GPS Cell Phone in Soda Can Form 301
Myko writes "PhoneScoop.com reports that Coca Cola has unleashed a new GPS enabled cell phone for a new promo. Apparently the user will push one button which will auto dial a Coke rep that will tell them they won an SUV. They'll then press and enable the GPS and the prize squad will drive to their location with the prize. So the big question is, will the phone give off any residual waves that will allow custom made detection equipment to find the right 12 pack, similar to the tilt and win iTunes trick? :)" We mentioned this last year, but it wasn't clear how the GPS-in-a-can trick was going to work.
This is nothing (Score:5, Funny)
Re:This is nothing (Score:5, Funny)
Another satisfied Sprint customer, I see.
Re:This is nothing (Score:5, Funny)
Connections so clear you'll notice a pin dropping. *
(* That is, if it's a really heavy pin and it impales your foot. Sprint not responsible for infections as a result. Do not try at home. Not for internal use.)
Re:This is nothing (Score:3, Informative)
I've been with Sprint for about 3 years now. I had an older model phone prior to this past fall and the range did suck for the most part. I have a much better model phone now. [sprintpcs.com] It's quite rare that I fall into a Roam Zone and I have a pretty good signal most places I go. I do still notice a fair amount of network delay once the night hours start, but it'll still dial after a few seconds pause.
A lot of people complain about Sprint, but I've never had any majo
What If? (Score:3, Interesting)
Then again, I'm sure they'd just have you call some number otherwise...
I really should think before I post.
Re:What If? (Score:2, Interesting)
Given that the article also says they are going to drive the SUV to you, I would expect that they will know which city the cell-phone is located in. I can't imagine them driving the SUV all the way across the country.
So, likely it will be released where GSM coverage is available.
Re:What If? (Score:3, Funny)
Cola Contests (Score:5, Informative)
On a side note, I went to school with a kid who won a Jeep in the Pepsi contest where each cap had a word and you had to make phrases. The phrase was like 'DO IT' or something. The Jeep had a ton of pepsi stickers all over it and the contract he signed required that he could not sell it or remove any of the stickers for one year. Of course he had to pay the tax on the $20,000 vehicle before they would hand it over. Still better than a kick in the pants, but it's amazing the hoops they make you jump through.
Re:Cola Contests (Score:2)
Re:Cola Contests (Score:2)
it's not like Pepsi is a car dealership. wouldnt Pepsi be required to pay the tax on that vehicle when they bought it for their contest?
if so, it'd be double-dipping.
Re:Cola Contests (Score:3, Interesting)
The tax that the winner would pay I believe is capital gains tax. It's the same tax that kicks in if you win the lottery or win any money or anything of value for that matter.
Yes, it's double dipping but does this surprise you?
Just remember, there's tax on nearly everything in the US and the gov (either federal, state or local) get's their cut of nearly every transaction.
Re:Cola Contests (Score:2)
But I read an article recently on how Parliament is discussing the possibility of taxing lottery winnings.
Re:Cola Contests (Score:2)
"My uncle played the lottery all his life, and finally, after 40 years he won 100 million dollars. Next thing he knows, the government comes to his door and asks for their cut to which he replied 'Why don't you buy your own lottery tickets?'"
Course taxing lottery winnings makes even less sense to me as counting a waiter/waitress
Re:Cola Contests (Score:2)
There are so many people out to beat the IRS's system, they've got to make sure they have all the bases covered.
Re:Cola Contests (Score:2)
Re:Cola Contests (Score:4, Funny)
Must... resist.... can't....
IRS: ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US
(Yeah, I suffer from SDWS... slow day at work syndrome)
Re:Cola Contests (Score:3, Informative)
Nice try, but not even close. You'd pay income tax, just the same as if you won the lottery, a slot machine, etc.
Capital Gains tax is what you pay when you sell an inventment asset before it's holding period (if any) at a profit.
Re:Cola Contests (Score:5, Insightful)
If they didn't do this, then instead of companies paying you in dollars, they could just pay you in "cars" (or something smaller, like bycicles) that you could convert to dollars tax-free. So this really plugs a loophole. But you pay tax on your income, no matter what form it comes in - money, cars, vacations, etc.
The worst example I ever saw was someone who won a one-year lease on a new BMW Z3. Have you seen the price on a one year lease? They ended up paying ~$600 a month in equiv. taxes, a reasonable car payment, and they didn't even get to pick the car.
Re:Cola Contests (Score:5, Informative)
Before I could even take possesion of the car, I had to pay sales tax, title & registration - About $2,000.
