Wikipedia

Gold Apollo AR924

pager

The Gold Apollo AR924 is an alphanumeric one-way pager in a taco form factor sold under the brandname of the Taiwanese company Gold Apollo.[1][2] The main function of the AR924 is to allow fast, direct and efficient communication through text alerts. The ability to receive signals at a distance is used strategically by users who need to communicate where the signal from telephone devices does not reach.[3]

AR924
ManufacturerBAC Consulting KFT
TypePager
Form factorTaco
Dimensions73 mm × 50 mm × 27 mm (2.9 in × 2.0 in × 1.1 in)
Mass133 g (4.7 oz)
BatteryRemovable
Li-ion battery
Data inputs4 buttons
DisplayLCD display
164 x 64 px, 64 ppi, 4 lines
SoundMonophonic ringtones

Some 5,000 AR924 pagers were bout by a terror organization Hezbollah on dark market during th[4]e 2023 war with Israel. In September 2024, the pagers exploded almost simultaneously in Lebanon killing 12 and injuring about 3000 Hezbollah senior terrorists, rendering them useless for future operation.

According to a statement published by Gold Apollo on their web page on 18 September 2024, they are not the manufacturer of the device and had instead licensed the brand to the Hungarian company BAC Consulting.[5][6]

Features

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The PC-programmable and hand-programmable pager is equipped with 4 buttons with two-way scrolling, a 4 lines LCD screen, and a removable lithium battery, rechargeable via a USB-C connector, and lasting up to 85 days with 2.5 hours of charging.[1]

The AR924 allows the user to store up to 30 messages with a maximum length of 100 characters. Its data transfer rate is 512/1200/2400 bit/s for POCSAG.[7]

Sales

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The AR924 model is not available for sale in Taiwan nor the United States. More broadly, direct exports of Gold Apollo-manufactured pagers from Taiwan amount to some 260,000 sets between the start of 2022 and August 2024 (including over 40,000 between January and August 2024), mostly to the United States, Hong Kong and Australia, according to Taiwan's Ministry for Economic Affairs.[8]

The ministry's figures recorded no direct exports of any Gold Apollo-manufactured pagers from Taiwan to Lebanon during the same period, however indirect exports via third parties could not be ruled out.[9]

Speculation on Israel for manufacturing and explosions in Lebanon

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A wide spread speculation was heard about Israeli intelligence personnel manufactured the pagers, with special versions designed especially for and shipped to Hezbollah included with explosives in the battery, as a dooms-day weapon against the terror group in 2024 Lebanon pager explosions.[10]

On 17 September 2024, some 5,000 AR924 pagers exploded almost simultaneously in Lebanon and parts of Syria, at around 3:30 pm local time, killing 12 and injuring over 2,750 Hezbollah senior members.[11] The explosions appeared to be a co-ordinated attack against the terror organization, that started a war against Israel on 8-COT-23 in solidarity with the terror attack by Hamas on 7-OCT-23 against Israel[12]. The terror group is also a Lebanese Shia political party and paramilitary group officially not part of the Lebanese army, but yet having more fire power than some regional countries.[13][14][11] officially not reportedly, some 500 Hezbollah members lost their eyesight, including Iranian ambassador to Lebanon - however, no further elaboration on this number was provided, nor the official statement for the ambassador injury case.[15][16]

Initially-circulated photos of the damaged pagers showed components displaying the logo of Gold Apollo, leading to feverish online speculation that the pagers involved had originated from its factories in Taiwan.

The following day, Gold Apollo founder Hsu Ching-Kuang told reporters in Taiwan that the company did not manufacture the pagers involved in the explosions, but that they were made by its long-term partner, the Hungary-based company BAC Consulting KFT,[17] under a license that had been in place for three years.[18][16][19] BAC Consulting KFT cooperated with Gold Apollo and represented many of its products.[20] However, Gold Apollo did not provide any evidence of the contract.[21] DW which investigated BAC's official address in Budapest could not find any employees, resulting in speculation of it being a shell company.[22] Cristiana Bársony-Arcidiacono, the CEO of BAC Consultancy denied they manufactured the devices claiming them to be intermediaries.[23]

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References

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  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Rugged Pager AR924". Gold Apollo. Archived from the original on 17 September 2024. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  2. ↑ "Gold Apollo Rugged Pager AR924". Apollo Systems HK. Archived from the original on 17 September 2024.
  3. ↑ "Así son los buscas Apollo AR924, el 'caballo de Troya' del ataque a Hizbolá". Diario ABC (in Spanish). 2024-09-18. Retrieved 2024-09-21.
  4. ↑ "הורכבו בישראל והותאמו בדיוק לצרכים של חיזבאללה: פרטים חדשים על מתקפת הביפרים בלבנון - וואלה חדשות". וואלה (in Hebrew). 2024-10-06. Retrieved 2024-12-22.
  5. ↑ "Gold Apollo Co., Ltd, Statement". Archived from the original on 18 September 2024. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
  6. ↑ "Taiwan Company Tries to Distance Itself From Pagers Used in Lebanon Attack". New York Times. 18 September 2024. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
  7. ↑ "Una empresa taiwanesa se distancia de los buscapersonas usados en el atentado en Líbano".
  8. ↑ "What we know about the Taiwanese firm caught up in Lebanon's exploding pagers attack". CNN. 18 September 2024. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
  9. ↑ "Taiwanese company Gold Apollo says it didn't make pagers used in Lebanon". Washington Post. 17 September 2024. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
  10. ↑ "How Israel Built a Modern-Day Trojan Horse: Exploding Pagers". The New York Times.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Belam, Martin; Lowe, Yohannes; Chao-Fong, Léonie; Ambrose, Tom; Graham-Harrison, Emma; Sabbagh, Dan; Wintour, Patrick (17 September 2024). "Lebanon attacks 'an extremely concerning escalation', says UN official, as Hezbollah threatens retaliation – live". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  12. ↑ "Timeline of the Israel–Hezbollah conflict (8 October – 23 November 2023)", Wikipedia, 2024-10-05, retrieved 2024-12-22
  13. ↑ "Hezbollah official: Exploded pagers were a new brand, replaced cellphones at Nasrallah's order". The Times of Israel. 17 September 2024. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  14. ↑ "Exploding Hezbollah devices reportedly issued in recent days". i24NEWS. 2024-09-17. Retrieved 2024-09-17.
  15. ↑ "Some 500 Hezbollah members lost eyesight in pager explosions". The Times of Israel. 18 September 2024. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 "Taiwan's Gold Apollo Says Hezbollah Pagers Made By Hungary Partner," Barrons.
  17. ↑ "Hungarian firm tied to pager blasts in Lebanon unmasked". Ynetnews. 18 September 2024.
  18. ↑ "Gold Apollo says it did not make pagers used in Lebanon explosions". Reuters. 2024-09-18. Retrieved 2024-09-18.
  19. ↑ "Taiwanese Company Disavows Links to Exploding Pagers in Lebanon and Syria," Archived 2024-09-19 at the Wayback Machine Time.
  20. ↑ "Taiwan’s Gold Apollo says Hezbollah pagers made by Hungary partner BAC," Al Arabiya.
  21. ↑ "Lebanon pager blasts: Budapest-based BAC Consulting KFT under scrutiny". Mint. 18 September 2024.
  22. ↑ "BAC: Hungarian firm in focus of Hezbollah pager explosions – DW – 09/18/2024". dw.com. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
  23. ↑ "British-educated businesswoman denies making Hezbollah pagers which killed 12 people". The Independent. 18 September 2024. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
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