GPS Cell Phone in Soda Can Form

Myko writes "PhoneScoop.com reports that Coca Cola has unleashed a new GPS enabled cell phone for a new promo. Apparently the user will push one button which will auto dial a Coke rep that will tell them they won an SUV. They'll then press and enable the GPS and the prize squad will drive to their location with the prize. So the big question is, will the phone give off any residual waves that will allow custom made detection equipment to find the right 12 pack, similar to the tilt and win iTunes trick? :)" We mentioned this last year, but it wasn't clear how the GPS-in-a-can trick was going to work.

Comments

Off the air...

[LostCluster]

I doubt there's going to be anything given off by this phone when it's not in use. Afterall, does a cell phone that's turned off give of any energy that can be detected?

Re:Off the air...

[John Harrison]

You are right that your chances of being in a store that has the winning can when you are there are very small. Even if it was there you would have a hard time finding it.

The problem is that there isn't a good way to scan large numbers of cans quickly. You can't just walk by a shelf of 12-packs and scan the shelf. You would have to pull each 12 pack off and scan it. The large amount of metal and liquid between the scanner and the phone would prevent you from getting a reading. Not to meniton the fact that you wouldn't even know what to look for. I suppose you could practice by sticking your own cell phone in a 12 pack and scanning it.

If you know a way to read an RFID tag (not what this is, and probably an easier problem) through a few feet of liquid and occasional metal please let me know. That would actual solve a problem I have...

In the can?

[dleifelohcs]

Aside from weight, which will obviously be different on the case that has the phone in it compared to the case that does not, WHERE is the phone being placed? Inside an empty can with a different style lid? Or is the phone can-shaped, to prevent the case from making "noises" or rattling that a normal case wouldn't make... in any case (no pun intended) the case will be different. Though I do not support cheating the game.

Re:DAMMIT

[AKAImBatman]

You just ruined my best source of tin for my hats, Coca-Cola.

Should I even tell the poor sap that cans are made of aluminum?

Re:Cola Contests

[rjstanford]

There's a ton of FUD about this going around. But its necessary. Basically, the car counts as "income" so you pay income taxes on it.

If they didn't do this, then instead of companies paying you in dollars, they could just pay you in "cars" (or something smaller, like bycicles) that you could convert to dollars tax-free. So this really plugs a loophole. But you pay tax on your income, no matter what form it comes in - money, cars, vacations, etc.

The worst example I ever saw was someone who won a one-year lease on a new BMW Z3. Have you seen the price on a one year lease? They ended up paying ~$600 a month in equiv. taxes, a reasonable car payment, and they didn't even get to pick the car.

win by cheating though

[sir_cello]

coke needs to be smart and ensure that the can weighs _exactly_ the same as an existing can, otherwise, everyone who works at a shop or distribution channel could weigh the boxes or pallets and discern the differences.

Equally, another way to cheat would be to be use sort of low-tech radar/xray device that can detect different types of solids (for example: cans and liquid are pretty simple, but a radio has a lot of complexity that'll generate signal splatter).

Another way [:-)] would be to see if you can generate radio signals at right frequency to induce resonant effects in the antenna within the can.

This type of low-tech gear wouldn't take more than one or two cluey engineers and weeks work of work.

Have fun :-)