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5 Things You Never Knew Your Cell Phone Could Do

by Phil Barrett

Here’s some irony for you – one week after posting about the 8,690 disruptions I experienced in April, here’s a forwarded email I received last week that I actually found interesting.  I guess 1 in 8,690 isn’t bad? :)

FIRST
Emergency

The 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 dialed 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 cell phone from your cell 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 trunk).

THIRD
Hidden Battery Power

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

FOURTH
How to disable a STOLEN mobile phone? (this would have come in handy a few weeks ago)

To check your Mobile phone’s serial number, key in the following Digits on your phone: *#06# . 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 get 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.

And Finally . . . .

FIFTH
Free Directory Service for Cells

Cell phone companies are charging us $1. 00 to $1.75 or more for 411 information calls when they don’t have to . Most of us do not carry a telephone directory in our vehicle, which makes this situation even more of a problem . When you need to use the 411 information option, simply dial: (800)FREE411, or (800) 373-3411 without incurring any charge at all. Program this into your cell phone now.

  • http://blog.digitaljoy.ca/ david

    WHAT! very interesting… do you know why the phone has this “hidden” power, and more importantly does my ipod / laptop also have this hidden power?

  • http://blog.digitaljoy.ca david

    WHAT! very interesting… do you know why the phone has this “hidden” power, and more importantly does my ipod / laptop also have this hidden power?

  • http://www.burningthebacon.com/ Phil Barrett

    Not sure why… but something i encourage you to try on your other devices!

  • http://www.burningthebacon.com Phil Barrett

    Not sure why… but something i encourage you to try on your other devices!

  • Harry Burke

    I wish you wrote this a couple weeks ago too! Never again need I fear locking the keys in the car.

  • Harry Burke

    I wish you wrote this a couple weeks ago too! Never again need I fear locking the keys in the car.

  • kMc
  • kMc
  • http://www.burningthebacon.com/ Phil Barrett

    KMC – thanks for the link. I’ve received emails from others pointing to the link.

    It is interesting to note that some of the items aren’t universal anymore and one doesn’t seem to work at all. It’s probably reflective of when the original content was developed vs. how the industry has evolved.

    My gf tried the 112 – and it worked… in fact she had to take the battery out to disable it.

    I’m wondering if the tips are CDMA or GSM specific…

    Lastly on the keys tip – this one doesn’t appear to work unfortunately… although i wonder how GM is able to unlock cars remotely with OnStar since Onstar is really just a mobile device integrated within the car.

    Does anybody know how that works? Is it by frequency per the original tip or something else? One friend suggested that the OnStar device acts like a modem that can access the car electronics system… which makes sense too.

  • http://www.burningthebacon.com Phil Barrett

    KMC – thanks for the link. I’ve received emails from others pointing to the link.

    It is interesting to note that some of the items aren’t universal anymore and one doesn’t seem to work at all. It’s probably reflective of when the original content was developed vs. how the industry has evolved.

    My gf tried the 112 – and it worked… in fact she had to take the battery out to disable it.

    I’m wondering if the tips are CDMA or GSM specific…

    Lastly on the keys tip – this one doesn’t appear to work unfortunately… although i wonder how GM is able to unlock cars remotely with OnStar since Onstar is really just a mobile device integrated within the car.

    Does anybody know how that works? Is it by frequency per the original tip or something else? One friend suggested that the OnStar device acts like a modem that can access the car electronics system… which makes sense too.

  • PDub
  • PDub

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  • sasha

    On-Star – it can alert emergency services you’ve been in an accident, it can unlock your car, it can even locate the nearest beer store to your current location – On-Star comes standard on many vehicles now and many people opt to add it to their cars.

    But how does it work?

    OnStar is a telematics service, a subscription-based communications, monitoring and tracking service provided by General Motors.

    Telematics?

