Nokia Adding “Lightning Detector” To Phones

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Maybe I just don’t get it, but what good is adding a lightning detector to a cell phone? I’m not trying to be funny but how fast would a lightning detector have to be to be any use to you?

The invention involves the use of radio frequency receivers in mobile phones, such as FM radio and GSM, to detect radio waves emitted by lightning. Typical lightning bolts produce frequencies between 10Hz and 5GHz. A special software program designed by Nokia analyzes the signals, calculates the distance to the lightning and informs users of imminent strikes.
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Really? How many of you attend football games on metal bleachers? Outdoor activities? Going to just run if the sky looks grey? This is a great idea for parents who are watching their children in a park for instance and lightning starts kicking up close to their location...
 
SomeFknGuy said:
Really? How many of you attend football games on metal bleachers? Outdoor activities? Going to just run if the sky looks grey? This is a great idea for parents who are watching their children in a park for instance and lightning starts kicking up close to their location...
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I use the look at the sky method. Ligthning doesn't generally pop out of nowhere and go Suprise!
 
If they could build a tornado detector into a phone, then they would be on to something.
 
If you sit oin metal bleachers in a lightning storm, you have issues WAAAAY beyond what a cell phone can help you with. Next up...golfing in bad weather FTW! :D
 
...now, if they could build a LIE DETECTOR into a cell phone...that'd be handy.

Really honey, I was home with my sick aunt

*beep*beep*beep*
 
As a life guard we were instructed to empty the pool if lightning came within one mile of the area. The detector is a nice feature.

Anyway, if they can add distance to lightning feature, then it would be awesome.
 
If the lightning detector also absorbs the lightning with no side effects, or if the lightning detector slows time so you can promptly dodge the lightning rippling towards you, then well-done, Nokia.

Otherwise, I'll stick to judging the distance of lightning (and imminent threat to me) by how long it takes to hear its resulting thunder.
 
I agree with SomeFknGuy. A lightning detector can come in handy in any outdoor setting. Golfing, swimming, camping, boating, fishing, outdoor sporting events, etc are all situations where a lightning warning would be benficial.
 
Why not just count the number of second’s in-between when you see a strike and when you hear it? Mile a second, not that difficult.
 
Remember when we were kids, and your dad/science teacher/whoever taught you how to count the seconds between a lightening flash and the thunder to roughly determine how far away a thunderstorm is? Well, this is just a high-tech version of that. No, it's not going to save your life microseconds before you get struck - it's only going to let you know that an active storm is nearby, which could influence your activities as someone above mentioned. I think it's a fun feature, probably more useful to me than 80% of the crap they put in cellphones now that I never use. Besides, it doesn't require expensive parts, it's just software analyzing the incoming signal.
 
"Typical lightning bolts produce frequencies between 10Hz and 5GHz"

So, basically through most of the entire produceable frequency spectrum. Just say that. That's like saying this new wristwatch is gonna cost somewhere between $10 and $5,000,000,000.

Yeah, I know you can produce much higher and a bit lower than this range, but come on. 99% of the stuff that's around us is emitting in this range already.
 
snowcat said:
I agree with SomeFknGuy. A lightning detector can come in handy in any outdoor setting. Golfing, swimming, camping, boating, fishing, outdoor sporting events, etc are all situations where a lightning warning would be benficial.
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I'd say humans have done just fine for the what, 200,000 years? ;)

Draax said:
Why not just count the number of second’s in-between when you see a strike and when you hear it? Mile a second, not that difficult.
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Precisely.
 
I actually think it'd be pretty useful. Not everyone knows the lightning rule of thumb about the thunder. You may be mowing the lawn or doing something else noisy and not hear the thunder but feel your phone vibrate. And people who do count seconds may not be using the right formula, I've heard everything from 1/6th of a mile per second to 6 miles away per second. I'd trust the phone's calculations over most people's rule of thumb any time.
 
EODetroit said:
I actually think it'd be pretty useful. Not everyone knows the lightning rule of thumb about the thunder. You may be mowing the lawn or doing something else noisy and not hear the thunder but feel your phone vibrate. And people who do count seconds may not be using the right formula, I've heard everything from 1/6th of a mile per second to 6 miles away per second. I'd trust the phone's calculations over most people's rule of thumb any time.
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Personally I would trust the speed of sound over the phones calculations.
 
They're doing this because cell phones have magnets and attract lightning. Duh. I mean come on, they're magnets.
 
