Everest climber finds 3G signal, sends Tweet

A British climber has allegedly become the first person to Tweet, use Facebook and make a 3G phone call from atop Mount Everest today, raising the point that nowhere, not even the top of the effin' world, is safe from the reaches of cellphones and social networking. It was the ninth occasion the unlikely named Kenton Cool has …

[Anonymous Coward]

Whenever I don't want to be 'connected' ...

... I turn the phone off.

No IT angle admittedly.

[The Fuzzy Wotnot]

Exactly!

Russians in space and the pencil story! The simplest solutions, although not very hi-tech, are usually the most effective!

[Tom Wood]

Except...

that the space pen thing isn't true.

http://www.snopes.com/business/genius/spacepen.asp

[Liam Johnson]

Russians in space and the pencil story

Unfortunately not true

http://www.snopes.com/business/genius/spacepen.asp

[GettinSadda]

Picture?

"As well as making the first 3G phone call at the peak of the world's tallest mountain, Cool updated his Twitter and Facecrack status, and uploaded a picture for all to see."

I cannot find the picture via his Twitter feed or on the publicly visible part of his Facebook page. So how would this be available "for all to see"?

[Lottie]

win

I guess that guy wins the internet. I forsee a craze for extreme facebook updates now.

[Anonymous Coward]

title

I'd say the internet was already won by the ppl on the ISS for the most extreme status update ;)

[Daniel 1]

He has previous

This is the same Kenton Cool that broadcast live on ITN news, for a week, during his ascent of the Eiger a few years ago.

[Anonymous Coward]

lucky that ...

... he didn't have an iPhone!

"The iPhone’s instruction manual states that the device is designed to operate at temperatures between 0 and 35 degrees celcius and that ‘low or high-temperature conditions might temporarily shorten battery life or cause iPhone to temporarily stop working properly.’"

[Skippy]

Can I have some?

It's great to know that one of the hardest places to reach on earth has a good 3G connection, but I have to travel 30 miles to get one where I live.

[Jolyon]

Did he pay

Peak rates or were they (snow) capped?

I'm aware this is a slippery slope . . .

Mine's the parka with the fur-trimmed hood.

[Anonymous Coward]

Motorola did a call and SMS from there - 2008

http://www.gsmmag.com/the-call-of-everest/

Although admittedly using FB and Twitter on a Z8 would be a challenge...

[JasonW]

Twitter via SMS?

Surely you could send a Twitter update on any device capable of sending an SMS... even an old Nokia 2110?

[Anonymous Coward]

"the world's tallest mountain"

Hmm... I believe that Mauna Kea is the "tallest" mountain, while Everest is the "highest".

[Jamie Kitson]

How do we know?

He doesn't seem to have included the GPS position on the tweet, maybe so that burglars don't know he's away from home.

[Bilgepipe]

Signal

The signal has been there for ages, he was just the first person sad enough to climb up there, switch his phone on and call up Twitter.

[teapot9999]

Not using O2 then

I cannot get a decent O2 signal sitting 2 miles from Heathrow airport, so I guess this guy wasn't using an O2 network !

[Alan Jenney]

Not O2 - Or Orange

I cannot get a decent Orange GSM signal where I am, let alone 3G. And yet the tower (disguised as a fir tree) is quite visible from here. Mind you, it's the nearest one and the other networks are rather shabby, too.

[Shane McCarrick]

Another dead spot......

I'd like to nominate my home as another venue for anyone who doesn't like to be bothered by cellphones. Its the ultimate signal deadspot- no tv or radio signals here either. I have to run my wireless network @ 80dBi to get coverage throughout the house- the whole area just seems to soak up signals (thankfully satellite and cable aren't affected). So- anyone looking for a cup of coffee in peace, give me a yell........

[Dan 10]

Errr...

How - you haven't got a signal?!

[SteveK]

Up and down

I had a pretty solid phone signal 60-odd metres down a salt mine in Poland the other week, had data disabled due to extortionate roaming charges so couldn't tell whether I had 3G or not, but it was a darn sight better than I get in Oxford.

[MrT]

And...

...easier parking as well.

[Anonymous Coward]

I hear it can get really crowded on the Everest summit....

If you really want the peak to yourself, you can stream "Its Friday" on YouTube!

Mine's the snowsuit with oxygen bottle and soundproof earmuffs....

[Fremma]

How did he get an SGS2?

The SGS2 was launched last week - in the UK, South Korea and perhaps a few other less important countries and Mr Cool manages to buy one, spend the requisite two and a half days drooling over it and then cart it over to Nepal and nip up Mt Everest in his spare time?

I am so jealous.