Phone puts SA in record books
2008-02-05 07:37
Cape Town - The MTN Sciencentre has set a new Guinness World Record for the world's biggest functioning cellphone.
Measuring 2.50 x 1.14 x 0.49m, the giant cellphone, a fully functional scaled up Sony Ericsson W810i, has broken the existing record that was first established in Germany in 2006.
It is one of over 300 interactive educational displays at the Sciencentre and has available functions that include voice call, sending and receiving SMS and MMS messages, a walkman, radio, camera and file manager, selected games and access to selected web pages.
"We are thrilled with the achievement, which is the result of a collaboration of efforts between the MTN Sciencentre, Ericsson and Sony Ericsson. In September last year, the official measurement and testing of the cellphone was done in front of over 50 witnesses. This is a first for South Africa and we are proud to display a Guinness World Record holder at our facility!" said Julie Cleverdon, head of the centre.
"This is the second giant cellphone we have created with the MTN Sciencentre. The first was an Ericsson T320. We decided it was time to update to a modern version, which can showcase all the new features of a phone of today.
"It is also of great educational value! A Guinness World Record far outweighs our initial expectations and we're proud to be associated with the achievement," added Göran Söderholm, Vice President of Marketing and Communications for Ericsson.
The giant cellphone is on display at the Sciencentre.