7 ms·

A 16 year boy apparently named his Bluetooth speaker “bomb” and couldn’t turn it off, as it was probably in checked luggage. Woof.

jychang 4mo ago
It was a bomb speaker: https://hellottec.com/product/bomb-portable-bluetooth-speaker-2bh15 https://hellottec.com/product/bomb-portable-bluetooth-speake...
- raverbashing 4mo ago
  Website already HN'd into oblivion it seems
  - sikozu 4mo ago
    Reddit got there first.
    - xeonmc 4mo ago
      The two are indistinguishable for all intents and purposes.
      - fsckboy 4mo ago
        hn has much less traffic than reddit
  - cmurf 4mo ago
    I prefer the term "hugged to death" which I only ever have seen used on HN.
    - arnavpraneet 4mo ago
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slashdot_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slashdot_effect
- firesteelrain 4mo ago
  Oh man, talk about unfortunate set of circumstances. It looks like a cartoon-like bomb too.
  - echoangle 4mo ago
    I'm assuming that's where the name comes from
    - firesteelrain 4mo ago
      Yep, I found the product listing via Google. It says Bomb
- JLO64 4mo ago
  What kind of company doesn’t want to pay $5 per month for a paid workers plan for their website?
  - ValentineC 4mo ago
    A lot of non-software businesses probably outsource their websites to some bottom barrel consultant in LCOL countries. That, or they're such a small business that they never expected one of their random products to be HN hugged to death.
  - jlarocco 4mo ago
    It probably worked fine until today, and will be back to working fine in a few days.
  - cryptoegorophy 4mo ago
    Companies that focus on product and not “investor value” through nice looking working websites
  - dghlsakjg 4mo ago
    The kind of company that normally is well within the free tier for years until their product is unexpectedly part of a news cycle. In all likelihood the site being down right now is actually a PR win.
- opengrass 4mo ago
  https://ams3.digitaloceanspaces.com/tesancdn/hellottec/2_BH_15_S_Bomb_Kilavuz_210425_CNVRT_e4892c5701.pdf https://ams3.digitaloceanspaces.com/tesancdn/hellottec/2_BH_...
  - neilv 4mo ago
    https://web.archive.org/web/20260531033828/https://tesancdn.ams3.digitaloceanspaces.com/hellottec/2_BH_15_1_c0813d7c92.webp https://web.archive.org/web/20260531033828/https://tesancdn....
- deleted 4mo ago
  [deleted]
- dabinat 4mo ago
  Calling their speaker Bomb was asking for trouble and I’m surprised this hasn’t occurred before now. It reminds me of when RED released a camera called Weapon, and I heard of people putting tape over the name when going through the airport.
  - basilikum 4mo ago
    They did not calculate with the stupidity of some people. I don't blame them. There are just too many mind blowing ways of stupidity to be able to account for all of them. Also it's not their fault other people decide to ground a plane for no reason.
jeroenhd 4mo ago
You can't rename most Bluetooth speakers. "Bomb" was the name the selling brand gave the speaker. By making everyone turn off their Bluetooth, the kid whose speaker had turned on probably couldn't even see the device broadcasting the name. People linked to one by a company made Hellotec but Hama has a similarly named device, and plenty of other speaker manufacturers try to make a pun out of "boombox" by naming their devices "bomb" (iJoy, ZEB-MUSIC, and presumably other such brands). Maybe if someone asked the passengers if anyone knew about this "bomb" Bluetooth device the kid would've remembered, but in this case I can't blame them. On the other hand, asking passengers if they know something about a bomb is probably the quickest way to cause a panic. The entire thing seems like a ridiculous overreaction. What kind of terrorist would call their bomb "bomb"? This is "Al Qaeda Free WiFi" all over again.
- lazide 4mo ago
  Even better. The news made it sound like it was an intentional act (at best a prank) by the kid. If it’s a commercial product doing it, I can’t even quantify the levels of facepalm involved.
- thrownthatway 4mo ago
  When you rename a Bluetooth device from your phone, does that affect the name it broadcasts, or only the label applied in the list of Bluetooth devices in the phone? I know for certain if you change the setting General > About > Name in an iPhone it changes what everyone sees when they look at their list of available Bluetooth devices. I assume other Bluetooth devices are the same, no? Otherwise how do you distinguish which one of the three million Bluetooth devices within range is your friends Bluetooth speaker you’re trying to connect to?
  - LoganDark 4mo ago
    > I know for certain if you change the setting General > About > Name in an iPhone it changes what everyone sees when they look at their list of available Bluetooth devices. > I assume other Bluetooth devices are the same, no? No. The iPhone is allowing you to configure what name it broadcasts. But you cannot just tell another device what to broadcast. That device must have its own mechanism for changing its name. For example, many Apple wireless peripherals can rename themselves after your user account once you connect them at least once. That has to be a function of the peripheral though, it's not performed by the device you connect it to (past telling the peripheral the new name, of course). Third-party peripherals usually do not have this functionality.
thisislife2 4mo ago
When did Airlines start scanning Bluetooth devices?
- firesteelrain 4mo ago
  [flagged]
- aobdev 4mo ago
  Airlines have kept tabs on Bluetooth and WiFi hotspots as early as the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 incidents (2016)
  - throwawaytea 4mo ago
    You'd think they would do this before taking off..
    - js2 4mo ago
      Perhaps it was turned on by being jostled during take off.
- victorbjorklund 4mo ago
  Also possible spotted by for example a passenger that notified the crew.
Stratoscope 4mo ago
> it was probably in checked luggage Which would violate FAA regulations if it was powered on (as it obviously was): "When portable electronic devices powered by lithium batteries are in checked baggage, they must be completely powered off and protected to prevent unintentional activation or damage." https://www.faa.gov/hazmat/packsafe/portable-electronic-devices-with-batteries https://www.faa.gov/hazmat/packsafe/portable-electronic-devi...
- userbinator 4mo ago
  It might've been off when packed, but all the vibration turned it on at some point.
  - rubatuga 4mo ago
    [flagged]
    - userbinator 4mo ago
      It does happen, even to products being shipped new from the factory.
    - dtj1123 4mo ago
      It happens: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kZVd659gxd0 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kZVd659gxd0
- HDBaseT 4mo ago
  How exactly do we know it was in checked luggage vs carry on luggage compartment. Without tools, its not exactly easy to point-point a Bluetooth signal. Nor are passengers meant to be roaming around the aircraft whilst in flight (i.e to access carry on luggage compartment and turn it off).
laweijfmvo 4mo ago
Wait so they thought there was a bomb on board but if they “turned it off” they’d keep flying? or they knew it wasn’t a bomb but turned around anyway to teach everyone a lesson? i’m not sure which is worse
- Cider9986 4mo ago
  Excellent point.