    Telematics is the transmission of data communications between systems and devices; it is the integrated use of telecommunications and informatics, also known as ICT (Information and Communications Technology) Essentialy it is the science of sending, receiving and storing information via telecommunication devices – wireless meets computers.

    Why doesn’t it work when we send the signal through our mobile phones?

    OnStar unlocks the car by sending a cellular data signal to the car’s computer. An On-Star operator can unlock your car from miles away because the system allows them to locate the car and access its internal computer.

    Remote door lock keychains work by emitting a low-power radio signal to a receiver in your car (at a frequency of about 300-400MHz). The signal is encrypted specifically to work with your vehicle and is very hard to duplicate. Cell phones use a higher-powered and higher-frequency radio signal (DMA and GSM typically operates at 850MHz and 1900MHz) compared to the remote door keychains. This means that although cell phones can transmit voice and data they cannot transmit other radio signals.

    so until remote keyless entry is closer to the frequency of our voice (voice frequency ranges from 85-155Hz) we probably won’t be able to unlock our phones.

  • sasha

    On-Star – it can alert emergency services you’ve been in an accident, it can unlock your car, it can even locate the nearest beer store to your current location – On-Star comes standard on many vehicles now and many people opt to add it to their cars.

    But how does it work?

    OnStar is a telematics service, a subscription-based communications, monitoring and tracking service provided by General Motors.

    Telematics?

    Telematics is the transmission of data communications between systems and devices; it is the integrated use of telecommunications and informatics, also known as ICT (Information and Communications Technology) Essentialy it is the science of sending, receiving and storing information via telecommunication devices – wireless meets computers.

    Why doesn’t it work when we send the signal through our mobile phones?

    OnStar unlocks the car by sending a cellular data signal to the car’s computer. An On-Star operator can unlock your car from miles away because the system allows them to locate the car and access its internal computer.

    Remote door lock keychains work by emitting a low-power radio signal to a receiver in your car (at a frequency of about 300-400MHz). The signal is encrypted specifically to work with your vehicle and is very hard to duplicate. Cell phones use a higher-powered and higher-frequency radio signal (DMA and GSM typically operates at 850MHz and 1900MHz) compared to the remote door keychains. This means that although cell phones can transmit voice and data they cannot transmit other radio signals.

    so until remote keyless entry is closer to the frequency of our voice (voice frequency ranges from 85-155Hz) we probably won’t be able to unlock our phones.

  • Bob A

    Your comment on Unlocking a car with a cellphone DOES NOT WORK. See: http://www.snopes.com/autos/techno/keyless.asp
    Sorry to rain on your parade.

  • Bob A

    Your comment on Unlocking a car with a cellphone DOES NOT WORK. See: http://www.snopes.com/autos/techno/keyless.asp
    Sorry to rain on your parade.

  • MARSHA

    THE REMOTE AND CELL PHONE ENTRY DOES WORK I HAVE DID IT WITH TWO DIFFERENT CARS BOTH WERE NEWER MODELS

  • MARSHA

    THE REMOTE AND CELL PHONE ENTRY DOES WORK I HAVE DID IT WITH TWO DIFFERENT CARS BOTH WERE NEWER MODELS

  • kenny

    WELL I WOULD HAVE TO SAY, THAT THE REMOTE AND PHONE BIT TO OPEN CAR DOES WORK

  • http://barrett kenny

    WELL I WOULD HAVE TO SAY, THAT THE REMOTE AND PHONE BIT TO OPEN CAR DOES WORK

  • http://www.burningthebacon.com/ Phil Barrett

    Check this out – a new phone by Sharp will allow you to unlock your car and start the engine!
    http://www.reportonbusiness.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080924.wcarkey0924/BNStory/Business/home

  • http://www.burningthebacon.com Phil Barrett

    Check this out – a new phone by Sharp will allow you to unlock your car and start the engine!
    http://www.reportonbusiness.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080924.wcarkey0924/BNStory/Business/home