Steve said:
Maybe I just don’t get it, but what good is adding a lightning detector to a cell phone? I’m not trying to be funny but how fast would a lightning detector have to be to be any use to you?
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Sorry, Steve, you guys are wrong on this, this is a great idea, I'm quite serious. They already make portable one, integrating into phones is a great IDEA. they have started installing professional units hooked up top sirens at some athletic fields, they have saved lives.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightning_detector (scroll down for personal lightning detectos)
http://www.ambientweather.com/lightning.html
http://www.stormwise.com/

Listings at Froogle http://www.google.com/products?q=lightning+detector&btnG=Search+Products&hl=en
 
EODetroit said:
Actually, where I live (in Indiana), and I'd guess the same for much of North America, lightning is the number 1 weather-related killer of humans.
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That says nothing about what they were doing and where. And it's assuming a cellphone lightning detector would actually save those lives.

Heh, plus, weather-related in the Midwest pretty much only leaves lightning to be the worst. That or flooding. We don't typically get earthquakes, and tornadoes aren't that abundant. Extreme heat? Cold? I dunno. I'd say flooding kills more people than lightning, at least in Ohio. Whichever does kill the most, I bet they're close though.

Case in point, when I worked at a hospital, a teenager was brought into the ER after being struck by lightning. What was he doing? Repairing the roof of his parents' house. I don't think those leaks or whatever he was working on were worth his life, which was taken that evening. I didn't know him, but he lived in my hometown.
 
qdemn7 said:
Sorry, Steve, you guys are wrong on this, this is a great idea, I'm quite serious. They already make portable one, integrating into phones is a great IDEA. they have started installing professional units hooked up top sirens at some athletic fields, they have saved lives.

-link snips-
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I think it's safe to assume that lightning detectors attached to sirens and devices that do nothing but detect lightning are more reliable than little ones inside mobile phones. If you're willing to talk on a phone outside while it's storming, by all means, consider the consequences and take the risk. In the meantime, I'll stick to the lightning/thunder relationship.

Does anyone else keep thinking about The Great Outdoors when in this thread? :D
 
GJSNeptune said:
I think it's safe to assume that lightning detectors attached to sirens and devices that do nothing but detect lightning are more reliable than little ones inside mobile phones.
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Personal lightning detectors


One type of lightning detector slowly increasing in popularity is the battery-operated personal lightning detector. Similar in size to a pager, personal lightning detectors are popular among golfers, campers, law enforcement, sports officials and other persons who work or recreate outdoors. Personal lightning detectors function by detecting the electromagnetic pulse emitted by a lightning strike. By measuring the strength of the detected EMP, the device can then estimate how far away the detected strike was. When exposed to multiple detected strikes, some personal lightning detectors can even calculate and extrapolate the direction of the storm's movement relative to its position (approaching, departing or stationary).
 
qdemn7 said:
Personal lightning detectors

By measuring the strength of the detected EMP, the device can then estimate how far away the detected strike was. When exposed to multiple detected strikes, some personal lightning detectors can even calculate and extrapolate the direction of the storm's movement relative to its position (approaching, departing or stationary).
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Thank you?
 
valhallaprime said:
"Typical lightning bolts produce frequencies between 10Hz and 5GHz"

So, basically through most of the entire produceable frequency spectrum. Just say that. That's like saying this new wristwatch is gonna cost somewhere between $10 and $5,000,000,000.

Yeah, I know you can produce much higher and a bit lower than this range, but come on. 99% of the stuff that's around us is emitting in this range already.
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not really most, but quite a bit yes...

if you want to see what the spectrum looks like here in the us check out this pdf

http://www.ntia.doc.gov/osmhome/allochrt.pdf
 
Great idea! I was just at my son's baseball game last night with storms all around wondering how close lightning was. My older son has a lightning detection system on his football practice field and at the football stadium he plays. Better safe than sorry.
 
GJSNeptune said:
That says nothing about what they were doing and where. And it's assuming a cellphone lightning detector would actually save those lives.

Heh, plus, weather-related in the Midwest pretty much only leaves lightning to be the worst. That or flooding. We don't typically get earthquakes, and tornadoes aren't that abundant. Extreme heat? Cold? I dunno. I'd say flooding kills more people than lightning, at least in Ohio. Whichever does kill the most, I bet they're close though.

Case in point, when I worked at a hospital, a teenager was brought into the ER after being struck by lightning. What was he doing? Repairing the roof of his parents' house. I don't think those leaks or whatever he was working on were worth his life, which was taken that evening. I didn't know him, but he lived in my hometown.
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According to the Wiki page, Lightning is the #2 weather killer after floods, in my state it happens to be #1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightning_safety . The Wiki page references a NOAA document as its source for that statistic.
 
