NEWS The humble mobile phone had a chance for a starring role in one of the world's biggest sporting events Saturday - and flopped.
After upsetting defending champion Serena Williams at the Wimbledon tennis championships, Russian teenager Maria Sharapova borrowed her father's mobile phone to call her mother from Centre Court. With a worldwide television audience watching, Sharapova's father passed the phone down through the crowd to her daughter.
It was a new tradition for staid old Wimbledon but showed how ubiquitious the mobile phone has become.
The line umpires kept a stiff upper lip as Sharapova punched in the numbers just like any excitable teenager. The impromptu call seemed like a "too good to be true" opportunity for mobile phone providers. But alas, the phone didn't work.
"Come on technology," said a frustrated Sharapova. She explained that the connection kept shutting off. The new Wimbledon champion put down the phone and accepted her trophy.
Still, mobile phone providers were trying to make a splash at Wimbledon. Some of the companies provided video highlights of the Wimbledon tournament to their customers. But fans were asked to turn off their mobiles during the tournament.
Jeff Pelline writes for CNET News.com
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1. Simon Allen
It should be no surprise that she could not get a channel! Everyone in the area would have been on their phones telling people about the result. Within ten minutes, she should have been able to get a connection. Depending upon netowrks, she might have had more luck if her mother had rung her (assuming that she was watching on TV).
She needed a sat phone.