A small update on my attempt to make a hacker phone like Kev's, with some improvements:
I wanted to add a light up display to my hacker phone because it seemed possible on the face of it and I figured I could just use some LED's stashed in the body of the dummy to make it happen. Well, I finally got my dummy N8 in and took it apart to see about making that happen. Man, what a nightmare. First things first, you can take it completely apart...doing so without damaging it though is less likely. The entire phone is held together with 12 screws and a TON of really sticky tape that makes it harder than it needs to be.
Basically, to take it apart you pop off the two black end pieces (The HDMI slot on one end, the power button on the other) using a flat head screwdriver. Beneath are two screws for each side. You also have to remove two screws from either side of the phone. I had to use a tri tip screwdriver to remove them. Finally, you have to pop off the phone screen to get to the last screws that are hidden under the faux display (which is a sticker BTW). I recommend an Xacto knife for safely removing the screen.
Anyways, once you have all the screws out you pop off the two ends of the phone and then get to use a screw driver to pop the aluminum body of the phone off. There is a spring-loaded button that makes this part particularly difficult so be forewarned.
Once you get the housing off you are left with the innards, a metallic silver top piece and the dull black bottom piece. When you pull them apart there's a chuck o metal inside that gives the dummy it's heft. It's held down with double sided tape.
The good news is there is enough room in the assembly to fit electronics to make the dummy display light up. There are some problems though. First off, getting it apart and back together without damaging it is nigh impossible. Maybe I'm just too rough, but the tape in the phone is pretty darn strong and prying it loose takes some work and wreaks some havoc on the phone. Second, the metallic silver portion of the phone body (which is the part the sticker display, and the screen itself, is attached to) is solid, save a small round hole in the center. It could be cut out, but doing so would mean losing the six screws that holds the metallic piece to the solid black piece leaving you to find another way to attach them together.
At this point in time it really seems to me that the best bet for adding a functional display that lights up would be for someone to take the dummy apart and cast it and then mod the cast for electronics. Right now I just don't see adding electronics to the dummy as a viable option because of the significant damage to it. I don't know, has anyone had more success at taking it apart without destroying it than I did? At this point I'm probably just going to settle for inserting the printout of the code breaking display Megatron posted and hope I can make my 2G board light up while the SIM card is in it.
For what it's worth, I took some pics that I can post if anyone is interested in seeing them...
Ok, I'm off to order a new dummy now...:unsure