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Comment by clydethefrog | Hacker News Reader

There are several sources online claiming the model used is the Gold Apollo Rugged Pager AR924. This pager is made in Taiwan, a country that has close ties with Israel and it's most important ally USA. Just a week ago Taiwan's Foreign Minister Lin Chia-Lung openly emphasized the critical importance of intelligence sharing and technology cooperation with Israel.

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It was reported in Turkish news (allegedly via IRGC on X) that pagers are all Motorola branded, and supposedly at least include the Motorola LX-2 model.[1][2] However, the provided image of a Motorola LX-2 is also the first image on the Wikipedia English page for pagers.

There is also a photo circulating of a destroyed pager[3] which has visible writing "Distri: GOLD" and "Model: AP" (or "AR"). This has been matched to the Gold Apollo AR-924 model pager that is manufactured in Taiwan and is not a Motorola pager.[4][5][6][etc][7][8][9]

[1] https://www.turkiyetoday.com/region/this-is-how-israel-targe...

[2] https://i.turkiyetoday.com/image/resize/876x1024/wp-content/...

[3] https://i.turkiyetoday.com/image/resize/1280x1280/wp-content...

[4] https://x.com/JakeGodin/status/1836042111726072229

[5] https://x.com/PaDaGal/status/1836057094211969467

[6] https://x.com/Kahlissee/status/1836102796090953812

[7] https://web.archive.org/web/https://www.gapollo.com.tw/rugge...

[8] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x50wwGjX2Ao

[9] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jzDHm68Wio

Correction after more information has become available:

The Gold Apollo AR-924 model pager is reported to have been manufactured under license by Budapest-based company "BAC Consulting KFT", but the head of this company denies manufacturing the devices and instead described themselves as an intermediary, without providing further information. The Taiwanese company which allowed these devices to be manufactured under license also reported receiving strange remittances from BAC via banking systems in the Middle East (not Hungary).[1]

[1] https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/09/18/hungary-en...

"Taiwan has no record of Gold Apollo pages being shipped to Lebanon or the Middle East"

"Gold Apollo founder and chairperson Hsu Ching-kuang told reporters on Wednesday that his firm had signed a contract with a European distributor to use the Gold Apollo brand. Hsu said the distributor, which he did not name, established a relationship with Gold Apollo about three years ago."

https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/lebanon-pagers-attack-he...

That's going to be bad for business....

All the terrorist market suddenly boycotting them, I'm sure they're losing sleep over it.

You are not thinking past the first point. Considering what these people have been doing lately, even if you are currently on their good side, what happens when you’re not or don’t want to serve them anymore? Think places like India and Brazil may be rethinking their supply chains right now?

Any .org should be considering the risk of allowing devices unfettered into onto their businesses premesis which could be used to trigger remote explosions, allies and enemies.

Business for pagers is not going great anyway...

Dennis Duffy finally got a big commercial order and now that customer isn't going to use him again. That's no way to impress Liz Lemon.

Site is down: https://www.gapollo.com.tw/rugged-pager-ar924/

Archived a couple hours ago: https://archive.is/Kw0Pg

95g, USB-C rechargeable up to 85 days of operation, separate control and charging boards, multiple replaceable components for easy maintenance.

Probably lots of ways to free up space, most notably by using a smaller battery but with a few resources you could probably combine the boards and probably not even be obvious ("generation 2, less expensive to produce"). With state-actor level resources new boards would be easy as would something concealed within a LiPo battery.

Time right for a meshtastic pager with a BOM with no bombs.

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