Cell phone earpiece pads and shields are "ineffective" in reducing the amount of radiation absorbed by the head, according to a recent study by British scientists.
After testing shields, antenna clips, hats and other devices marketed for reducing cell phone emissions, the Department of Trade and Industry in Britain found (PDF) such devices don't work. And the few devices that do work, do so at the expense of good reception.
To lessen the amount of exposure to the head, the scientists recommended using a headset or ear bud.
"A practical way to reduce (emissions) from the handset is to move it further away from the head," the report said.
British government officials weren't the only ones to question the veracity of claims made by cell phone shielding manufacturers. U.S. regulators recently filed a lawsuit against two companies that sold devices that claimed to block potential health risks from mobile phones.
The Federal Trade Commission said the firms (Stock Value 1 of Boca Raton, Florida, and Comstar Communications of West Sacramento, California) had no basis to claim the devices worked.
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An obituary for roadside phones: Emergency roadside phones are an endangered species in Northern California.
A panel of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) is considering ridding the San Francisco Bay Area of 1,200 emergency phones – a third of its supply – because cell phone users can call emergency services without walking to the booths a quarter-mile apart.
If the panel approves the measure next month, the phones will be disconnected as early as July.
The panel is questioning the costs of maintaining broken roadside phones and the need to replace them with new ones. In 1996, more than 200,000 people called from the yellow roadside boxes, but last year half as many people did, according to the MTC.
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DoCoMo to restrict World Cup service: Fearing a system overload, NTT DoCoMo plans to restrict mobile phone services near stadiums holding the World Cup soccer matches from May 31 to June 30, company officials anonymously told Japanese reporters.
DoCoMo, which already restricts mobile phone service in busy times such as the end of the year, plans to limit up to an eighth of service to prevent communication systems from failing due to an overload of calls and text messages, company sources said.
Japan is co-hosting the World Cup with South Korea.
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Phoning the hearing impaired: Beginning this week, Verizon Wireless, the country's largest mobile phone service provider in terms of subscribers, will sell headsets that let the hearing-impaired use wireless phones.
The headsets, manufactured by HATIS, works with T-coil hearing aids to reduce interference and background noise that oftentimes prohibit the hearing-impaired from using a cellular phone.
Verizon sells the headsets for $120 online and in its retail stores.
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Dialing around: Sprint PCS is firing another 300 employees on top of the 3,000 jobs it has already cut.... Tribune Interactive, a subsidiary of Tribune Company, the owner of the Chicago Tribune, said it would provide content to AT&T Wireless' mMode users.
Reuters contributed to this report.
