Have you ever heard the electronic buzzes and tones (called TDMA noise) that come from your computer speakers when your iPhone or other cellular phone is in close proximity? Typically this happens when your phone is downloading data or about to receive a call. It is EXTREMELY annoying. That is part of the reason why, if you use an FM transmitter to play your iPhone’s music over the car’s stereo, that when you plug in the transmitter, your iPhone asks you if you want to take your phone offline when you listen to music.
I recently rearranged my desk at work and brought some speakers in from home and was faced with the iPhone vs. Computer Speaker issue. In the past, whenever I ran into this issue, I usually did one of two things: move the phone or turn off the speakers. But both options were less than desirable. So about half a year ago, I came across a tip that discussed a solution that seemed a bit odd: simply place your iPhone (or other cell phone) on a piece of tinfoil. That’s it! Simple, inexpensive and a bit geeky!
This tip has been written up in several other places so it is nothing original by me. However, it IS a great tip and I wanted to be sure it was documented. The tinfoil acts as some type of shielding that lessens the TDMA noise dramatically. My tests have shown that it doesn’t increase the likelihood of missed calls or data not being transferred into your phone.
Note, I haven’t been successful at getting this to work in my car, but I’m still trying. If anyone has any tips on how the best way to set this up is, please let me know.
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