There are some discoveries in life that are very hard to explain.  One of the most bizarre things I’ve come across recently was born out of several colleagues frustration at their poor iPhone signal.  I enjoy a strong 3G service on the Vodafone network on my own iPhone whilst at my workplace.  On the other hand, my colleagues, who are tied to the O2 network find themselves lucky to have an Edge service let alone a 3G signal.

The usual attempts of standing near windows or holding handsets at arms reach make no real difference.  In most cases, my colleagues have propped their handsets on the top of our desk dividers to reduce interference from other devices.  Marginal gains were made, but still no 3G signal.

We are provided with free fruit at work in order to encourage healthy eating.  Typically one of us will pick up enough bananas to supply the team on a morning and these are hung over the desk separators so folk can grab them as and when desired.  These are in close proximity to where people prop their iPhones – what we then discovered blew us away.

If you place an iPhone next to a banana, it’s signal improves.  Where the O2 iPhone users had no 3G service normally, once a banana was added to the equation they suddenly did!

Of course, we’re not talking about peeling a banana or attempting to connect it in any way to the iPhones.  Its literally a proximity thing.  Useful for data transfers, less so for phone conversations.  I tweeted about this discovery.  One of my tweeps, CountryGirl8895 thought I was taking the mickey, but I assured her I wasn’t.  Her husband suffers poor reception on his own iPhone so she had him test the theory.  He has since confirmed the same successes!

I can’t explain this phenomenon, nor do I know if works with other fruit or food stuffs, but please, feel free to test and report back your findings!

Image: Simon Howden / FreeDigitalPhotos.net