Chacham's Journal: Verbiage: phone lights before the ring, Advance knowledge.

My cell phone (which i plan to return tomorrow), has blue lights it. They light up when the phone is about to ring, but just slightly earlier. I keep thinking "kewl! Advance knowledge". Of course, i then realize that the ringer is just late. It's just odd. Kind of like being "pre-qualified".

Similar thing

[GoRK]

If I have my phone on the desk next to some cheap speakers or a phone with a speaerphone or something, the RF interference it creates when it transmits causes the speakers to buzz or hum really loudly. When the phone is about to ring, I know a second or two ahead of time because I can hear the speakers start to buzz, etc.

What happens is that the tower must start soem kind of direct 2-way communication with the telephone and the phone must acknowledge the tower before it begins to ring. CallerID information

Re:Similar thing

[Cyberdyne]

What happens is that the tower must start soem kind of direct 2-way communication with the telephone and the phone must acknowledge the tower before it begins to ring.

That can't account for this much delay. More likely, it's power management: for obvious reasons, the phone keeps everything turned off it isn't actually using; the ringer and other circuitry back online could take a few seconds to power up.

I'm sure there is a document out there somewhere that details the protocol between network and phone

Funny...

[MikeXpop]

There was an episode of a Nickelodeon show (since cancelled) called Keenan and Kel that involved a phone like this. Kel could tell when the phone was going to ring and once who was calling, although that was just because that person had called before and was planning to call back. Because of this everyone thought Kel to be psychic. Hilarity ensued, or so I'm guessing. I didn't watch the end.

I'm suprised they actually made phones like that.