Face it, kids. You missed the best time to be a teenager by around five or so years. As it stands now, technology is cutting into that adolescent fun, with device like Ford's
MyKey and this one here ensuring that you're actually safe behind the wheel. In all seriousness, the terribly named Key2SafeDriving is a fine concept (at least in the parent's eye), as it fuses a cellphone jammer (of sorts) into a key fob in order to put the kibosh on freeway conversations. Essentially, the signal blocking kicks into action anytime the "key" portion is flicked out, connecting to a handset via Bluetooth or RFID and forcing it into "driving mode." No actual
jamming, per se, is going on; it's more like a manual override of the ringer. Anyone who phones / texts you while you're safely driving will receive an automated response informing them of such, though we are told that handsfree devices can be utilized. Researchers at the University of Utah are hoping to see it on the market within six months via a private company "at a cost of less than $50 per key plus a yet-undetermined monthly service fee."
[Via
Gadgets-Weblog]
posted December 12th 2008 9:27AM
Chuck Norris.
in a key fob...? why don't have it built in to the car?
and if it were dependent on the engine it would be quite useful... for example when you're stopped, the jamming also stops.. eg. if you pull over to make a call
Had to do a doubletake on this one. I knew there was NO way the FCC would allow a true jammer. Theater owners (and some churches) have been begging to let them use those for years.
...nothing a hammer cant fix.
@Flashpoint:
Since when do kids text message one another in "plain" English. I'd love to see Ford's Sync try to electronically translate and read off: y0, teh prtyz @ 7. c u l8tr.
Actually, nobody ever texts like that.
Except the older generations of texters who think using "AIM-speak" is the "cool" and "hip" thing to do.
Jammers aren't a good idea either because you wouldn't want the passengers to not have the ability to use a phone.
This looks more like something that you'd get for yourself if you just enjoy your phone's "Driving Mode" feature but you always forget to turn it on. This is impossible to force on your kid for so many reasons, not the least of which being voluntary bluetooth pairing with your handset. Either Engadget misinterpreted what this is for, or the company responsible is sorely mismarketing their product.
Its illegal to create cell phone jammers.
All of the OnStar enabled car will now require a wired connection.
Nothing makes you okay, balls.
This is the kind of product an insurance company would sell...Get a discounted rate if you sign up for the cell-jam service.
"at a cost of less than $50 per key plus a yet-undetermined monthly service fee." Plus the pesky cost of B2B marketing trying to convince major cellphone manufacturers to rewrite firmware and documentation at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars on the very same phone models that were designed to appeal to the tech-savvy youth market they will now alienate with this extremely condescending system.
This technology should be mandatory in all cars. Nobody - NOBODY - has a reason or a right to text or yack on a telephone while they're operating a moving vehicle.
This is kind of pointless. I would like to be able to use my cellphone while my friend is driving, which this would most likely prevent.
Since this is just a cellphone that knows when its owner is driving, why is the title spreading the misconception that this is some sort of jammer? The concept of jamming is nowhere to be found and even the text of the article says as much.
You know, if you didn't hold down the Shift and 1 keys down so long, you would've had more time to publish what your were really going to say.
soooooo....i guess anytime the car is on, that passengers and backseat occupants are FORBIDDEN to talk, or sms on their phones. interesting concept...stupid implication.
Good for the driver but bad for the passengers in his or her car that actually want to text, talk or surf the web.
FAIL!
Geez... this is getting weird! I mean, I'm a pizza delivery driver in (a major city) in Illinois and I drive around town, texting and making phone calls while on delivery, and if I didn't have this option, I'd never have gotten some places. Ticket says "Text when 5 minutes out, customer meet you at gate" (Oh, that's something else that ticks me off... NOT EVERYONE HAS A CELL PHONE!!! And, if they do, their EMPLOYER IS NOT PAYING FOR THE BILL OR THE OVERAGE IN MINUTES!!!) Or, call when you're at the gate... so why the heck can't you just be looking out the window, WITH YOUR PORCH LIGHT ON, and have your ADDRESS NUMBERS posted so they're EASY TO SEE AT NIGHT!!! I am so against this stupid device, too! This sounds like something right out of Ralph Nader's handbook... I have NEVER been in an accident while working (except for losing traction going 5MPH on ice at 2am - that couldn't be helped) and I've NEVER been in an at-fault accident, either! And, I'm a pizza delivery driver... prone to be the most dangerous type of driver on the road. (Ok, I'm really not a bad driver, I'm actually the safest driver I know in general, but especially as a delivery driver... I also get in trouble by my various employers for being "too slow" so you know I'm not speeding - your pizza is not more important than my life or the lives of others that I'm delivering around.)
Ok, passes my soap box to the chinese food delivery driver sitting next to me...