In addition to that, the value of the car was added to my yaerly earnings. Honda had to report the value of the car to the IRS. They reported it as being a $21,000 Civic. Of course, fully loaded Civics can be bought for much less than that, so the IRS allows you to do a fair market adjustment, and only be taxed on what you would have paid for the car had you bought it. I was able to knock it's value down to around $15,000.
When I had to do the taxes for that year, the $15,000 added to my income because of the car put me into the next highest tax bracket, and I ended up owing just over $6,000 in income taxes since I hadn't taken out any withholding for the additional income.
I ended up selling the car to pay the taxes, but I had a pretty good, reliable car for almost a year that I put almost 40,000 miles on.
If any one is interested, here's a picture of the car I won. Blink 182 Civic [worldtel.net.pk]
Re:Cola Contests (Score:2, Informative)
The "next highest tax bracket" just means you are taxed past your previous bracket at the higher rate. It doesn't mean that your entire income is taxed at that higher rate.
You sound like you are exaggerating, or you severly screwed up your taxes for that year.
Re:Cola Contests (Score:3, Insightful)
A: Pepsi pays the tax on buying the vehile.
B: The contest winner owes income tax on their winnings... even if it comes in a non-cash form they owe tax on the value of what they got.
Think of what happens when you buy a car the normal way. You pay a sales tax on the car itself, but you also have already paid income tax on the money you're going to use to pay for the car.
Yep, it's double-dipping, but that's the way the system's worked for a long time.
In Canada... (Score:2)
It is hard to believe that there are cases where our taxes are actually _Lower_ than in the US!
Re:Cola Contests (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Cola Contests (Score:2)
Re:Cola Contests (Score:2)
Re:Cola Contests (Score:3, Informative)
No, it gets taxed at the same rate as ordinary income. It may put you into a higher tax bracket (and a higher marginal rate), but it's no different than if you had collected the cash value as salary or as a short-term capital gain.
Being in the prize-winning business is basically self employment for the purposes of taxation, so you get dinged for all those taxes.
No, lottery winnings are co
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Cola Contests (Score:2)
Re:Cola Contests (Score:3, Interesting)
However it is possible that you might be able to use some sort of metal detector to find the more unsusual components...The composition has to be completely different. There might be a weight difference as well.
Hmmmm. Those wall stud detetcors have a setting for detecting electrical current. That might pick up the battery...
Heh. I'd much rather spend my time trying to find a way to find it without drinking coke, than I would actually buying coke.
Re:Cola Contests (Score:2)
It's probably nothing more than a micro-circuit board wrapped in plastic. I sincerely doubt you'd get much of a reading on it. Similarly, it would be so light as to only add an ounce or two to the can.
Hmmmm. Those wall stud detetcors have a setting for detecting electrical current. That might pic
Re:Cola Contests (Score:2)
Re:Cola Contests (Score:2)
They probably add weights to the phone-can to make it weigh the same as a regular 12oz can.
Re:Cola Contests (Score:2)
The solution -- it's just too simple (Score:2)
Proceed to "round 2" testing, which is as simple as using a magnet. Presumably, the contents will not consist entirely of non-ferrous metals. Using a "bondo pen" (basically, a magnet mounted to a spring-loaded gage in the form of a pen -- it's used in the auto-repair trade to detect and measure the thickness of "bondo" repairs) and place it against the can. Any deflectio
Re:The solution -- it's just too simple (Score:2)
Re:Cola Contests (Score:2, Informative)
Off the air... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Off the air... (Score:5, Interesting)
Oh yeah, and to address the other post regarding them knowing the approximate location so they can rush out to it when they press the button. I say good luck to them with that. I'd find it very funny if the person who gets it happens to pick up a 12pack just before returning on a flight from Miama, FL, to Portland, OR. That'd mess up their plans to seem all cool by rushing out to the site of the can within 10-20 minutes with a TV crew, now woudln't it?
Re:Off the air... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Off the air... (Score:4, Insightful)
The problem is that there isn't a good way to scan large numbers of cans quickly. You can't just walk by a shelf of 12-packs and scan the shelf. You would have to pull each 12 pack off and scan it. The large amount of metal and liquid between the scanner and the phone would prevent you from getting a reading. Not to meniton the fact that you wouldn't even know what to look for. I suppose you could practice by sticking your own cell phone in a 12 pack and scanning it.
If you know a way to read an RFID tag (not what this is, and probably an easier problem) through a few feet of liquid and occasional metal please let me know. That would actual solve a problem I have...
