It should be clear by now that this article, outlived in a day, was a mere April's Fools Day joke. We're hoping you saw the funny side of it. The European Commission is all about the community it represents. Its latest project aims to give the EU citizens open access to the European network for disaster prevention via a specialized GSM phone - the Euro phone, if you'd like.
The Euro Phone project is something that has never been done on a scale such as this. Buying a 50 euro worth of a GSM phone will not only allow you to communicate, but you'd also get disaster warnings pushed straight to your mobile screen no matter which network you are on.
The photo on the left is merely an editorial mockup.
The European network for disaster prevention is a trans-European system for monitoring weather and large-scale disasters such as forest fires and even nuclear threats.
"In light of the recent tragic developments in Japan, the European Union must find a way to protect its citizens with timely weather and disaster warnings pushed straight to the mobile phone screen." - says Robert-Jan Smits, Director-General of the EU Commission Directorate-General for Research & Innovation - "We already gather that information in a centralized EU info system but so far there hasn't been a way to actually push meaningful warnings straight to the people it matters the most."
The new phone should not only alert you but it can also be used as a distress beacon working on the Search&Rescue frequencies, which are independent of GSM networks.
The EU Commission has just announced a call for tenders on the development of a custom mobile OS for the Euro phone. We are yet to see who would manufacture it too...
We'll keep you posted.
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