Smartphone and Cellphone Wars

[ninjababez]

Flip phones are usually prepaid phones and they are very cheap ... So it's easier to change phones ... What is interesting in TV shows is that they break the phones in half, as if that will render it untraceable ... Also, why not just replace the SIM card instead? ...

hmm wala nga naman itong MAC address no? ano pa ba unique sa burner phones? maybe the IMEI, traceable ba ito?

[dr. d]

hmm wala nga naman itong MAC address no? ano pa ba unique sa burner phones? maybe the IMEI, traceable ba ito?

by virtue of their intended outcome, burner phones are... cheap. hindi masyadong masakit sa bulsa, kapag sinunog. although, in some movies, the phone that got burned was a rather high end model.
yes. that's what i meant in my previous post. imei. but i'm just a user, not an engineer.

[oj88]

IMEIs are the mobile phones' equivalent of the MAC address for Ethernet and Bluetooth connections. Though, phones will also have separate MAC addresses for WiFi, Bluetooth, and wired LAN dongles in addition to an IMEI. Dual-SIM phones would have two IMEIs as well. IMEIs are unique and no two mobile phones in the world should have the same IMEI.

So in the movies, they break the phone in half probably just for the theatrics. But if the upper half only contains the LCD display and it circuitry, there's still a chance that the lower part of the phone is still working. Anyway, in the real world, it would be better to just drop the phone somewhere, still intact and powered up, in a manner that would leave a false trail (ie. leave it in a train, bus or drop it off in somebody's backpack pocket, etc.) Otherwise, removing the battery would render it just as useless.