Re:Off the air... (Score:3, Insightful)
If the device were screaming "I'M OVER HERE", you don't need to find the right 12-pack: you just buy all of them.
Re:Off the air... (Score:2)
Yes... (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Off the air... but not RF unreactive (Score:2)
It does not emit any RF, but it will absorb RF transmitted at it. I'd bet the RF properties of the cell phone can are very different form those of a regular can. The built-in antenna on the cell phone would react differently to RF radiation at band center frequency than at frequencies above and below the band center. A scanner that sends out pulses at various frequencies and measures the return signal might be able t
In the can? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:In the can? (Score:2)
http://www.phonescoop.com/news/item.php?n=853 [phonescoop.com]
Re:In the can? (Score:3, Funny)
I do. Could you send me any more details/tips please?
Re:In the can? (Score:2)
DAMMIT (Score:5, Funny)
Re:DAMMIT (Score:5, Insightful)
Should I even tell the poor sap that cans are made of aluminum?
Re:DAMMIT (Score:2)
Re:DAMMIT (Score:2)
Better not tell him that, either!
side note: AFAIK, foil was originally made of Tin. At some point aluminum and steel became cheaper and usage of tin declined. These days some people still call it "tin foil", but its correct name is actually "aluminum foil".
Re:DAMMIT (Score:2)
Re:DAMMIT (Score:2)
Y'know, that's been bothering me for a LO-O-O-ONG time now. Just how do you Brits and Aussies get that extra "i" in there?
Is it like how Cadbury gets the creme filling in the eggs?
GTRacer
- Has to remember "z", not "s"
Re:DAMMIT (Score:2)
No Purchase Necessary? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:No Purchase Necessary? (Score:5, Interesting)
Most likely, the cans won't be the actual "game piece". Instead, they'll print up serial-numbered cards, most of which say "You Lose" and one for each car they have will say "You Win!" They'll shuffle up the cards, and then drop one into each specially marked 12-pack and keep a pile aside for the mail-in entries.
12-packs that get the winning game pieces will also get the cell phone gadget. People who end up with a winning gamepiece in their SASE will get a phone number to call to claim their prize. The key thing will be that the odds of getting a a winning piece instead of a loser has to be the same by both methods... at that point, "no purchase necessary" is taken care of.
Re: (Score:2)
Re:No Purchase Necessary? (Score:3, Funny)
Hardware Hack Time! (Score:3, Funny)
next (Score:5, Funny)
First words Coca-Cola rep hears... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Second words Coca-Cola rep hears... (Score:5, Funny)
"Congratulations, you've won..."
"No, no, fuck that, I paid for 12 cokes and I got 11 cokes and this talking plastic thing."
"Ummm...car..."
"Bitch, I'll cut you!"
lets get to the important Slashdot question... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:lets get to the important Slashdot question... (Score:2)
Re:lets get to the important Slashdot question... (Score:2)
Re:lets get to the important Slashdot question... (Score:2)
Re:lets get to the important Slashdot question... (Score:2)
Re:lets get to the important Slashdot question... (Score:4, Informative)
Re:lets get to the important Slashdot question... (Score:2)
http://www.rogerbinns.com/vx4400/vx4400faq.html
Re:lets get to the important Slashdot question... (Score:2)
Thus, I can't find my location with my phone unless I call 911 and ask them where I am.
Flying (Score:5, Funny)
I can imagine flight attendates augmenting the usual shpill:
We ask at this time that you turn off any cell phones, laptops, PDAs and GPS-enabled soda cans....
Scanning the 12-packs (Score:4, Interesting)
Or maybe the battery is only activated when the user holds in the Big Red Button on the front of the phone.
I can't imagine that Coca-Cola didn't think of all the ways to cheat the system after the McDonald's contest fiasco [bootysmack.com] from a few years ago.
Like Lemmings off the cliff (Score:4, Funny)
Just my luck. . . (Score:4, Funny)
(Me, opening can:) Hey - I think I won!
(Flight Attendant:) "At this time, please turn off all personal electronic devices.
Your flight crew will inform you when it is safe to use approved electronic devices in flight."
(Me:) --AARRRGGGH!
Re:Just my luck. . . (Score:5, Funny)
"Speedup damnit, that guy has to be doing a few hundred miles per hour!"
Just look for the coke can... (Score:5, Funny)
Stock up before that trip (Score:3, Funny)
Inductance detector, i.e. a metal detector (Score:3, Informative)
Still, the phone inside will be conductive, and in fact have an antenna of some sort to transmit the signal. A basic metal detector should be able to distinguish between an empty aluminum can and one containing a gps phone because of the differrence in inductance. Waiving around a beach-sized metal detector might not be such a good idea but it's not too hard to build your own [google.com] hand-held unit.
