WTF Fun Fact 13023 – The Samsung Butt Robot

Putting your phone in your back pocket is dangerous business (at least for the phone). So to ensure their materials were sturdy enough to withstand the crush, Samsung invented a robotic butt. The Samsung butt robot exerts 220 pounds of pressure on their phones during testing.

How Samsung phones are robot butt-tested

Clad in a pair of blue jeans, the butt repeatedly sits on phone to see how they’ll react to the common real-world beating their bound to take.

According to Tech Radar (cited below), whose writer was invited to tour the facility;

“On a recent trip to Korea, we were invited by Samsung to take a tour of its dedicated testing facility, and as we made our way through the company’s labs (each more diabolical than the last) we came to understand just how seriously the company takes its quality control – even if one of these tests does involve an undeniably quirky robot butt (dressed in blue denim jeans, no less) repeatedly sitting on handsets.”

Other Sumsung quality testing

The facility did a number of quality tests on their phones. They tested durability, sound quality, and battery power, among other important functions.

While we’re sure the phones still break from time to time, they have been through a lot. Tech Radar also reported:

“Using a number of different mechanical devices that look like the world’s most brutal skill testers (including auto drop testers, tumble testers and continuous free fall testers), Samsung’s handsets are repeatedly dropped from varying heights and angles onto a variety of hard surfaces, such as metal and marble.”

The butt test is still our favorite and when the first tech writers got a chance to see it around 2014, the company was met with so much public interest that they finally released a video so people could see it for themselves. Enjoy!  WTF fun facts

Source: “Samsung built a robot butt just to test its smartphones’ durability” — Tech Radar

WTF Fun Fact 12905 – Monkey Blamed for Fake 911 Calls

It’s illegal to make fake 911 calls, so the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office tried to track down the culprit of a recent dial-in. They also wanted to make sure no one need their help on the end of the suddenly disconnected call. The tracked the phone down to the “Zoo To You” near Paso Robles and deduced that it was likely a Capuchin monkey that made the call.

Finding the source of the call

Dispatchers tried to call and text back when the call first came in. Then they sent in the police, only to find that no human on the premesis had any idea what they were talking about.

The call came from a cell phone that was left in a golf cart used on the property.

They finally deduced that a Capuchin monkey named Route had apparently picked up the zoo’s cellphone, which was in a golf cart used to move about the property.

In a Facebook post, they recounted the story:

“Our Deputies have seen their fair share of “monkey business” in the County. But nothing quite like this.
It all started Saturday night when we received a 911 call that had disconnected. Dispatchers tried to call and text back but they received no response. So Deputies were sent to investigate.
The address took them to the offices of Zoo to You near Paso Robles. No one there had placed the call.
Was someone trying to make us look like a monkey’s uncle?
Then they all realized… it must have been Route the Capuchin monkey.
Apparently, Route had picked up the zoo’s cell phone… which was in the zoo’s golf cart… which is used to travel around the zoo’s 40 acre site.
We’re told Capuchin monkeys are very inquisitive and will grab anything and everything and just start pushing buttons.
And that’s what Route did… just so happened it was in the right combination of numbers to call us.
As you can tell from these photos, Route is a little embarrassed by the whole thing. But you can’t really blame her, after all monkey see, monkey do.”

Emergency monkey dial

You’ve no doubt heard of the infinite monkey theroem that posits that a monkey sitting at a typewriter for an infinite amount of time would eventually get around to typing out a full line of Shakespeare.

Abstract statistical metaphors aside, it turns out the a Capuchin with a cell phone and nothing else to do will eventually press 9-1-1-send.  WTF fun facts

Source: “Capuchin Monkey Accused Of Calling 911 From California Zoo” — HuffPost

Happy Father’s Day!

weird fact collect calls on fathers day

Father’s Day is historically the busiest day for collect-calls, while Mother’s day is the busiest day for regular phone calls. WTF Fun Facts

Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2005-06-13/fathers-unspectacular-day+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk