back to article HTC phone STOPS BULLET, saves Florida gas station clerk's life

A Florida gas station clerk escaped serious injury during an attempted robbery when his HTC smartphone took a bullet from a fleeing perp's pistol. The unnamed worker, at a Hess station in Winter Garden, west of Orlando, found himself on the wrong end of a round early on Monday morning, local news outfit WESH-TV reports. …

COMMENTS

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  1. Steve Renouf
    Coat

    I wonder...

    when the "bullet-stopping phone" ads. will start appearing? Cynical? Moi?

    1. streaky

      Re: I wonder...

      No it's at what point Apple will patent the bulletproof phone. Dunno maybe I'm getting cynical in my old age too.

      1. Jedit Silver badge
        Angel

        "No it's at what point Apple will patent the bulletproof phone"

        Note that despite Apple's pride in the aluminium back, the article does not say that an iPhone has ever stopped a bullet. For a variety of reasons one would think there would be more incidents of iPhone users being shot at, too. Obviously it's the smaller screen size - less chance of it getting in the way.

        (Cue quote from the spectre of Jobs: "iPhone users would rather be shot than use a device with a larger screen.")

        1. Patrick R

          Re: "the article does not say that an iPhone has ever stopped a bullet"

          Dead guys were holding it wrong.

    2. Erwin Hofmann

      Re: I wonder...

      Well, here it is: "HTC the right phones for a Gun-Crazy Country"

  2. Neoc

    http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/10/29/htc_smartphone_takes_a_bullet_saves_shopkeepers_life/

  3. Mtech25
    Devil

    Need to stop a bullet

    There is an app for that.... hold it's a HTC how about quietly bulletproof?

  4. Paul_Murphy

    Cop says "So for this gentleman to be as lucky as he is, it's a good day for us."

    I would say a jolly good day for the clerk as well, the police save some paperwork and he gets to live.

    1. Tom 7

      It could have easily been a better day and he could have been a lot luckier

      if the prat hadn't robbed the shop.

    2. Steve Evans

      Damn lucky on two fronts...

      1) The phone stopped the bullet.

      2) Lucky the battery (look how deformed it is) didn't catch fire!

      1. admiraljkb

        @Steve

        2) True, but conversely he's lucky it DID hit the relatively dense battery. The bullet likely would have still made it through anywhere else on the phone. If its risk of battery fire versus having a round in the chest, I'll take the battery fire risk. :)

        1. Yet Another Commentard

          hang on

          He was at work, was threatened, got shot at, was hit by a bullet (well, his phone was) and you call all that LUCKY?

          That's a bad luck day at the office by anyone's standards.

  5. Alan Stewart
    Joke

    What a shame

    I so hoped it would be a HTC Hero, just because of the name!

    1. phuzz Silver badge

      Re: What a shame

      What model was it? Enquiring (geeky) minds want to know.

      Looks a bit like a Desire HD, but not quite.

  6. Michael H.F. Wilkinson Silver badge
    Coat

    And it isn't even a ruggedized phone

    sorry, time for me coat already

  7. Stuart Elliott

    Under warranty?

    I wonder if HTC will replace it for him?

    1. Captain TickTock
      Gimp

      Re: Under warranty?

      They might, but Apple wouldn't.

  8. Muscleguy

    A smartphone, better and healthier than a cigarette case and stops bullets just the same.

    This is just a variant of 'the ciggie case my beloved gave me saved my life' stories from lots of decades ago.

    1. Simon Harris

      Duel and Duality

      Of course, against a cannonball, a metal cigarillo case is the only defence.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Only fools and horses

    "Wow! It saved his life!"

    "No Rodney, the bullet ricocheted up his nose and blew his brains out!"

  10. Crisp

    That is freaking AWESOME!

    And good to know that in a pinch, my HTC can be used as a bullet proof vest panel.

  11. dougal83

    Where are the gun nuts?

    Surely if the clerk had a bigger gun than the perp. then he would not have been shot! Oh wait.. no that is boll0cks!

    Quite happy to have my trusty HTC flak jacket on my desk. Not sure the S3 could take a bullet though.

    1. Donn Bly

      Re: Where are the gun nuts?

