oh damn, why didn't i trust my beloved friend about.com's urban legends website? here's what they said. and what they say is the god's honest truth. at least that's what i heard on a website once.
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1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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!
4. 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.
5. 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.
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dean
cincinnati
i have two cell phones. i had one for personal, then work gave me one. i kept the personal, as i didn't want to give them a reason to can my *** for using their phone for personal stuff.
1) the 112 emergency phone trick: worked with the samsung brand, at&t network phone; didn't work with the motorola brand, verizon network phone; checking snopes, they advise this is not a catch-all---it won't find you a signal that's not there; you have to have a signal for this to work, so it's not all that it's cracked up to be, but it does appear to be another form of 911 (but why relearn another emergency # when we've all learned 911 for years now?)
2) the *3370# for emergency battery power; didn't work on either phone.
3) *#60# for serial number; worked for the samsung/at&t phone; didn't work for the motorola/verizon.
didn't try the keyless entry thing, i'm skeptical about that, but i'll give it a try.
dean
cincinnati
