Snopes on Cell Phone Info

 

 

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Home --> Inboxer Rebellion --> Household Tips --> Cell Phone Functions

 

Cell Phone Functions

 

Claim: E-mail lists five little-known but useful functions associated with cell phones.

 

Status: Multiple — see below.

 

Example: [Collected via e-mail, February 2007]

 

THINGS YOU NEVER KNEW YOUR CELL PHONE COULD DO !!!

 

There are a few things that can be done in times of grave emergencies.

Your mobile phone can actually be a life saver or an emergency tool for

survival. Check out the things that you can do with it:

 

FIRST Subject: 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 Subject: 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). Editor's Note: It works fine! We tried

it out and it unlocked our car over

a cell phone!"

 

THIRD Subject: Hidden Battery Power

 

Imagine your cell

battery is very low. To activate, press the keys *3370# Your cell 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

next time.

 

FOURTH Subject: 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 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 Subject:

 

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) FREE 411, or (800) 373-3411 without incurring any

charge at all. Program this into your cell phone now.

 

Origins: The message

reproduced above is (with one exception) a compendium of topics we've

already covered in separate articles, so we'll just provide a brief

summary for each entry with a pointer to a more detailed explanation:

Calling 112

on your cell phone will (in some parts of the world, primarily Europe)

connect you to local emergency services, even if you are outside your

provider's service area (i.e., even if you are not authorized to relay

signals through the cell tower that handles your call), and many cell

phones allow the user to place 112 calls even if the phone lacks a SIM

card or its keypad is locked. However, the 112 number does not have (as

is sometimes claimed) special properties that enable callers to use it

in areas where all cellular signals are blocked (or otherwise

unavailable). Cars with remote keyless entry (RKE) systems cannot be unlocked

by relaying a key fob transmitter signal via a cellular telephone. RKE

systems and cell phones utilize different types of signals and transmit

them at different frequencies. The claim that pressing the sequence *3370# will unleash "hidden battery power" in a cell phone seems to be a misunderstanding of an option

available on some brands of cell phone (such as Nokia) for Half Rate

Codec, which provides about 30% more talk time on a battery charge at

the expense of lower sound quality. However, this option is enabled by

pressing the sequence *#4720# — the sequence *3370# actually enables Enhanced Full Rate Codec, which provides better sound quality at the expense of shorter battery life. Entering the sequence *#06# into a cell phone may display a 15-digit identification string, but that function only works with some types of cell phones, and the efficacy of reporting the ID number to a cellular service provider to head off unauthorized use of a lost or stolen phone is limited. Some business outfits such as (800) FREE-411

do provide free directory assistance services to cell phone customers.

However, users should note that the service is "free" in the sense that

FREE-411 provides directory information to callers at no

charge, but cellular service providers may still assess charges related

to placing such calls.

 

Last updated: 15 February 2007

 

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--- On Thu, 6/11/09, Bonnie May wrote:

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