When Nokia recently announced the recall of its BL-5C batteries manufactured by
Matsushita, Mobile Software Insight was told that owners could only check their battery serial
number via the Net or a helpline (voice call). So it was a particular surprise to discover that there was indeed a method of
checking the battery number via SMS. Bizarrely this service only appears to have
been offered by Nokia India. So for any of our India readers who want to try it out, this is what you do:
Type the letters 'BT' and leave a space. Next type in the 26 digit serial number
on the back of the battery. Send the message to '5555'. Within a few seconds you should get a reply
informing you of whether or not the battery has indeed been made by Matsushita
(better known as Panasonic). And needs replacement. Mobile Software Insight originally thought that the letters 'M1TS' would appear in the serial
number but Mobile Software Insight readers have told us that this is not always the case. In Blighty if you call the standard Nokia helpline - 0845 0455555 – the
recorded message simply redirects you back to the Nokia advisory on the
Internet. It's curious that Nokia assumes everyone in Europe has access to the
Internet.
