Address books in mobile phones, even smartphones

It’s been a good 5-odd years since I noticed this logical flaw in what used to be my Nokia 6610. Not that I felt it was an oversight, but at the time, I told myself that it’s probably a lack of foresight on the part of the phone manufacturer, and they will soon recognize and fix it to give users a more accurate experience.

I moved from the Nokia 6610 to a brief but rewarding experience with the Nokia N70 not long before I switched to a BlackBerry Pearl. Strangely, this flaw continued to exist in all these phones, and even today, with a BlackBerry Curve, the same continues.

The flaw, in case you’re still wondering, is the fact that mobile phones recognize an identity in the address book on the basis of the last 8 digits stored in that entry. Not the 15 digits that the International Telecommunication Union sets as a limit on a full international phone number. Not the 12 digits (including country code) or even the 10 digits (excluding country code).

If you don’t believe me, try a simple test to see if your phone is as un-smart as the rest of our phones.

Save a number in your address book – say, 0987654321 under a name, say TestLast8. Now, dial the following number 1187654321. As the number gets dialled, you will see your phone reflect the Called Party’s name as TestLast8.

Again, I’m not sure how many users out there have noticed this, and what logic is still making phone manufacturers continue to build their software to recognize only the last 8 digits – but rest assured, I’d like to know more about both.