THAM YUEN-C reports in Beijing

HERE is what it takes to break a Nokia mobile phone: More than 1,000 hours of extreme torture that includes baking in a hot oven, being slammed onto concrete, sustained twisting and bending and being scratched by pebbles, rocks and keys.

At 10 test labs around the world, including in the United States and Japan, abuse is sanctioned policy.

"We test them to their limits. We want to break them," said Kenneth Hansen, stream manager of the test lab at Nokia's Beijing Campus.

At the basement test lab, 36 testing specialists, engineers and physicists - kid gloves off - assess how the cellphones withstand the rigours of daily wear and tear.

Each phone is put through over 200 tests, some of which take days. On average, each model goes through 1,000 hours of testing.

Only the models which survive without a band-aid make it to the production line.

Data from the tests is then passed on to designers so they can come up with even better tough-truck cellphones.

yuenc@sph.com.sg