tech_newsBy Travis Larchuk
This phone starts fires on purpose
Until now, most mobile phone companies have worked to ensure their phones won't start fires. (Occasional Samsung devices excepted, of course.) But this week at Mobile World Congress, we found a company that dared to go in a different direction. Oukitel's WP63 rugged smartphone includes a built-in fire starter, and this is what it looks like:On this episode of The Vergecast, The Verge's Dominic Preston joins Nilay to explain the existence of this particular mobile device, as well as wrap up all the weird and wonderful gadgets he and the team saw at MWC. There was also a "robot phone" that dances...
Until now, most mobile phone companies have worked to ensure their phones won't start fires. (Occasional Samsung devices excepted, of course.) But this week at Mobile World Congress, we found a company that dared to go in a different direction. Oukitel's WP63 rugged smartphone includes a built-in fire starter, and this is what it looks like:On this episode of The Vergecast, The Verge's Dominic Preston joins Nilay to explain the existence of this particular mobile device, as well as wrap up all the weird and wonderful gadgets he and the team saw at MWC. There was also a "robot phone" that dances...
Published: 6 March 2026
1 min read
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