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  • pathardy

    Everyone of these will help me–and I need it!!! Thanks

  • pathardy

    Everyone of these will help me–and I need it!!! Thanks

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  • bloggy1111

    This will really help thanks burning the bacon

  • Anonymous

    BOGOSITY WARNING! Only the first and fifth on the list have any validity, and even they are thin. This is from Urban Legends (Snopes found exactly the same things):Analysis: Beware forwarded emails offering esoteric tips and tricks “you never knew.” Most of the claims in this message are either false or have limited applicability. Let’s examine them one by one:CLAIM: The worldwide emergency number for cell phones is 112.Not quite. Throughout most of Europe and a few countries outside of the EU, dialing 112 will connect users to local emergency services. However, the number won’t work in North America, nor most of Asia and Africa. Many, but not all, cell phone models will allow special emergency numbers to be dialed even if the phone lacks a SIM card or the keypad is locked.CLAIM: Unlock a car door with your cell phone and a spare remote key.False. As discussed previously in these pages, cell phones and remote keyless entry systems work on entirely different radio frequencies. Therefore, cell phones are incapable of re-transmitting the signal from a remote key to unlock a car door.CLAIM: Press *3370# to access ‘reserve battery power.’False. On some Nokia phones, users can punch in special codes and toggle between speech codec modes to 1) enhance voice transmission quality at the cost of diminished battery performance, or 2) enhance battery performance by decreasing voice quality. Apparently, some users have misconstrued the latter as “tapping into reserve battery power.” On that score the email is doubly erroneous because *3370# is the code for enhancing voice quality, so using it actually decreases battery life!CLAIM: Press *#06# to disable a stolen cell phone.Not exactly. On some cell phone models, but not all, pressing *#06# will cause the phone’s 15-digit International Mobile Equipment Identity to be displayed. Some service providers, but not all, can use that information to deactivate the handset. In any case, it isn’t necessary to supply an IMEI number to cancel your cellular account in the event of theft; simply call your provider, give them the appropriate account information, and tell them the phone was stolen.CLAIM: Make 411 calls on your cell phone without charge by dialing (800) FREE 411.Basically true (see previous commentary on Free 411), though cell phone users may still incur a charge for minutes used, depending on the specifics of their plan.

  • Stewartret

    Urban legends and snopes suggest the 5 things you never knew about cell phones is a mixture of accurate/inaccurate to mostly false.

  • Em

    The second and fourth definatly work. I’ve tried the second before just to see if it would simply work.
    Dont know about the third….i’d probably think not but with the other 4 working it may do.

  • http://cellphonetrackers.org/how-to-reverse-look-up-a-mobile-phone-number.html Cell phone lookup

    You can find more cell phone tricks at cellphonetricks.net

  • http://thetriondexperiment.blogspot.com The Triond Experiment

    I didn;t really know about these before I read this article. Its good to know.

  • FearLess

    BS! I’m not gullible enough to believe crap just because someone put it on paper. I’ve tried every one of these and none, yes I said NONE, of them work. They are all crap. The last one may work but has other items of profitability attached like horoscopes, and we’ll wait and see if my phone is billed. Stop being SHEEPLE, know the truth and the truth will set you free.

    -FearLess

  • Exclusive541

    This is a hoax that has been going around since 2007. Originally it was FOUR things that you didn’t know your cell phone would do. In some of the items, there is a bit of truth. Do other searches on internet and you will see each one explained.

  • http://zezel.com/about.aspx Samantha Cole

    Hehe… these tips sound simple, but there  lots of  advantages of using phones today! Especially in communication! You may spread the news through using phones and internet. In time the mentioned events happened to you, these tips would be so useful for an emergency.

  • http://www.destinyswingers.co.uk local swingers

    Your car will unlock

  • Steele1080

    world wide number is only in europe, car unlock not possible, free directory is true, stolen phone is sometimes true – depends that your servise provider can do with your IMEI code…

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  • Bharatjangid88

    car unlock work….!!

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