| | NEWS PAGE 2 OF 4 |  Applying Innovation to "Yellular" Phones, and Other Annoyances
Jun 6, 2006 By: Lester Craft Innovate Forum
Life could be made a lot better if more of the hundreds of billions of dollars expended each year on product development and R&D were applied to common, everyday annoyances. As a stand-in for those little irritations, let’s take the ubiquitous “yellular” cell-phone call. Yellular, of course, refers to the near-universal tendency of cell-phone users to shout into their devices, resulting in the rest of us learning far more than we ever wanted about grandma’s carbuncles. So what is it with yellular, anyway? Can innovation address this problem, and perhaps other examples of life’s little ills?
Since you’re probably wondering, there actually is a reason people tend to yell into their cell phones. Apparently, humans are hard-wired to assume that all telephones are flawed and that the person on the other end won’t be able to hear well unless we shout into the mouthpiece. Landline phones are provided with a neat little trick that helps us overcome this fear. Some of the speaker’s voice is routed back into the earpiece, causing the speaker to subconsciously think the phone is OK after all, and to modulate his or her voice accordingly.
Enter cell phones. For whatever reason (doubtless excruciatingly technical in nature, or maybe simply because cell phones really were unreliable for most of their history), the designers of the cell-phone system chose not to build in this self-modulation feature. So here’s what happens: The absence of one’s own voice in the earpiece activates the “telephones-don’t-work-very-well” region of the brain, and the speaker yells to compensate.
Problems tend to beget innovative solutions, and one such solution to this problem has arrived. No, it doesn’t address the root cause – more on that later. Rather, a company called Salemi Industries has introduced a patent-pending product, “The Cell Zone,” described as the first “commercial, sound-resistant ‘cell-phone booth.’” Salemi notes that The Cell Zone, priced at between $2,400 and $3,500 a unit and somewhat resembling a giant soda can in appearance, represents a “breakthrough solution [that] addresses escalating concerns over disruptive phone conversations in public establishments and venues.”
As Michael Salemi, president of Salemi Industries, put it, “I’m constantly amazed at how many people engage in disruptive cell-phone conversations in restaurants, entertainment venues and even libraries. On the other hand, I know these establishments lack a quiet, designated area for people to conduct important phone discussions. The Cell Zone conquers both of these dilemmas, creating the perfect solution for any type of establishment.”
Or as noted in Salemi’s press packet, “During an important conversation, 77 percent of cell phone users have had to listen to a toilet flush.” (Note to Salemi – solving this one will require some creative re-engineering of The Cell Zone.)
Will cell-phone manufacturers themselves one day render Salemi’s innovation obsolete by adding the voice-modulation feed used in wireline phones? Given that there’s little economic incentive for them to do so, it’s not likely to happen anytime soon. Still, there’s perhaps a glimmer of light at the end of the yellular tunnel: Federal regulators’ proposals to make cell-phone service available on airplanes has met with stiff opposition from fliers fearful of being subjected to non-stop, high-decibel yammering all the way from New York to Los Angeles. If cell-phone carriers ever want access to the airways, their phones will have to fix the modulation problem. | 
May 22, 2006
Silencing Cell Phones Politely As customers' expectations of the restaurant experience continue to increase, so do the number of innovations that help operators meet these expectations. One breakthrough device that's intriguing NRA Show-goers this year offers restaurant customers respite from the noise caused by cell phone conversations and the noise that renders cell phone conversations impossible.
Called the "Cell Zone," this device is a soundproof cylindrical booth. After the customer enters and the door closes, acoustic material and the sound-resistant chamber dramatically reduce external noise by absorbing sound waves. Yet the phone signal remains as strong as it is outside the chamber.
Restaurateurs will note that the invention, which awaits patent protection, offers a polite alternative both to asking patrons not to use their cell phones and to having other guests endure the noisy intrusion of someone's cell-phone conversation.
Manufactured by Woburn, Massachusetts-based Salemi Industries with the assistance of an acoustical engineer, the Cell Zone is available in five sizes that range in price from $2,400 to $3,500. All models come equipped with wheelchair-accessible ramps and 12 standard colors. The company also offers to customize the color to suit your restaurant's décor -- although the Cell Zone's futuristic appearance may not suit the style of every dining establishment.
