Comment Re:Mobile detector pen (Score 1) 296
I'm in a club at UC Berkeley called Berkeley Innovation. For one of our projects, we attempted to come up with a solution that would reduce the number of switched-on phones entering a lecture hall (to reduce disturbance).
At first we tried to build our own like these kids, until we ran across the cell phone pen. It's sitting right here on my desk, and it works. We even purchased a tried and true cell phone detector that is is very similar to the one they describe (same 30m range), and it even can emit a tone (not just lights). Not trying to put down these students for their efforts (or for the judges, who might rethink their definition of originality), but a little google action would have yielded these devices. Or for that matter, the suckers would bought some of the first prototypes for $1,000! We bought ours for $20. Hmm, maybe I could fund the trip to New Zealand I've always wanted to take by bringing a few of these little gems with me to sell for a 50x profit...