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Man Has Nokia Phone Embedded In False Limb

Posted by samzenpus on from the arm-phone dept.

judgecorp writes "A British man born with one arm has a Nokia phone dock embedded in his prosthetic limb. Apparently, Apple refused to have an iPhone suitably customized for the job. From the article: 'Mr Prideaux, of Wedmore, Somerset, said: "I think this is the first time this has ever been done in the world - and it is brilliant. I can now take calls and make texts just by using my one hand, while the phone sits inside my arm. The phone slots smoothly and securely within my limb and is easily removable, when required. I think this would help a lot of people with prosthetic arms - especially those who were not born with the disability. People who have had motorbike crashes and soldiers who have lost limbs - they could all benefit from this."'"

32 of 171 comments (clear)

  1. Of course... by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Apparently, Apple refused to have an iPhone suitably customized for the job."

    We all know Apple's position on people who hold it wrong...

    1. Re:Of course... by rachit · · Score: 3, Funny

      If it was an iPhone 4S, it would have given new meaning to the phrase "Talk to the hand".

    2. Re:Of course... by rossdee · · Score: 5, Funny

      And Apple products cost an arm and a leg, so this poor guy would be running out of limbs

    3. Re:Of course... by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 2

      Far too hazardous: the closed app store makes installing a trojan unacceptably difficult.

    4. Re:Of course... by ozmanjusri · · Score: 3, Funny

      And let's face it, we've all wanted to insert the iPhone into a loud Siri user, even when they weren't amputees.

      --
      "I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
    5. Re:Of course... by roman_mir · · Score: 2

      Actually Apple products cost a kidney.

      --
      You can't handle the truth.
  2. Motorbikes? by hairyfish · · Score: 3, Insightful

    People who've had motorbike crashes and soldiers? Is that what comes to people's minds when they think amputees?

    1. Re:Motorbikes? by couchslug · · Score: 3, Funny

      The fatasses who lost limbs to "diabesity" are less gratifying to picture.

      --
      "This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
    2. Re:Motorbikes? by demonlapin · · Score: 5, Informative

      Fat diabetics lose toes. Skinny emphysematous chain-smokers lose legs. Missing arms are almost always congenital or traumatic.

    3. Re:Motorbikes? by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 2

      People who've had motorbike crashes and soldiers? Is that what comes to people's minds when they think amputees?

      I can't speak for the public perception; but the stats differ pretty significantly depending on the type amputation you are talking about. Since this phone graft is an arm thing, and wouldn't be nearly as useful in a leg(especially just the lower bit), upper limb amputations are presumably more relevant. Those are majority trauma cases, especially once you remove the congenital cases, as he does for some reason.

      Circulatory issues(including but not limited to diabetes related ones) more often hit lower limbs and trauma less often does. Cancer-related and congenital issues are more evenly distributed.

    4. Re:Motorbikes? by tehdaemon · · Score: 2

      Clumsy fools with table saws are short digits, not limbs.

      T

      --
      Laws are horrible moral guides, moral guides make even worse laws.
    5. Re:Motorbikes? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      What do you think is the major cause of diabetes? Sure, Type I Diabetes is unrelated to body weight, but this makes up 90% have Type II Diabetes which is strongly correlated with obesity. In fact, studies have shown that weight loss can cure Type II Diabetes and prevent long-term complications. So yes, I would say it is self-inflicted (in the vast majority).

    6. Re:Motorbikes? by demonlapin · · Score: 2

      Practicing anesthesiologist, personal experience.

    7. Re:Motorbikes? by necro81 · · Score: 2

      For upper limb amputations, between 2/3 and 3/4 are due to trauma: motorbike crashes and soldiers. sources: [1], [2], [3]

      For lower limbs, they are mostly vascular-related, secondary to heart disease and diabetes.

    8. Re:Motorbikes? by gomiam · · Score: 3, Funny

      ...personal experience

      Are you a previously fat, now skinny emphysematous chain-smoker diabetic who congenitally lacked an upper limb and just lost the other one traumatically? I feel for you, man.

  3. While I.. by monzie · · Score: 4, Funny

    ..Sit with a blackberry phone up my ass. (Posted from my BB playbook 'Bridged' with my BB )

  4. Headset by dissy · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Now all he has to do is put a bluetooth headset in the artificial hand.

    Imagine, speaker embedded in the tip of the thumb, and mic embedded in the tip of the pinky finger.
    That would look awesome!

    1. Re:Headset by Commontwist · · Score: 2

      Be even cooler if he could learn to interface with it directly using biometrics between the artificial and the real to pick up nerve signals.

