Do these cell phone "tricks" work????

[hammersley]

OK - I saw on mythbusters that you can't open your car door via the call - so I'm suspicious..... BUT thought the greater Mind Set here may help in this matter..... ESPECIALLY the Last ONE WHICH does WORK... ... ... . you just have to listen to a small ad... ...



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: 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:

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.

 

[fest3er]

My tuppence.

In the case of 911 and 112 calls, all cellular operators are required to put emergency calls through ASAP, whether or not the phone has current service. Yes, you need not pay a penny to have a cell phone for emergency usage. Toss an old cell phone (CDMA or GSM, *not* analog or US-TDMA) in your glove box with a power cord; should you need to make an emergency call, plug it in, turn it on and dial 911. If it can find a signal it can use, it will connect. Cell systems will move a regular call to another cell or terminate a regular call as needed in order to put an emergency call through.

While some key-codes may be specified in the GSM (ITU) specs, most key-code sequences are specific to certain models, since every manufacturer has its own special codes.

The unlock trick might have an imperceptibly greater chance of working than a snowball in The Other Place has of not melting. If the unlock system is audio-based, there's a tiny chance it could work. If the system is infrared-based and the phone can send/receive an IR signal sent over the cell system, there's a slight chance it could work. If the unlock system is RF-based, there's a tiny chance it could work *only* if there happens to be an odd interaction with BlueTooth frequencies. Otherwise, my money's on the snowball.

N

 

[RandyHamilton]

Number five is true, as to the rest, I do not know

 

[Bill Lins]

I tried #3- no joy.

 

[hintonJ]

#5 is true, but you have to listen to a bunch of stupid commercials that makes the fee the cell phone companies charge seem reasonable.

 

[fest3er]

By the by...



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

 

[hammersley]

As far as SNOPES

Have you ever WONDERED the accuracy of SNOPES???? I mean WHO snopes SNOPES???????



THis is a lot about SNOPES... ... ... .



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_Legends_Reference_Pages



The ULRP has a reasonably active forums community, its users referring to themselves as "snopesters". David and Barbara Mikkelson are active participants, with David going by the name "snopes" (lowercase s) and Barbara going simply as "Barbara".



The forums have a variety of subforums, which are split between discussion of urban legends and general talk threads. The current forums have been around since December 2006 and are powered by vBulletin. Before that, there have been some style of forum since the site's debut.





I mean - maybe they're NOT everything they claim????? Heck I use them a lot - BUT I've wondered about some of their "facts"

 

[Jong]

We tried the second trick at the dealership the other day with a few different vehicles... . no luck. Also, the tricks on hidden battery power and lockout codes are specific to some Nokia phones only, IIRC.

 

[CRuth]

Well the battery trick just didnt make any sense. You only have one battery to call on. I think snopes had it right on that one.

 

[Dieselnut59]

My tuppence.



In the case of 911 and 112 calls, all cellular operators are required to put emergency calls through ASAP, whether or not the phone has current service. Yes, you need not pay a penny to have a cell phone for emergency usage. Toss an old cell phone (CDMA or GSM, *not* analog or US-TDMA) in your glove box with a power cord; should you need to make an emergency call, plug it in, turn it on and dial 911. If it can find a signal it can use, it will connect. Cell systems will move a regular call to another cell or terminate a regular call as needed in order to put an emergency call through.



While some key-codes may be specified in the GSM (ITU) specs, most key-code sequences are specific to certain models, since every manufacturer has its own special codes.



The unlock trick might have an imperceptibly greater chance of working than a snowball in The Other Place has of not melting. If the unlock system is audio-based, there's a tiny chance it could work. If the system is infrared-based and the phone can send/receive an IR signal sent over the cell system, there's a slight chance it could work. If the unlock system is RF-based, there's a tiny chance it could work *only* if there happens to be an odd interaction with BlueTooth frequencies. Otherwise, my money's on the snowball.



N

Well stated! However, it ALSO works on "analog" phones. I keep my old "bag phone" for when I am in areas without digital service, such as remote and rural areas. It is the same phone I have had since 1998 and even though I also now have a "tri-mode" digital phone, I keep the full power (3 watt) analog phone with roof mount antenna for times when the digital signal is inaccessable. Yes, you can still dial "911" on an analog phone, but they do not have the "GPS" feature, so you will have to tell the operator where you are or where you are reporting the incident.