Your decade-old tank of a cellphone can provide you with more than a nostalgic game of . That brick can save your life faster than Apple can release an .
A Taiwanese hiker can thank his 10-year-old Nokia for facilitating his rescue after being stuck in a ravine for five days. Liu Quanming, 70, became lost after he was separated from his fellow hikers on June 20 when he was unable to keep up. According to reports, Quanming slipped and fell down the mountain and into a ravine while trying to find his way.
Two-hundred-fifty police officers were sent out on a search mission, but it took only one phone for the rescue. Quanming’s Nokia held its battery charge for the entire five-day search period, and its signal was picked up by GPS triangulation. Rescuers heard the phone ringing; Quanming was lying nearby. He was immediately transported to the Taichung Metro Harbor Hospital, where police reported that he was being treated for superficial scratches.
The phone suffered no injuries and recharged as usual.