Tag: mobile devices

Carrying your mobile phone in your pocket? You may not after the latest research

| January 18, 2016

The result of a recent study has suggested that wearables are leading people to make uninformed choices.

An American scientist, Dr. Devra Davis, has now released a report that has recommended that consumers may not want to continue habits of storing a mobile phone in a pocket as the radiation from the device may put their health at risk.

The truth of the matter is that it is not known, for a fact, whether mobile technology causes harm or not.

The majority of studies on the health risks of using a mobile phone have had to do with holding a device up against the head. Therefore, they would be considering relatively limited lengths of time, as these devices are held up to the head only when using a calling feature. However, only a smaller number of studies have been looking into the impact on the body from keeping smartphone in a pocket. When the device is tucked in a pocket, it may not be up against the head where it can affect the brain but it might be exposing any number of other body parts to electromagnetic radiation.

Dr. Davis spoke at the National Institute of Environmental Health Science about mobile phones.

mobile phone in pocketsAt one of those talks, she spoke of the increasing trend of carrying mobile devices in pockets, bras and even headbands, which has increased the exposure to electromagnetic radiation beyond what the majority of studies have examined. As a result, she has cautioned consumers to learn more about smartphone radiation and its impact on the body before they decide to store it against the same part of the body every day for hours at a time.

She pointed out that radiation exposure can be associated with certain negative health risks such as a change in the metabolism of the brain as well as impotence in males. There is also a growing body of evidence suggesting that radiation from smartphones could have an impact on heart diseases, diabetes or even depression in humans. Placing a smartphone in a pants pocket may even have various types of impact on the pelvic area, such as changing bone density there.

Davis indicated that device users should consult the manuals for their smartphones to learn about the types of radiation produced by their own device models and then to find out more about the impact of that specific kind of radiation on the body. It is true that many of the risks have not been conclusively proven but neither has the safety of storing mobile phones in this way. Therefore, the recommendation is being made to err to the side of safety instead of being the guinea pig that allows science to prove that storing smartphones in a pocket is, indeed, damaging to human health.

Mobile technology in Australia is causing a surprising waste

| January 5, 2016

Nearly 35 percent of smartphone owners will update their handsets this year, regardless of current device function.

In Australia, the Deloitte mobile customer survey has revealed that regardless of whether or not the current mobile technology is still fully functional, 35 percent of smartphone owners will be updating their handsets at some point this year.

Nearly half of all mobile phone owners will be holding onto their current devices instead of trading them in or selling.

That said, when it comes to the same mobile technology survey, it appears that many Australians are hanging onto their old devices when they’re not using them anymore. While 48 percent plan to keep their current smartphones and continue using them, this year, 27 percent will give them away to someone else who can use them. Another 15 percent will recycle their old devices and 8 percent will sell them. Two percent plan to replace their devices because they have gone missing.

With only 15 percent selling their devices after they don’t need them, Australians are skipping an opportunity to make money.

Mobile Technology - Selling Mobile DevicesWhen comparing this trend to the rest of the world, it is Singapore that is the region with the largest number of people who sell their old device models. Among them, 26 percent have done so. In second place is the United Kingdom, where 21 percent of device owners will be selling their gadgets when they replace them. Japan is not far behind, with 20 percent taking part in this online selling opportunity. In Germany, 16 percent will do so. Australia is ahead of only Canada, where only 13 percent of consumers will sell their used devices when they purchase new ones this year.

According to Jeremy Drumm, the lead author of the Deloitte report, a surprisingly large number of Australians simply tuck their older smartphone models into a drawer when they replace them. The majority do so in order to make sure they have a replacement quickly available if anything should happen to their newer model.

That said, this means that the mobile technology isn’t benefiting a friend or family member and it is not being sold in order to make a bit of money and provide someone else with an affordable device. This trend suggests that there is a considerable amount of waste being generated by the current device replacement habits in the country.