  5. Power source by Dan+East · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Just think of the additional batteries you could fit in an area the size of a prosthetic limb. You could probably get upwards of a month of normal smartphone use without recharging.

    --
    Better known as 318230.
    1. Re:Power source by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 4, Informative

      Apparently the roughly approximate arm of a roughly approximate man would run in the 3.5-6.5 kg range.

      If, in the spirit of wild-ass guessing and general laziness, we assume that your amputee-at-the-elbow loses half their arm mass and needs some, but not a whole lot, of headroom for purely structural replacement, you are still looking at 1.5-3ish kg of battery. A good Li-ion or Li-polymer will give you ~200Wh/kg, so 300-600Wh.

      By comparison, the Nokia BL-5K battery in the C7 is a 3.7v, 1.2Ah unit: ~4.5Wh. An arm-battery would be somewhere between 65 and 130 times the capacity...

  6. Re:Wow. by Triklyn · · Score: 2

    yeah, getting locked into an OS is really going to outweigh him actually being able to use a device, which almost requires dragging interaction, without having to balance it on a semiflat non-stable surface. Also, apple, they is dicks.

  7. hands free? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Does it count as a hands free kit when you're driving? Even if you only have one hand?

  8. Re:Should have used more hackable phone by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 2

    He should have gone with the Nokia N9 or N900, the latter even more accessible than the former, software and hardware wise - you can just hack away in any language you want, even just shell scripting, no need to learn an all new programming language/framework and no need to get any sort of license to be able to write apps etc.

    Yes, because if there's one thing the typical shopper is looking for when buying a smartphone - it's shell scripting.

    --
    #DeleteChrome
  9. Why not? by evil_aaronm · · Score: 2

    I have a cochlear implant for hearing; why can't they implant a whole phone? I could answer calls and texts with brain waves instead of muscle movements.

    1. Re:Why not? by AlecC · · Score: 2

      Wait ten years. It takes that sort of time for gee-whizz new tech to become commonplace enough that people with skills in other fields (such as medical implants) can build the components into unrelated gadgets.

      Though all you need is the control system and bluetooth in your brain. If the brain can touch an imaginary screen like fingers touch a real one, the rest of the phone can be in your pocket (easier to charge, upgrade etc).

      --
      Consciousness is an illusion caused by an excess of self consciousness.
  10. Re:Reading Comprehension FAIL by nomadic · · Score: 3, Informative

    Possible explanations: (a) the distinction you make is not an important one. Just the casing is not standard Apple issue, and could arguably called customized. (b) the submitter might be a fanboi and didn't want Apple to sound as much like jerks as they actually were. Refusing to customize an iphone is one thing, refusing to provide even a blank casing is a new level of jackassry.

  11. Re:Come on, everyone take cheap shots at Apple aga by Rennt · · Score: 2

    The guy went to his local O2 store to upgrade his old phone and the workers there agreed to help him... to get in contact with the right people at Nokia.

    I think you are reaching a bit to say Nokia didn't know about it based on the contents of the article. I mean, the author mentions "chiefs at Nokia" several times, I'm pretty sure they were not talking about O2 employees.

  12. Pipboy from Fallout by Destoo · · Score: 2

    It actually looks like a pipboy from Fallout. He can even use it as a flashlight!
    Now he needs a Geiger counter app..

    I've been wanting to build one for a few years, and with a cheap ipod touch, it's feasible.

    --
    Nouvelles de jeux et technologies en français. TC
  13. Is this really something special? by NetNinja · · Score: 2

    Seriously this is the same sort of stuff Car stereo installers have been doing for years. Modifying consoles to imbed electronics.

    Now I can see maybe doing this to an artifical arm may affect structural intergirty but is this really special? It's just a phone imbeded into a plastic arm.You can now make phone calls with one hand, but I guess having it there in your arm is rather convenient.

  14. My old phone could do some things better by RalphTheWonderLlama · · Score: 2

    "I can now take calls and make texts just by using my one hand"

    I used to be able to do this, back when my phone had raised buttons. I didn't even have to look. Hold one button down for speed dial. I could text without looking since I had the keys memorized, which was great for driving. I don't even try to do that now. A glass touchscreen and more functionality is nice but it's less specialized as a result and not an improvement on older phones in every way.

    --
    simple, fast homepage with your links: http://www.ngumbi.com/
  15. Pirate by odirex · · Score: 2

    I saw the picture and all I could think was "That is one high tech pirate!"

  16. That aint right. by tom229 · · Score: 2

    Did no one else notice the phone is upside down in the picture?

    --
    If it ain't broke, don't fix it.