Hack Available for PPC-6700/XV6700: AKU3.3

If your 6700 is getting a little long in the tooth (Face it, you know that it is), then here's good news for you. AKU3 is now available via a hack (completely unsupported and highly frowned-upon by Sprint and Verizon). So worth it, though, given the sheer number of bugfixes, tweaks, speed you'll garner from the upgrade.

Seriously, you deserve it after lugging that plastic beast around for so long. Give it try. Again, though, takes a touch of the technical skill, so not for the faint of heart.

Well-known Windows Mobile hacker Helmi (known for similar Windows Mobile hacking endeavors on the GSM platform) has managed to release Windows Mobile 5 AKU 3.3 for both the PPC-6700 and XV6700. In addition, both AKU 3.5 and Crossbow are expected to be leaked shortly for the device.

With the PPC-6700 still the most powerful device on Sprint and Verizon, owners can finally have a software installation that compliments their hardware's performance, even if Sprint, Verizon, and UTStarcom want to force users to upgrade via new hardware (that hasn't been released yet).

Read: Phone News - Hackers Deliver AKU 3.3 for PPC-6700 and XV6700 (Updated Again)

I am sincerely tempted by this

http://wmexperts.com

Posted by Dieter Bohn (Imported Comment) | January 26, 2007 1:03 PM

This is a funny email correspondence I had with UTStarcom:

From: UTStarcom Tech Support [mailto:handsets@mailnj.custhelp.com]
Sent: Thursday, June 14, 2007 9:02 AM

Thank you for allowing us to be of service to you.
To update your question from our support site, click here.

Subject
Software updates for PPC6700

Discussion Thread
Response (Aly N) 06/14/2007 09:02 AM
Michael,

Thank you for contacting UTStarcom.

The PPC6700 has reach its end of life cycle as most of technology devices. The Windows Mobile 6 platform (otherwise known as Crossbow ) is a completely different platform. The 6700 will not support this, as the entire carrier specifications and customization was based on the Windows Mobile 2005 (MAGNETO) platform. Also the software is not compatible with the hardware that is already in your device.

Thank you for contacting UTStarcom Tech Support.
Customer (Michael Collins) 06/13/2007 11:05 PM
That was a really bad response, almost like it was scripted. My question was not even acknoledged. Is the PPC6700 EOL/discontinued? Microsoft has made the WM6 upgrade available to all manufactures and it seems that UTStarcom is content ignoring their customer base. I know it works because there are "home made" ROMs running WM6 on the PPC6700 as I write this.
Response (Aly N) 06/13/2007 05:03 PM
Michael,

Thank you for contacting UTStarcom.

Michael any and all software updates for your unit is requested from your carrier.

Thank you for contacting UTStarcom Tech Support.
Customer (Michael Collins) 06/13/2007 03:47 PM
Since (supposedly) the update to WM6 is not supported by the PPC6700 and Sprint has not requested an AKU past 2.0, is the PPC6700 end of life/discontinued item? It would be a shame to toss a device with this much potential and a black eye for HTC/UTStarcom since I would not spend money to buy future devices because of the lack of support.
Auto-Response 06/13/2007 03:47 PM

Posted by Jude Collins (Imported Comment) | June 14, 2007 3:01 PM