New smartphone in Japan to feature radiation detector

[ardo]

TOKYO- Mobile phone operator Softbank Corp said on Tuesday it would soon begin selling smartphones with radiation detectors, tapping into concerns that atomic hotspots remain along Japan’s eastern coast more than a year after the Fukushima crisis.

“The threat from the nuclear accident cannot be seen by the human eye and continues to be a concern for many people, especially for mothers with small children,” said Softbank founder and president, Masayoshi Son, standing in front of an aerial photo of the crippled plant.

The smartphone in the company’s “Pantone” series will come in eight bright colours and include customized IC chips made by Sharp Corp that measure radiation levels in microsieverts per hour.

The phone, which goes on sale this summer, can also keep track of each location a user tests for radiation levels.

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/a...in-japan-features-built-in-radiation-detector

Parts of northeastern Japan are still off-limits due to high radiation levels after the Fukushima nuclear plant was devastated by a huge earthquuake and tsunami, triggering meltdowns and spewing radiation.

Anti-nuclear sentiment is high, with advocacy groups in Tokyo and other cities calling for radiation monitoring at schools and other public facilities.

 

[Aqua2213]

Japanese smartphone will have radiation detector

(CNN) -- May 31, 2012
Talk about a "smart" phone—Japan's latest mobile phone sensation also happens to be a radiation detector.
The Pantone 5 107SH is the world's first mobile phone with a built-in radiation sensor, merging phone technology with a pocket Geiger counter, the company says.
Softbank spokeswoman Natsuko Kameda says the company's CEO decided to launch the phone after customers sent messages via Twitter asking him to develop the handy product in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.
Many of the messages, says Kameda, were from mothers with young children.




"This device will allow people to measure radiation everyday, wherever they go. People always have their mobile phones in their pocket," Kameda said. "If you have this radiation reading device in the cell phone, then they can check radiation at any time and it should help lower anxiety."
On first blush, the phone looks so ordinary that it's impossible to tell there's a radiation meter within. Softbank said the meter is small so it doesn't enlarge the device. For that reason, the radiation readings are not as accurate as larger, medical radiation readers and dosimeters. But tests so far show its mobile phone radiation reader rivals current consumer brands on the market, Softbank said.
The phone also allows the user to compare radiation readings with radiation maps available on the web.
Japan has seen a skyrocketing demand for dosimeters and radiation monitors since the Fukushima disaster. Citizens fearful of radiation spreading through the food chain and the air have been buying meters.
Softbank says the phone will be available in mid-June.
Softbank is led by CEO Masayoshi Son, a well-known opponent of nuclear power. He has publicly supported solar farms as a replacement for nuclear energy.

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/05/31/business/japan-radiation-phone/index.html
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Act now and secure one of these puppies. Your friends will be green with envy..


I'm in the US. I want to see one that can detect bullshit so I can leave the hip boots at home.

 

[ardo]

Ah, cool post, Aqua. :tea:

I bet the US won't allow these devices; too much power in the hands of the people.

And of course, their bullshit on matters of radiation would be useless...

 

[ardo]

Softbank 107SH Pantone 5 Geiger counter phone: Tool or toy?

Posted by SBS

I'm skeptical that it is appropriate to build a Geiger counter directly into a mobile phone, as has been done with the Sharp Pantone 5 (107SH) smartphone just announced by Softbank Mobile.

In the end, I imagine it will be no more than a gimmicky toy (the main contribution of which was increased handset sales). Here's why.

Raw counts must be converted to dose though calibration with a known source, typically Cs-137. Measurements of radiation emitted from any other radionuclide will be inherently less accurate.

According to the manufacturer of the primary Geiger counter used by Safecast, the $700 Inspector Alert, this unit's dose conversions exhibit a +/- 15% accuracy, immediately subsequent to proper calibration. Over time, readings produced by any analytical equipment drift, causing reported values to become increasingly inaccurate. Therefore, the device must be periodically calibrated - preferably preemptively, as opposed to after conversions become unreliable.

http://www.japanmobiletech.com/

Calibration frequency of any analytical equipment is dependent on application. For equipment used in public safety, local government regulations will require calibration at a set interval. When collecting data for scientific studies, analytical equipment must be calibrated prior to each usage. For quality control during use, calibration standards must be intermixed with experimental samples to detect and correct any instrumental drift.

Calibration would also be needed after any shock to the device, the kind that would be sustained by, for example, dropping a mobile phone.

Data collected by hobbyists in this manner is similar to a regular guy aiming to hit a barn door with a baseball from twenty paces - a major league pitcher is not needed to be accurate enough, and I'm sure the counters in the Pantone 5 can hit the barn door. Keeping up the baseball analogy, these (and Safecast's) data would be best considered in the context of the ballpark, as in you know where the ballpark is, but you can't say who's on first. Or on second. Or in centerfield. Just, that they're in the ballpark.

 

[sanji_jp]

I will buy this phone.