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  • Make your iPhone hands-free for less than the price of a ticket

    by 
    David Winograd
    David Winograd
    02.10.2010

    In most states it's illegal to drive while holding an iPhone to your ear, with the average price of a ticket coming in at at least $100. Personally, I'm lucky since my Lexus 400h, like many cars, allows me to make and take calls through my car stereo. My interaction is limited to receiving calls by pressing a green button, and then pressing with a red hang up button on the steering wheel to end the call. Now Parrot has provided that same functionality to any car for less than the price of a ticket, namely US$99.99. The Parrot Minikit Slim is an ingenious device that clips onto your sun visor. After Bluetooth pairing to your iPhone, installation is complete. It automatically downloads your iPhone contact list and then voice-enables that list. Push the green button and tell it who to call, and it dials the number for you. If there are two numbers associated to your contact, you'll be prompted for either 'home' or 'mobile', similar to the Voice Command function on the iPhone. The Minikit Slim is self-contained including a microphone and speaker. When your call is done, you simply push the red button and disconnect the call. The idea is simple, but the functionality is incredibly useful since you can move the Minikit Slim to any car. Outside of its obvious use as a hands-free kit, I can see it being quite valuable at the intersection of road warriors and rental cars. If your iPhone is synced with a Windows machine, it will download the address book, so it's fully cross-platform. The Minikit Slim won't weigh you down, either -- it weighs only about three ounces.