There are some discoveries in life that are very hard to explain. Â One of the most bizarre things I’ve come across recently was born out of several colleagues frustration at their poor iPhone signal. Â I enjoy a strong 3G service on the Vodafone network on my own iPhone whilst at my workplace. Â 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. Â In most cases, my colleagues have propped their handsets on the top of our desk dividers to reduce interference from other devices. Â Marginal gains were made, but still no 3G signal.
We are provided with free fruit at work in order to encourage healthy eating. Â 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. Â 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. Â 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. Â Its literally a proximity thing. Â Useful for data transfers, less so for phone conversations. Â I tweeted about this discovery. Â One of my tweeps, CountryGirl8895 thought I was taking the mickey, but I assured her I wasn’t. Â Her husband suffers poor reception on his own iPhone so she had him test the theory. Â 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
3G, banana, iPhone, reception, signal