This is a safety device for the insanely busy person who must conduct business deals on the cell phone while in the middle of rush hour city traffic. It is especially indicated for the person who refuses to buy a hands-free adapter even though his/her car is a manual transmission. Place an appropriately small airbag with a small charge in it to immediately activate in the event of a crash which also damages the phone. I realize this could be potentially dangerous, too, having a compressed gas charge adjacent to your head, but nothing's perfect. It might just save someone's life so he/she can live to drive-talk-crash again.
-- homunculus, Apr 05 2001

Bezos patent application http://androidandme...ile-device-airbags/
[theircompetitor, Aug 12 2011]

PROTECTING DEVICES FROM IMPACT DAMAGE http://appft.uspto....0&RS=DN/20110194230
Hmmm, no public disclosure....? [Dub, Aug 16 2011]

Don't encourage the homicidal bastards. There's no call so important you can't pull over.

For those busily insane people cell phones should be fitted with small explosive charges that will blow their heads off if a call is made or received while the car is in motion. Kill them before they kill you.
-- sirrobin, Apr 05 2001


Um, okay, I'm all for not talking and driving, but you two just creeped this thread right out. <=P
-- absterge, Apr 06 2001


More resembles a rocket engine than an explosive, but it is a very fast reaction.
-- bristolz, Jun 02 2002


I thought of this idea but in the context of protecting this phone. If the accelerometer detects freefall, the aforementioned bag bursts out and the phone bounces gaily away to a soft landing.

BUNGCO engineers are still trying to enable the phone to detect when it is in freefall, but also in your pants.
-- bungston, Apr 09 2016


Would not the phone's proximity sensor suffice for that?
-- notexactly, Apr 12 2016


The proximity sensor is too specific: just identifying whether it's next to the person's face.

The accelerometer can easily detect free-fall. You need to differentiate between a cell phone falling and a person jumping with the phone in a pocket. You could probably do that by detecting a rate of spin. That means that if you drop the phone and it falls without spinning very much, the airbag won't go off, but I'm guessing that most of the time when a cell phone falls it will be spinning faster than a person would spin in most situations. Just don't carry the cell phone while practicing your triple axel jumps. The simple accelerometer in a phone won't detect spin, but you might be able to use the magnetometer for that.
-- scad mientist, Apr 13 2016


// The proximity sensor is too specific: just identifying whether it's next to the person's face. //

It also detects proximity to the interior of a pocket just fine. I know this because my phone (before it broke) would usually refuse to wake up if I pressed the power button while it was in my pocket. EDIT: You could also use the touchscreen to detect leg contact.

Regarding spin, that's a good idea. Many phones have gyroscopes too now.
-- notexactly, Apr 13 2016


Inhibits the use of the phone whilst engaging in a demanding gymnastics regimen. This is unacceptable. [-]
-- Voice, Apr 13 2016



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