      Of course not, but if the clerk had been wearing a holster, the perp never would have attempted the robbery - not wanting to run the risk of being shot himself.

      1. Tchou

        Re: Where are the gun nuts?

        Or the robber would have shot the guy before saying a word, just to make sure he would not be shot at in the first place.

  12. Lottie
    Joke

    Knowing the way beancounters work...

    The MOD will soon be replacing slodiers body armour with single HTC phones.

    1. Yet Another Commentard

      Re: Knowing the way beancounters work...

      Nokia 3310s, surely?

  13. Chairo
    Flame

    Looks like

    The battery took most of the bullet's energy. Lucky it didn't short circuit, otherwise the clerk would have gotten a nasty burn. Still better than a bullet in the lung, of course.

  14. PaulR79

    Some people really don't like 3D

    When will this hatred for 3D stop?

  15. SirDigalot

    at least the battery did not explode or catch fire...

  16. Fihart

    If I was the shooter...

    ....I'd be asking for my money back from the gun or ammo maker.

  17. Julian Taylor

    Fantastic news! Now we know there is a use for all those Surface tablets ... Instead of leaving them to rot in MSFT warehouses, why not ship them to Afghanistan as body armour replacement?

  18. phil dude
    Coat

    mythbusters...

    I think this was tested on mythbusters.....

    For a ".22" round it may work, but for more energetic you'll be perforated...

    That's why Kevlar is an important thing to have between you and the world....

    P.

    1. John McCallum
      Devil

      Re: mythbusters...

      Depends on which .22 round one from an SA 80 or one from a Saturdaynight Special lots of differance.

      1. Slacker@work

        Re: mythbusters...

        Do we know what calibre it was? Looking at the pic's it appears bigger than a .22

    2. Uffish

      Re: mythbusters, gun calibres, stopping bullets .....

      That coat icon just saved you from a right old flaming.

  19. Midnight

    Better than the iPhone 5.

    http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/09/26/gold-iphone-5s-cant-withstand-being-shot-with-a-sniper-rifle-but-it-still-looks-good-trying/

    Okay, it was a _slightly_ higher power weapon, but the results are more dramatic that way.

  20. YARR

    Great news on this occasion, but there are similar cases where fleeing criminals have killed shop clerks with an unwarranted parting shot. I hope they find the person responsible for this, and I hope the sentence is as severe as if the clerk had been murdered. There has to be something wrong with the culture in a supposedly civilised society for criminals stealing money to mindlessly take another's life. Perhaps the huge resources of agencies like the NSA should be targeted at real criminals like illegal drug smugglers that produce addicts who behave this way, instead of making thought criminals of the general public.

  21. MrZoolook
    Facepalm

    I would have gambled on...

    If I was forced to gamble in any line up of manufacturers phones on which would stop a live round, I would have chosen Nokia.

  22. Craig 28

    What we need is a phone case in the style of a metal cigarillo case, problem solved. You get the additional protection for stopping cannonette balls from both the case's metal and the phone's components. Bonus points if it has a pocket for a miniature Harrods lingerie catalogue.

  23. dave 93
    Happy

    Another argument in favour of VLPs

    or a tablet toting jacket!

  24. Scott Pedigo
    Gimp

    I've read a couple of articles referencing the Wozniak piece where he calls for patience in the face of unrealistic expectations of a continuous stream of revolutionary products from Apple. Now that phones and pads have cameras back and front, flashes, WiFi, Bluetooth, USB, 3G, 4G, etc. it seems that the best we can hope for are incremental improvements in the OS, battery life, and camera and screen resolution.

    But why should phones be limited to defense? The best defense is a strong offence!

    Here's my idea for the next revolutionary product: the iPistol!

    Specs: a 14 round, 10mm pistol, with a white plastic inlay in the polished aluminium grip. Integrated MP3 player, phone, camera with integrated targeting sensor, and fingerprint sensor on the trigger. Can be configured to playback your favourite clips, like "Do you feel lucky punk? Well, do ya?" Automatically posts your best shots to Facebook.

    You just have to be careful not to press the wrong button when you're having a conversation.

  25. Roby

    Lucky it wasn't an S3.

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