4 Things About Your Mobile Phone

[Bobj]

FOUR THINGS YOU PROBABLY NEVER KNEW YOUR MOBILE PHONE COULD DO

There are a few things that can be done in times of grave emergencies.
Your mobile phone can actually be a lifesaver or an emergency tool for survival. Check out the things that you can do with it:

FIRST EmergencyThe Emergency Number worldwide for Mobile is 112. If you find yourself out of the coverage area of your mobile; network and there is an emergency, dial 112 and the mobile will search any existing network to establish the emergency number for you, and interestingly this number 112 can be dialled even if the keypad is locked. Try it out.

SECOND Have you locked your keys in the car?Does your car have remote keyless entry? This may come in handy someday.
Good reason to own a cell phone: If you lock your keys in the car and the spare keys are at home, call someone at home on their mobile phone from mobile phone. Hold your cell phone about a foot from your car door and have the person at your home press the unlock button, holding it near the mobile phone on their end. Your car will unlock. Saves someone from having to drive your keys to you. Distance is no object. You could be hundreds of
miles away, and if you can reach someone who has the other "remote" for your car, you can unlock the doors (or the boot).
Editor's Note: It works fine! We tried it out and it unlocked our car over a mobile phone!"

THIRD Hidden Battery PowerImagine your mobile battery is very low. To activate, press the keys *3370# Your mobile will restart with this reserve and the instrument will show a 50% increase in battery. This reserve will get charged when you charge your mobile next time.

FOURTH How to disable a STOLEN mobile phone?To check your Mobile phone's serial number, key in the following digits on your phone:
* # 0 6 # A 15 digit code will appear on the screen. This number is unique to your handset. Write it down and keep it somewhere safe. When your phone gets stolen, you can phone your service provider and give them this code. They will then be able to block your handset so even if the thief changes the SIM card, your phone will be totally useless. You probably won't get your
phone back, but at least you know that whoever stole it can't use/sell it either. If everybody does this, there would be no point in people stealing mobile phones.

This is the kind of information people don't mind receiving, so pass it on to your family and friends

[vindictive666]

hi

i tried that 112 call and it said no network found

i was in reach of my service provider? :)

[ving]

maybe in USA?

[vindictive666]

?

it came up and said looking for network ?

[Kal]

*3370# This Nokia code activates Enhanced Full Rate Codec (EFR) - Your Nokia cell phone uses the best sound quality but talk time is reduced my approx. 5%

#3370# Deactivate Enhanced Full Rate Codec (EFR)

Check your Nokia manual, should be in there somewhere.

[vindictive666]

Result Unknown On My Nokia 6300 :)

[RB]

I just tried it on my Nokia and it worked.

I haven't tried the others yet.

[Dujon]

Why on Earth would someone test an emergency number without first checking with their service provider?

Surely "000" (in Australia) staff already have enough problems with idiots without exacerbating the problem.

[RB]

I didn't actually let the call go through to 000, it was about to be diverted via a pre-recorded message and before the first ring chimed, I hung up.

:)

[Dennis]

Interesting info Bojan - thanks.

The only problem is that we don't have a mobile 'phone! Just recently, we purchased our 1st microwave and the sales staff were flabbergasted that we had managed for so long without one!

Cheers

Dennis

[citivolus]

Even if the 3370 number worked, it would not be a good idea to make a habit of using it. Lithium ion batteries should not be discharged below a certain voltage per cell, or it will physically damage the battery and you run the risk of fire/explosion when you next charge it. Food for thought...

[allan gould]

Same for me

[Kal]

My guess is that aussie networks only use one type of codec, so the *3370# code to switch the bitrate that is sent to/from you does nothing? :shrug:

A google search will show this answer of 'codec changing' hundreds if not thousands of times though.

[h0ughy]

was that after you discovered the fact that those black cables out the front of the house brought electricity:whistle:

[Kal]

For someone who just bought their first microwave and doesn't own a mobile phone I'm suprised that you have a pc and are on the net! :lol:

[wasyoungonce]

This is a myth.

Mobile phone handset, speakers and microphones, cannot operate in the frequency range required for UHF car remote controls. Indeed they will at most have a 3Khz freq dynamic range at best. Car remote control transponders and receivers operate in the 400Mhz plus range.

http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/household/cellphones.asp

indeed all these subjects are covered in the link above.


edit:
that's 400Mhz PLL (phase locked loop) freq lock, the operating freq of the transponder. Since each transponder sends a digital code and this code is locked to the 400Mhz centre freq (actually usually 433Mhz). Thus 400Mhz is way outside the freq capabilities of any mobile phone speaker or microphone.

[Night Owl]

Yeah, I agree, its sort of like breaking a fire alarm glass to see if the brigade with come!

However, another interesting thing I have been told is if you have charged and unused old mobile, that isn't even connected to a network, the 112 number will still connect you to an emergency service. Or so I have been told. But I won't check it out. But I do take an old mobile out fishing with me, or keep it in the glove box.

[edwardsdj]

Yeah, my understanding is that 112 will work on any GSM mobile anywhere in the world (where it can find a network) even if no SIM card is installed in the phone.

[JimmyH155]

There are a few emails going around the office showing pictures oh how to cook an egg with 2 mobiles switched on and an egg in between. The article says that after about 60 minutes, the egg will be cooked, and imagine what this will be doing to your brains??:shrug:
The answer is that THIS IS A BIG LIE :mad2::mad2:as any body with a smattering of knowledge of science will suss out. The peak output from a mobile is in the order of 5 watts. The average output is about one eighth of this - ie 0.625 watts. That, coupled with the fact that heat is conducted away from the egg, will ensure the egg never gets cooked. There are quite a few more reasons that this is impossible, but cant remember. So, folks, if you are out in the bush without any matches, dont try your phone to make a hot meal - use it to open the car door:lol::lol:

[edwardsdj]

The car door thing was pretty funny :)

[citivolus]

Working for a major phone manufacturer, I had to clear a bit of this up, with a few links:

http://www.acma.gov.au/WEB/STANDARD/pc=PC_100581
and
http://www.acma.gov.au/WEB/STANDARD/pc=PC_100575

112 is GSM only, and will not work in the same way on 3G (or what Telstra chooses to call "NextG"). 000 is still your best bet, and as mentioned at the second link it maps internally to the same number as 112 in most newer GSM handsets anyway.

Long story short: learn and use 000. I wouldn't want to rely on an older GSM phone with no service contract in an emergency situation, would you?