Stolen Mobile Phones

[Mups]

I have just been reading about a lady journalist who had her mobile phone stolen in a street in London.
It was eventually tracked to  Shenzhen,  China.

She reckons that is the phone-theft capital of the world, where phones are broken down into precious metals.   I never knew they had precious metals in them,  did you?
Apparently one single smartphone can contain  0.034g of gold, 0.34g of silver, 0.015g of palladium and a sliver of platinum.

She also reported that 2,000 phones were reported stolen every day  in London alone!
It was also said that according to the Financial Times, one in three Brits have now had their phone stolen.

 . . . .  yet people STILL openly walk down the streets all day and every day nattering on their mobiles.   

[Dextrous63]

Not a mobile theft, but funny anyway

https://youtube.com/shorts/kkxgZCtJjs0?si=xdVvsm5ttalBBPK0

[klondike]

I never knew they had precious metals in them,  did you?
Apparently one single smartphone can contain  0.034g of gold, 0.34g of silver, 0.015g of palladium and a sliver of platinum.

The price they charge for top end ones I assumed they were solid gold.

[Michael Rolls]

[quote author=Dextrous63 link=msg=151267 date=1756847406]
Not a mobile theft, but funny anyway

https://youtube.com/shorts/kkxgZCtJjs0?si=xdVvsm5ttalBBPK0
[/quote]
 

[Ashy]

Gold is often used in electronics for very low current connections, especially switchgear, because it's a decent conductor, not as good as silver, but gold doesn't tarnish or affect plastic. Electronic organ keys come to mind but it's found in any low current circuit, usually as a micronic coating. 

For reasons of electro-chemical effect, higher voltages and currents require different techniques. 

I can well understand an industry in a low income country like China recycling the gold out of mobile phones, but I wouldn't have thought the quantities were worth stealing for, unless  the thieves are confident of not being caught or punished.

[Mups]

Well I guess it must pay, else they would stop doing it.
At 2,000 a day from just London,  imagine what the figure would be from all over the UK.

I suppose even more money comes from flogging the phones on.  
The article I was reading was saying about £250 charged for a £1,000 phone can't be bad.

I still think most of this could be avoided if people put their damn phones away in the street.

[Dextrous63]

Quite.  I'd imagine a realistic solution would be to create a less valuable and or more advanced interface.  For example, glasses which act as a screen - this having the additional benefit of not removing one's vision entirely from one's surroundings.

[Scrumpy]

I do not use my phone in the street.. I would need to change my glasses to read it..
 I do not have a posh phone , just a regular Samsung..
 Stolen mobiles has been happening for years and people still (Openly) use their phone in the street..  
Unfortunately this crime will not go away unless people are more protective of their phones..
Turn your back away from others... step inside a doorway.. or shop..
 It is sad that a person can not use their phone where they wish to..

What about those big phones from way back.. with long aerials .!!!
  They didn't go after them.. 

[klondike]

Top end Samsungs cost a pretty penny. I have top end of the cheap range and refresh it every few years as it becomes obsolete or when I drop it down the toilet as the low end ones don't like that.

[Michael Rolls]

How does it become obsolete?

[Raven]

How does it become obsolete?

The apps stop being updated and eventually stop working. I had to get a new phone last year because of this, I was pretty pi**ed as I really liked the phone I'd been using for several years. Just a scam IMO to get more money out of you.
 

[Michael Rolls]

that's what I think as well Had to change mins two years ago - the battery died and Apple don't do replacement batteries!

[klondike]

How does it become obsolete?

With Android when it no longer gets security updates. I do most of my banking through my phone.
With Apple when they force it into obsolescence so stuff no longer works in order to force you into buying another.
With any when the battery no longer holds its charge and it isn't worth the cost of replacing it.
With teenagers 3 weeks after they got it and another one comes out.
With clumsy buggers when they drop it on something hard from a height or into water. Both expensive repairs.

[Mups]

that's what I think as well Had to change mins two years ago - the battery died and Apple don't do replacement batteries!

Crafty devils.

Good job we don't have to get a new car just because the battery dies!

[Scrumpy]

... Or new partners when their batteries are flat..