Sunday 13 July 2008

Snarf Shorty

If you aren't using Bluetooth on your mobiles, switch it off and switch visibility to hidden. Here's why. A batch of party-goers got on board the train at Arbroath. They proceeded to spill drinks on the chairs, and spout of obscenities. There were kids further down the carriage, but their parents didn't object, so neither did I. Live and let live, as I maintained an aura of "don't even think of spilling over to my side of the carriage".

A thought crossed my mind, and I set my phone to detect bluetooth devices. Slowly a number of devices began to be listed. 7 in total. Voighty:), x!shorty!x, Shellybabe, XxXrAnDoMxXx, and the more mundane: w910i, w580i, k610i.

No doubt I'd have need to have guessed an access code, and any access attempt would have pinged a message to the phone user. The last three are Sony Ericsson phones, so I wonder if that means something about the initial settings. I stopped with just the list of device names on my phone, and a wonder at people's naiveté.

Don't have nightmares.

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On a lighter note, I was in one of the three O2 shops on Princes St on Saturday. When we were in, there were only 2 customers in. There were 6-8 iPhones on display. The staff let us browse unhindered by sales talk. I compared the phone's real dimensions against my current phone. I was still underwhelmed by the product. We left.

2 comments:

Alan Sloman said...

Is it me?

Am I missing something here?

Does it matter if you know the identity of a phone that is near you?

I am confused! And very untechnical - so could you explain it in terms I am likey to undertand?
Cheers Duncan
Alan

AktoMan said...

Depends what you do with the knowledge, Alan. If people haven't changed their phone's codes, and left open, maybe they haven't changed the factory-standard passcode either.

Maybe.

I refuse to go looking online for information about hacking into bluetooth phones that have been left visible.