At 08:27 PM 4/30/2006, R V wrote:
Since 911 can pinpoint the location of a cell phone even when not in use, I guess the phone uses up power even when no call is made.
Oddly, this is something I know something about. 911 cannot pinpoint the location of a cell phone when not in use, 911 cannot even pinpoint the location of a cell phone when in use. 911 can usually retrieve the location of the nearest access point, which is not the least bit likely to give a "pinpoint" location for the user.
There are regulations in place that will make it possible to locate a phone when a call is generated, but the hardware isn't in the phones yet. The network is built out (a photographer friend is the one who has built the network that will be used by most locations sytems), but that is meaningless without the hardware in the phones.
The reason the phone uses power when it's not in use is that it has to make itself available to incoming calls. Also, it runs in a "standby" mode rather than off, so that you can quickly make a call or access other phone functions when needed, instead of waiting for what is becoming an increasingly lengthy boot-up process.
Jeff Spirer Photos: http://www.spirer.com One People: http://www.onepeople.com/