jychang 4mo ago

It was a bomb speaker: https://hellottec.com/product/bomb-portable-bluetooth-speaker-2bh15 https://hellottec.com/product/bomb-portable-bluetooth-speake...

raverbashing 4mo ago
Website already HN'd into oblivion it seems
- sikozu 4mo ago
  Reddit got there first.
  - xeonmc 4mo ago
    The two are indistinguishable for all intents and purposes.
    - fsckboy 4mo ago
      hn has much less traffic than reddit
- cmurf 4mo ago
  I prefer the term "hugged to death" which I only ever have seen used on HN.
  - arnavpraneet 4mo ago
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slashdot_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slashdot_effect
firesteelrain 4mo ago
Oh man, talk about unfortunate set of circumstances. It looks like a cartoon-like bomb too.
- echoangle 4mo ago
  I'm assuming that's where the name comes from
  - firesteelrain 4mo ago
    Yep, I found the product listing via Google. It says Bomb
JLO64 4mo ago
What kind of company doesn’t want to pay $5 per month for a paid workers plan for their website?
- ValentineC 4mo ago
  A lot of non-software businesses probably outsource their websites to some bottom barrel consultant in LCOL countries. That, or they're such a small business that they never expected one of their random products to be HN hugged to death.
- jlarocco 4mo ago
  It probably worked fine until today, and will be back to working fine in a few days.
- cryptoegorophy 4mo ago
  Companies that focus on product and not “investor value” through nice looking working websites
- dghlsakjg 4mo ago
  The kind of company that normally is well within the free tier for years until their product is unexpectedly part of a news cycle. In all likelihood the site being down right now is actually a PR win.
opengrass 4mo ago
https://ams3.digitaloceanspaces.com/tesancdn/hellottec/2_BH_15_S_Bomb_Kilavuz_210425_CNVRT_e4892c5701.pdf https://ams3.digitaloceanspaces.com/tesancdn/hellottec/2_BH_...
- neilv 4mo ago
  https://web.archive.org/web/20260531033828/https://tesancdn.ams3.digitaloceanspaces.com/hellottec/2_BH_15_1_c0813d7c92.webp https://web.archive.org/web/20260531033828/https://tesancdn....
deleted 4mo ago
[deleted]
dabinat 4mo ago
Calling their speaker Bomb was asking for trouble and I’m surprised this hasn’t occurred before now. It reminds me of when RED released a camera called Weapon, and I heard of people putting tape over the name when going through the airport.
- basilikum 4mo ago
  They did not calculate with the stupidity of some people. I don't blame them. There are just too many mind blowing ways of stupidity to be able to account for all of them. Also it's not their fault other people decide to ground a plane for no reason.

