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[iPhone][Explanation] Symbols on the back of the iPhone - Mark - 13-02-2011 [iPhone][Explanation] Symbols on the back of the iPhone Fellow iPhone users may of looked at the back of their device and wondered what all those symbols and numbers mean. Disregarding the 16GB. These symbols have been present since the first iPhone launched. Well, excitement over the truth is a bit more boring. Most of the symbols only indicate that the iPhone has received approval to use the various frequency spectra reserved for mobile and wireless communications and that it has passed various safety checks. This symbol, an F and a C nested within a C, confers the approval of the US Federal Communications Commission, (FCC). It covers everything from the the output power of the directional beams of an antenna system to what radio bands it can operate in. If the device isn't FCC-approved, it has no business in the United States. The iPhone also carries an FCC ID, another indicator that it's gotten the FCC's approval for operation. The FCC ID consists of a three-letter grantee code (Apple's is BCG) followed by a model number. The next symbol, a bin with an X through it, indicates compliance with the WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Directive. The WEEE Directive is upheld by 27 states in the European Union and represents their desire that devices like the iPhone be disposed of in an environmentally friendly way, rather than thrown in the trash as electronic waste. The next symbol is called the "CE mark." It used to stand for "Conformité Européene" but now just works as the general stamp of approval for a product's sale in the European Union. The CE mark indicates compliance with all relevant directives that govern things like voltage and frequency band use. A number next to a CE mark on a device indicates that the manufacturer used a notified body (an organization accredited to evaluate CE compliance) to make sure their product meets CE standards. In this case, notified body 0682 points to Cetecom ICT Services, a firm accredited by Germany to evaluate for CE directives. The exclamation mark is known as the "alert symbol," and it supplements the other CE markings. States in the European Union have restrictions on various frequency bands—for example, a wireless device being operated outdoors in France can only use frequencies between 2.4 GHz and 2.454 GHz. When a device can follow all these restrictions, it is said to work on "harmonized frequency bands" and is called a Class I device. When it doesn't, like the iPhone, it is a Class II device and must carry the extra alert symbol so that users know the phone might try and operate on frequency bands it isn't allowed to use in certain countries. This is your random knowledge thread provided by Mark, so next time someone pulls out their iPhone you can live happy knowing what the symbols mean or.. you could ask them and watch them as they stare clueless then you can upload pictures and we can all have a good old jolly. :glare