I just took a look at the patent info linked from the article and it does sound like it could save lives. The detection range in the patent was 20-30km (6-18 Miles roughly). Much farther than you can detect with the flash to boom method. Also, I checked the 1 second equals 1 mile (what I remembered it as) and found it to be wrong. The correct ratio is 5 seconds to 1 mile. So theoretically this would give plenty of time to get to safety.

One last piece of info, according to the patent the reason the 10Hz to 5GHz is important is because they detect the lightning strike by by noting the RF interference on multiple communication channels on the phone.
 
EODetroit said:
Actually, where I live (in Indiana), and I'd guess the same for much of North America, lightning is the number 1 weather-related killer of humans.
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qdemn7 said:
Personal lightning detectors


... [/U]
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Here in Fredericton, NB we've had an incident where a girl was struck by lightning while playing soccer sometime mid-summer a few years ago.

Not many fields or playgrounds have a lightning detector so having a portable one on your cell phone if you're a soccer mom, a coach or whomever is extremely useful. It can save lives and it may also inform you if the weather's getting worse so you can start packing up early before the storm reaches.
 
I think people are under the delusion that "Lightning Detector" means "Lightning Predictor". It's not going to go "DUCK, LIGHTNING!!!", it just tells you how far away the lightning after a strike.

Speed of sound - 330m/s
Meters/Mile - ~1600

5 seconds per mile.

If you manage to get stuck in the middle of a lightning storm and don't notice the lightning and don't notice the thunder then I say... Go Darwinism go!


Am I the only one that notices loud noises, bright flashes, dark clouds, and most likely, rain?

If you need a lightning detector you need a lot more then a lightning detector.
 
Nemesis999 said:
I think people are under the delusion that "Lightning Detector" means "Lightning Predictor". It's not going to go "DUCK, LIGHTNING!!!", it just tells you how far away the lightning after a strike.

Speed of sound - 330m/s
Meters/Mile - ~1600

5 seconds per mile.

If you manage to get stuck in the middle of a lightning storm and don't notice the lightning and don't notice the thunder then I say... Go Darwinism go!


Am I the only one that notices loud noises, bright flashes, dark clouds, and most likely, rain?

If you need a lightning detector you need a lot more then a lightning detector.
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Exactly what i was thinking. Cant really see the point myself. What we really need is criminal detector. It could pick up the signals from those ankle tags and warn you if theres a convicted mugger/murderer/child molestor/rapper/nazi war criminal etc in the area. Now THAT would sell phones.
 
Draax said:
Why not just count the number of second’s in-between when you see a strike and when you hear it? Mile a second, not that difficult.
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Because lightning is unpredictable, and it doesn't always conveniently announce its presence a good mile or two away. For all high school baseball games I umpire in Texas, we are required to have a lightning detector on site when there is a chance of threatening weather. The NCAA also has this rule in place for outdoor sporting events. If lightning is detected, anywhere up to about 20 miles away, the game is suspended until it passes or canceled if it doesn't.

It's not a bleeding camera that watches for lightning and beeps, you know. Most of them measure the difference in electrostatic potential at ground and cloud level. Large potential difference, higher chance of lightning. They also detect lightning that is too high up or too small to see/hear easily.
 
EODetroit said:
I actually think it'd be pretty useful. Not everyone knows the lightning rule of thumb about the thunder.
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Well i would say the lightning rule of thumb would be, if you see lightning who cares about the thunder, you should drop that metal golfclub and start heading home.

For real this is pretty stupid. Phones are for calling people, not telling them they have an impending lightning strike that is going to hit your phone.
 
k1pp3r said:
Well i would say the lightning rule of thumb would be, if you see lightning who cares about the thunder, you should drop that metal golfclub and start heading home.

For real this is pretty stupid. Phones are for calling people, not telling them they have an impending lightning strike that is going to hit your phone.
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Edit:

Maybe there reason is that they are having to many insurance claims for lightning struck phones.
 
Simple fact: lightning detectors are processors attached to antennas. Cell phones are processors attached to antennas. Both have a way to communicate information to the user.

Integrating these into one device sounds like a no-brainer. And for those of you worried about adding bulk to existing cell phones, don't worry so much. This is probably mostly a software thing, analyzing the received EMP rather than adding any special hardware to detect it.
 
Draax said:
Why not just count the number of second’s in-between when you see a strike and when you hear it? Mile a second, not that difficult.
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Almost, sound takes around 5 seconds to travel a mile. (~760Mph). So count then divide by 5.
 
if you need 1.21 gigawatts to travel back into the future, this is the phone for you
 
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