Unfortunately this approach would require you to pretty much scan an entire display up close. Anyone with more knowledge of gps and cell phones have an idea of how to detect the components even when they're powered down?
Re:Inductance detector, i.e. a metal detector (Score:2, Insightful)
I guess this was inevitable (Score:3, Interesting)
For the technical questions. I'm sure it's going to be similar to existing avenues of phone distribution. The phone is shipped with the battery seperated for safety and electrical reasons. You plug the battery in and the phone will register. The FCC and manufacturers have deemed that cell phones come on with GPS enabled. This ONLY sends the info within the cell phone's system, and if your municipality is equipped then it goes out to E911 when you place a 911 call. Even though the GPS feature is now FCC mandated, most cities can't afford the equipment. The enabling of sending GPS is a new development in the last few months. Carriers have been tossing the idea around of geographically located advertising. For example, Pizza Hut is closing and has two pizzas that someone ordered but never showed. The next two drivers who drive by get a short SMS message saying, "Pizza hut at 15th and Lincoln will sell you a Large pepperoni pizza if you stop in the next 10 minutes"
John
Re:I guess this was inevitable (Score:2)
A. So they know where their plows are, and can make sure any given area is being evenly covered with service.
B. So they can detect plow drivers who are taking unauthorized breaks and dock their pay accordingly.
The plow drivers complained that there's all sorts of situ
It's not real GPS but GSM location-services (Score:4, Informative)
Re:It's not real GPS but GSM location-services (Score:2, Informative)
Most Likely It's Shielded and Off (Score:2)
GPS indoors (Score:2, Interesting)
Actually, GPS indoors is rather cutting-edge. It isn't commercially available on a large scale.
Clicky [trimble.com]
Disclaimer: Our company sells trimble gps
Nokia? (Score:5, Informative)
How to have fun (and see yourself on the news) (Score:5, Funny)
Make Coke work for it (Score:5, Funny)
Who ever wins should mess with them by finding to the most remote location they can get a cell signal before pushing the button. Go to Nome, or Yellowknife, or park a boat offshore somewhere.
Three ways of finding the can: (Score:2, Interesting)
Heat capacity: when you pull the can out of the fridge at the store, does it stay cold for more than 10 seconds? A can full of mostly water (coke) will stay cold and a can full of mostly air (phone) will not.
Pressure: squeeze a can - if it's full of carbonic acid (coke), it won't squeeze as easily as if it's filled with air.
I could go on....
Now I can imagine all these kids shaking cok
I know how to find it! (Score:2)
Give me a break, you're not going to do much to cheat the system. You'd have to be lucky enough to be in the right store in the right state in the first place.
Look at the bottom of the cans to find a winner (Score:3, Informative)
Microwave it (Score:3, Interesting)
how they imbed the can (Score:2)
Boy am I thirsty (Score:3, Funny)
GLURG GLURG SPLORK COUGH CHOKE CHOKE CHOKE
<DEATH>
*ring* *ring* *ring*
Hello there, you've won a free SUV! Sir?
GPS-in-a-can trick (Score:3, Informative)
This is good, because I was wondering how they how they were going to pull off the "GPS-in-a-Faraday-Cage trick." Forget winning an SUV - there would be a Nobel prize in physics for that one.
win by cheating though (Score:4, Insightful)
coke needs to be smart and ensure that the can weighs _exactly_ the same as an existing can, otherwise, everyone who works at a shop or distribution channel could weigh the boxes or pallets and discern the differences.
Equally, another way to cheat would be to be use sort of low-tech radar/xray device that can detect different types of solids (for example: cans and liquid are pretty simple, but a radio has a lot of complexity that'll generate signal splatter).
Another way [:-)] would be to see if you can generate radio signals at right frequency to induce resonant effects in the antenna within the can.
This type of low-tech gear wouldn't take more than one or two cluey engineers and weeks work of work.
Have fun
I have experience with coke hidden in can contests (Score:3, Interesting)
The can was identical to the others in every way. I could hear liquid sloshing around in it (still does, still have it), it had weight like a full can.... I cant remember if it had a pressurized noise when it opened, but i think it did.
They can do a good job of hiding contents.
Re:I won a Coke prize once (Score:2)
But I spent the 50p coin...
Re:I won a Coke prize once (Score:3, Funny)