jeroenhd 4mo ago

You can't rename most Bluetooth speakers. "Bomb" was the name the selling brand gave the speaker. By making everyone turn off their Bluetooth, the kid whose speaker had turned on probably couldn't even see the device broadcasting the name. People linked to one by a company made Hellotec but Hama has a similarly named device, and plenty of other speaker manufacturers try to make a pun out of "boombox" by naming their devices "bomb" (iJoy, ZEB-MUSIC, and presumably other such brands). Maybe if someone asked the passengers if anyone knew about this "bomb" Bluetooth device the kid would've remembered, but in this case I can't blame them. On the other hand, asking passengers if they know something about a bomb is probably the quickest way to cause a panic. The entire thing seems like a ridiculous overreaction. What kind of terrorist would call their bomb "bomb"? This is "Al Qaeda Free WiFi" all over again.

lazide 4mo ago
Even better. The news made it sound like it was an intentional act (at best a prank) by the kid. If it’s a commercial product doing it, I can’t even quantify the levels of facepalm involved.
thrownthatway 4mo ago
When you rename a Bluetooth device from your phone, does that affect the name it broadcasts, or only the label applied in the list of Bluetooth devices in the phone? I know for certain if you change the setting General > About > Name in an iPhone it changes what everyone sees when they look at their list of available Bluetooth devices. I assume other Bluetooth devices are the same, no? Otherwise how do you distinguish which one of the three million Bluetooth devices within range is your friends Bluetooth speaker you’re trying to connect to?
- LoganDark 4mo ago
  > I know for certain if you change the setting General > About > Name in an iPhone it changes what everyone sees when they look at their list of available Bluetooth devices. > I assume other Bluetooth devices are the same, no? No. The iPhone is allowing you to configure what name it broadcasts. But you cannot just tell another device what to broadcast. That device must have its own mechanism for changing its name. For example, many Apple wireless peripherals can rename themselves after your user account once you connect them at least once. That has to be a function of the peripheral though, it's not performed by the device you connect it to (past telling the peripheral the new name, of course). Third-party peripherals usually do not have this functionality.

thisislife2 4mo ago

When did Airlines start scanning Bluetooth devices?

firesteelrain 4mo ago
[flagged]
aobdev 4mo ago
Airlines have kept tabs on Bluetooth and WiFi hotspots as early as the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 incidents (2016)
- throwawaytea 4mo ago
  You'd think they would do this before taking off..
  - js2 4mo ago
    Perhaps it was turned on by being jostled during take off.
victorbjorklund 4mo ago
Also possible spotted by for example a passenger that notified the crew.

Stratoscope 4mo ago

> it was probably in checked luggage Which would violate FAA regulations if it was powered on (as it obviously was): "When portable electronic devices powered by lithium batteries are in checked baggage, they must be completely powered off and protected to prevent unintentional activation or damage." https://www.faa.gov/hazmat/packsafe/portable-electronic-devices-with-batteries https://www.faa.gov/hazmat/packsafe/portable-electronic-devi...

userbinator 4mo ago
It might've been off when packed, but all the vibration turned it on at some point.
- rubatuga 4mo ago
  [flagged]
  - userbinator 4mo ago
    It does happen, even to products being shipped new from the factory.
  - dtj1123 4mo ago
    It happens: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kZVd659gxd0 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kZVd659gxd0
HDBaseT 4mo ago
How exactly do we know it was in checked luggage vs carry on luggage compartment. Without tools, its not exactly easy to point-point a Bluetooth signal. Nor are passengers meant to be roaming around the aircraft whilst in flight (i.e to access carry on luggage compartment and turn it off).

laweijfmvo 4mo ago

Wait so they thought there was a bomb on board but if they “turned it off” they’d keep flying? or they knew it wasn’t a bomb but turned around anyway to teach everyone a lesson? i’m not sure which is worse

Cider9986 4mo ago
Excellent point.