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January 13, 2012
Lumia

8 mobile myths knocked out the park



Let’s face it, we all love our mobiles. So much so that when we’re not using them, we’re often talking about them.

Whether it’s wading in to the never-ending online debate or advising your (no doubt less informed) friends and family in the real world about their next phone, there’s always fat to chew in the mobile world.

This chatter is generally a wonderful thing, but inevitably it sees certain myths arise and spread like a crazed wildfire. Some of these untruths have been around for years and at Nokia Connects, we’ve decided that today is the day to pick them up and knock them right out the park!

So today the Nokia Connects team are… MythBusters!!!

You may wish to look at us a little like the Ghostbusters, only less cool.

Here goes…

1. Using a mobile near a petrol station could cause an explosion

Well, it’s never happened to date. A decent source on this is Robert Renkes, a spokesman for the American Petroleum Institute, who said, “We have not found a cell phone responsible for any fire since the beginning of mankind”.

Lots of people have tried. Including this other set of ‘MythBusters’:

2. Mobile is a mature technology with fully-developed suites of popular applications and uses. The tech has gone as far as it can go

Anyone who keeps a close eye on Mobile (and we know you do!) knows that it is still evolving, arguably even faster than it was five year ago. The idea that it’s gone as far as it can go reminds us a little of Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, U.S. patent office, who once famously stated:

‘Everything that can be invented has been invented.’

This was in 1899.

Enough said.

3. Mobiles can cause planes to crash

This one is a bit of a thorny issue because no one appears to be 100% sure. General consensus is that mobiles are hugely unlikely to ever cause a plane to crash BUT it’s better safe than sorry. Here’s a fantastic (but unfortunately unembeddable) video that gives you the lowdown.

4. Mobile radiation could cause cancer

This has long been a hot topic in the medical world on which there are a number of clashing opinions. The principle reason the mobile industry believes phones are safe is that they use non-ionizing radiation (which differs from the ionizing radiation of x-rays and radioactive material in a number of ways) to broadcast and receive signals.

The validity of this issue cannot be proven either way just yet, but one thing that is widely agreed is that the connection between cell phones and brain cancer has yet to be demonstrably proven.

5. You can use your phone’s remote signal to unlock a car

This one has been doing the rounds for years, but unfortunately it’s completely untrue. We say ‘unfortunately’ because it would be kind of cool, but then there’s nothing cool about getting your car stolen. Here’s National Geographic debunking the myth…

6. Charging your mobile every day reduces battery life

This was true in early mobile phones but batteries in today’s smartphones (or Nokia’s at least, we can’t speak for everyone!) have ironed out those problems. There are many ways to improve your battery life further, see this All About Symbian piece for more.

7. There’s a secret code to increase your battery life

Wait a second…could this one be true?? Here’s Black Water Ops with the scoop!

8. Nokia has only ever made a splash in the mobile world

Actually no, we used to make something else that was pretty good at making a splash…

Read the story of Nokia here.

So… our mobile myths have been knocked out the park! Got any more? Share in the comments or over at @Nokia_Connects