3210 (sw v5.31+) with software
b) attempted to short the pins on their 3210 and resulted in a screwed phone
There are now other methods of unlocking available. You need a special cable for this, it connects to your LPT (printer) port and with the correct software you can partially flash your phones software. This basically means that if you have a 3310 with v4.06 and its locked, you simply need to find an unlocked v4.06 dump file and flash that unlocked version over your locked version. You can purchase these cables at Alcom, Gadgets Galore or PEC Computers.
Alternatively, if you have a knowledge of electronics/soldering etc. then you may find it easy to build your own. Many people on the NG who have built them themselves have said that it only costs a couple of pounds to make - the companies are selling them for anything from £40 to £200!
You can find the information for making these here, along with the Maplin order codes and the appropriate software to use with the cable.
If you have money to burn then you can purchase stand alone unlock boxes - similar, if not the same as Nokia use. You can purchase them here.
Where can I get free SMS numbers so I don't have to pay for text messages?
There are two answers to this question:
1. Free SMS numbers are very hard to come by. I have heard that such numbers do exist but as soon as too many people start using the number they become useless - so the numbers are hard to find and people who have one are reluctant to release them to others!
2. If you want to send free text messages over the internet then there are plenty of free SMS sites. I can personally recommend:
http://www.mtnsms.com
http://www.lycos.co.uk
Why can't I send or receive Picture messages?
The answer to this is probably because your operator is either one2one or BT Cellnet. Neither of these support Picture messaging fully yet. One2one even say that attempting to send them can result in a charge being made to your bill.