The company expects this first-of-a-kind product to appear in restaurants soon. --
by Barnaby Towns
Posted At : 9:37 AM. | Posted By : nra_staff | 
Cell Zone Phone Booth
written by Toi Simpkins
Life delivers many little annoyances, but few as bothersome as someone shouting into their cell phone in a busy restaurant.
Finally, someone has found a viable solution.
Currently in the United States, there are more than 200 million cell phone users. That is 200 million opportunities to have your dinner conversation or movie theater experience interrupted by someone taking a call on their cell phone. Understandably, sometimes these calls are important and need to be taken immediately, but until recently there has been no widely used solution in public establishments that allows cell phone users to make and receive phone calls in private. That is the market that Salemi Industries is attempting to fill by introducing the Cell Zone cell  phone booth to the public. Michael Salemi, President of Salemi Industries, hates it when other diner's cell phone conversations interrupt his intimate dinners, but concedes that he is equally annoyed when background noise interrupts his own cell phone conversations. As he puts it, "I am constantly amazed at how many people engage in disruptive cell phone conversations in restaurants, entertainment venues and even libraries. On the other hand, I know these establishments lack a quiet, designated area for people to conduct important phone discussions. The Cell Zone conquers both of these dilemmas, creating the perfect solution for any type of establishment." The Cell Zone is touted as the first commercial, sound resistant cell phone booth. It offers people a quiet environment where they can place and receive phone calls without disturbing others. It also allows users to talk on their cell phones without being distracted by outside noise or disrupting others. It is ideal for restaurants, nightclubs, and other entertainment venues as it helps the establishments deliver a better client experience.
Salemi Industries, created by a group of entrepreneurs in 2005, brought together a team with more than 50 years of experience in manufacturing and noise reduction technology to create the Cell Zone. Its design, somewhat resembling a giant soda can in appearance, is specifically intended to reduce noise from the surrounding environment. It works on the principal that to be effective, sound isolation and reduction requires a heavy, solid surface to act as a noise barrier. Two layers of solid steel are separated by an air pocket filled with a soft, sound absorbing material to act as an additional sound barrier. The designers took special care to ensure that the cellular signal is just as strong inside of the booth as it is outside of the booth. The Cell Zone is available in five different sizes and twelve different colors. For an additional fee, the color can be customized to match the décor of the establishment. Its closest competitor, the C. P. Booth, only features two different models. All Cell Zone units are equipped with wheelchair accessible ramps. The units also feature a clear door, designed to prevent any mischief from going on in the booth. At a price of $2,400 to $3,500, it is comparable to it nearest competitor, but the wider range of options make it the better deal. Manner maestros say that the cell phone booths are going to be as welcome in restaurants as the cell phones themselves. "You're really just enabling the bad behavior," says Tom Farley, editor of Town & Country Modern Manners: The Thinking Person's Guide to Social Graces. "To the extent that they encourage people to get up in the middle of dinner and place a phone call, I think that's a bad thing." Some critics also doubt that the people they are intended for will actually use the units. The creation of the Cell Zone is considered an excellent idea by most, but only time will tell if the trend will catch on. For More Information:
Salemi Industries
The Cell Zone Website
Modern Manners: The Thinking Person's Guide to Social Graces
|  Today, when everyone owns a personal mobile phone, what is the need of a Telephone booth ?
Say you are on the dance floor and the phone starts ringing. You know you have to answer the call but the background music is very loud and etiquettes prevent you from screaming on the phone. So what do you generally do in such a situation ?
The Cell Zone is a special Cell Phone Booth for public places like restaurants, theaters and night clubs where people can make or receive calls using their own cell phones in private without being distracted by outside noise or disrupting others.
The Cell Zone is in the shape of a cylinder and equipped with some patented soundproof technology. It costs anywhere between $2,400 to $3,500, depending on size. | | Back to Previous Page | Continue to Next News Page |
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