Monday, April 16, 2012

Cellphone Radiation Detector App Banned by Apple

Company Creates Radiation Detector App, Apple Bans it from App Store

The app was created by an Israeli company named Tawkon, and while not necessarily brand new, it is relatively unknown. The lack of popularity probably has much to do with Apple’s banning of the app from their online app store since Apple rules the smartphone market. The company instituted the ban because it felt the app would be confusing to customers, though the ban was likely due to the fact that the app could only decrease sales for Apple’s iPhone. Whether Apple’s decision was driven by profit or not, there are some valid questions and concerns regarding the app’s accuracy.

Using a complex proprietary algorithm, Tawkon estimates the amount of radiation emitted by cell phones at any moment. As a way to measure the amount of radiation being emitted and ultimately picked up by the user, the company considers factors like current antenna strength, and whether a headset is being used or speakerphone is currently selected. The problem, however, is that the app depends on radiation baseline figures provided by device manufacturers. The app itself has no way of actually measuring radiation emissions, so it must rely on the publicly posted radiation emission quotes by manufacturers in order to estimate a device’s radiation output at all times.

http://www.activistpost.com/2012/04/cellphone-radiation-detector-app-banned.html

No comments: