15 kHz Problem
Tuesday, 23. June 2009, 19:15:34
The iPhone 3GS was released last week and already people are finding problems with it, and not just the sort of teething problems people expect from new handsets.A flood of reports are coming in about an extra tone playing after the phone has played any sound (from music to notification sounds). The sound is in a long whining tone in the 15kHz range, which some people can't actually hear apparently. I'm linking to a sound file here of a 15kHz tone so you can see if you can hear it, and figure out if you could put up with that for the minimum 18 month contract that the 3GS comes with. While some adults are unable to hear this it's the right frequency to enrage animals (which explains why I don't like Apple's phones) and potentially damage young children's physical and mental health. This is a really bad bug that shouldn't have gotten through even the most lax quality control.
The iPhone products rather suspiciously get good reviews across the board, yet not one reviewer managed to find this particular problem. Makes me wonder if any of them even touched the phone before tapping up a review and cashing the cheque from Apple. Still, this shouldn't affect any of my readers. Aren't you glad you listened to Uncle Furie and didn't buy an iPhone?![]()









Dacotah # 23. June 2009, 19:21
Dacotah # 23. June 2009, 19:22
The Dark Furie # 23. June 2009, 19:25
Darko # 23. June 2009, 19:32
Dacotah # 23. June 2009, 19:51
The Dark Furie # 23. June 2009, 20:30
Dacotah # 23. June 2009, 20:42
Charles Schloss # 23. June 2009, 20:46
Originally posted by gdare:
reminds me of the mosquito ring tone
how did they get that in an audio file with out hurting their ears
Aadil # 23. June 2009, 23:44
I can here up to 20khz clearly and up to 22khz although it's less distinct. But someone who's spent twenty years or more touring with a rock band probably can't hear anything above 10khz.
Aadil # 23. June 2009, 23:55
http://www.freemosquitoringtones.org/
Kittylicious # 24. June 2009, 08:11
I still like my navigator too much to replace it just yet - and it's certainly not going to be replaced with an iPhone!
Moesring # 24. June 2009, 09:24
Could be that I didn't listen to it for long, though. Having said that, I also don't find the noise emitted by Mosquito devices, when running at the anti-youth setting of 17.5-18.5kHz, to be particularly annoying either
Even so, it really was dreadful of them to not notice it during testing and - as you say - for not one of the reviewers to notice it either.
Aadil # 24. June 2009, 09:29
Cois # 24. June 2009, 10:25
Marike # 24. June 2009, 17:11
Randall # 24. June 2009, 17:47
Hate iPhone or not, we should really tell them thanks for stimulating the market like they did. Look how much companies tried to follow them & how many great phones we got from them as a result
Aadil # 24. June 2009, 19:03
The Dark Furie # 24. June 2009, 19:12
Unfortunately the majority of companies that have followed in Apple's footsteps are releasing under-powered devices that rely on their name and a touchscreen to sell them, fulfilling my lack of innovation prophesy. The big phone companies have kept doing what they're doing, although the OHA pushed it's technology plan forward by a year, releasing Android before it was quite ready (and before they'd secured Android as a name meaning they're in a lawsuit right now).
Aadil # 24. June 2009, 19:51
By definition, the original meaning of 'android' is, "shaped like, or in the form of a human".
Thus, the name is completely misplaced as an operating system.
The Dark Furie # 24. June 2009, 20:01
theoddbod # 24. June 2009, 22:34
Randall # 24. June 2009, 23:16
As for the sound problem... if qlue is right & it turns out to be a Hardware problem it's gonna kick Apple in the nutz
well you guys know I can't even use iPhone in this country so I'd have to get something else. Problem is anything using symbian & has full keyboard cost an arm & a leg, so I'm gonna be stuck with my lame Motorola V690 forever
The Dark Furie # 25. June 2009, 01:56
As for the tech, it was there but wasn't affordable to the end user when used in a fully featured phone hence other companies not releasing it. Apple cut the costs by not releasing a fully featured phone and charged premium prices, where other companies had decided not to do that to their customers. That's why the iPhone hardware they released on Friday has finally caught up to my two year old phone, and has some new features that I've been using for over ten years in various phones.
Bet I can find you a good Symbian model with QWERTY for cheaper than you'd expect. You'd have to order online though. Do you want a hardware keyboard or would you be happy with a touchscreen?
Personally I reckon you'd prefer something like the HTC Hero to anything else. It's got the drool factor you need, a powerful if young OS, and personalisation up the wazoo!
Randall # 25. June 2009, 02:56
...I'd love if you found me some good options with full keyboard & Symbian
I like the sleek look of a full touch screen with touch keyboard but I'm wary of the interface... I hate going through a thousand menus just to send a text message. Phones with actual keys may look uglier but what I want is efficiency without breaking the bank.
I love the 'cool factor' but it's of no use if the phone is troublesome to use
Marike # 25. June 2009, 04:04
r♡se # 25. June 2009, 09:06
Darko # 25. June 2009, 09:55
Aadil # 27. June 2009, 12:48