New application measures Android's radiation!!

[mastermind1431]

AN Israeli company has developed software that monitors a mobile phone's radiation levels and alerts the user if the levels becomes excessive.

Tawkon said the aim was to reduce a phone user's exposure to emissions without having to give up their phone.

Tawkon's application is already available for Research In Motion's BlackBerry handsets and will be launched for Google's Android-based phones and Nokia's Symbian later this year.

The application monitors the phone user and if radiation levels reach a certain threshold called the "red zone" an alert is emitted along with suggestions to minimise exposure.

 

[KlaymenDK]

Just one question: How can the phone suddenly measure radiation, after installing a simple app?

My guess is that --if anything-- this app simply monitors active connections and deduces the likely output -- if you're doing wifi+bluetooth+gps, that's bound to be higher than sleep mode, that sort of thing.

 

[Szadzik]

Just one question: How can the phone suddenly measure radiation, after installing a simple app?

My guess is that --if anything-- this app simply monitors active connections and deduces the likely output -- if you're doing wifi+bluetooth+gps, that's bound to be higher than sleep mode, that sort of thing.

It's not radiation per se that the phone is measuring as phones are not radio-active. It is all about Electro-Magnetic Fields. And since every phone creates EMF it can also measure it. The strength of EMF will depend on coverage. The better the coverage, the weaker EMF the phone will generate. If the phone is placed in a location with poor coverage, it will try to search harder to get coverage and as a result will a stronger EMF.

 

[KlaymenDK]

radio-active != Electro-Magnetic Fields.

I'm all with you on this one. I was referring to EM radiation as well.

And since every phone creates EMF it can also measure it.

What? No. If I have an FM radio, I cannot also broadcast FM. If I have a cell phone (broadcasting EM), it cannot also measure general EM fields. Although some (most?) Android phones have a built-in compass, which can be used to determine magnetic fields, this is not the same as measuring radiation.

The strength of EMF will depend on coverage. The better the coverage, the weaker EMF the phone will generate. If the phone is placed in a location with poor coverage, it will try to search harder to get coverage and as a result will a stronger EMF.

As I was saying, I suppose this app makes a guess, based on active services. If there is only one bar of cell reception, it's safe to assume that it blasts more EM than if there were 5 bars.

The bottom line is, I don't think it's in any way accurate -- Android phones simply lack the hardware to determine it. It's similar to all the battery monitors out there: they all run on voltage measurements, which is all right, but for a proper forecast you'd need to know the amperage, which Android does not provide an API for.

 

[Szadzik]

The bottom line is, I don't think it's in any way accurate -- Android phones simply lack the hardware to determine it. It's similar to all the battery monitors out there: they all run on voltage measurements, which is all right, but for a proper forecast you'd need to know the amperage, which Android does not provide an API for.

Yup, I never said it will be accurate, but I think it can be a bit more complicated than just checking signal bars.

 

[mastermind1431]

Yes, even I believe that this application base it's assumption on several other factors to determine the radiation.

But it's manufactures claim this to be the first application that could measure the radiation internally.

 

[tawkon]

tawkon measures the exposure of the user to the radiation of their own mobile phone. All the information about the transmission power of the mobile phone is available on the device itself, in the cellular protocol stack that manages the cellular modem (baseband). We use this information in the form of different RF parameters extracted from the device itself. We then take into consideration the proximity of the phone to the user (for example if they hold the phone against their ear or on their lap) to help determine the actual exposure level to know when the user is actually exposed physically at any given time.

As part of the production procedure we have, each device goes through a long calibration process in an RF lab prior to its release to make sure that our measurements meet the actual values. The equipment we work with in the RF labs includes – RF chamber, Base station simulators, SAR measurement machines, etc. (same equipment that is being used by the mobile vendors).