Two car safety apps

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semigeek

1606 posts

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#93957 2-Dec-2011 08:08

As I am always on the lookout for interesting apps, I have just recently stumbled across two apps which can help towards better driving.
The first you may have heard of is Text n Drive Safely. This app will read aloud incoming texts and emails (data plan needed) and let you respond and send by voice commands. A couple of times I tried it, it had problems "listening" to me, and occasionally got a word or two wrong. This may be due to our kiwi accent. You can get it from the market by going here and if you tweet as well as promote it on Facebook, you can get the Pro version for free.

The other app which I have yet to try is iOnRoad Augmented Driving. This uses your devices camera and GPS, to monitor the traffic ahead of you and warn you if you are following too close and potential crashes in the making. iOnRoad warns you with visual and audio alerts. I will be trialling this today, but won't be following close, just so I can see how accurate it is. :) You can download it here.

timmmay

20388 posts

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#552506 2-Dec-2011 08:55

I've read that it's not the holding the phone that makes texting or calling while driving unsafe, it's that you're not concentrating on driving. If you need to text or call someone, pull over.

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oxnsox

1923 posts

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#552508 2-Dec-2011 08:59

semigeek:
The other app which I have yet to try is iOnRoad Augmented Driving. This uses your devices camera and GPS, to monitor the traffic ahead of you and warn you if you are following too close and potential crashes in the making. iOnRoad warns you with visual and audio alerts. I will be trialling this today, but won't be following close, just so I can see how accurate it is. :) You can download it here.

Dangerous app I should think.
You as the driver are responsible for driving safely... not your smartphone.
And yes YOU may be ok with that, but somewhere down the line there will be someone who has a ding 'but the phone didn't tell me it was going to happen'.

kiwitrc

4123 posts

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#552509 2-Dec-2011 09:01

I use this for reading texts out, it also mutes the music player and (I have a pre release version from the dev) responds to the sender that I am driving and will reply later.

You can talk texts as well but I never bother.

Oh and its tiny as far as apps go.

itxtme

2102 posts

Uber Geek

#552533 2-Dec-2011 10:45

oxnsox:
semigeek:
The other app which I have yet to try is iOnRoad Augmented Driving. This uses your devices camera and GPS, to monitor the traffic ahead of you and warn you if you are following too close and potential crashes in the making. iOnRoad warns you with visual and audio alerts. I will be trialling this today, but won't be following close, just so I can see how accurate it is. :) You can download it here.

Dangerous app I should think.
You as the driver are responsible for driving safely... not your smartphone.
And yes YOU may be ok with that, but somewhere down the line there will be someone who has a ding 'but the phone didn't tell me it was going to happen'.

I disagree, using technology to educate drivers is not a bad idea. Anybody who uses their cell phone app as a defense against prosecution will quickly find the law is not on their side. If this works as intended it could in fact educate drivers as to what is a safe following distance. People get this concept wrong ALL the time, also the app doesnt suggest driving with your eyes closed, it is an extra safety measure.

Printertech

81 posts

Master Geek

#552646 2-Dec-2011 14:20

Hmm The market place gave me the message On road is not compatible with LG P500.

oxnsox

1923 posts

Uber Geek

#552705 2-Dec-2011 16:17

itxtme:
oxnsox:
semigeek:
The other app which I have yet to try is iOnRoad Augmented Driving. This uses your devices camera and GPS, to monitor the traffic ahead of you and warn you if you are following too close and potential crashes in the making. iOnRoad warns you with visual and audio alerts. I will be trialling this today, but won't be following close, just so I can see how accurate it is. :) You can download it here.

Dangerous app I should think.
You as the driver are responsible for driving safely... not your smartphone.
And yes YOU may be ok with that, but somewhere down the line there will be someone who has a ding 'but the phone didn't tell me it was going to happen'.

I disagree, using technology to educate drivers is not a bad idea. Anybody who uses their cell phone app as a defense against prosecution will quickly find the law is not on their side. If this works as intended it could in fact educate drivers as to what is a safe following distance. People get this concept wrong ALL the time, also the app doesnt suggest driving with your eyes closed, it is an extra safety measure.

You make a good case but it doesn't convince me. (with regards to a phone app)
My counter claim would be thus:
With the proliferation of in-car Navigation systems there is an increase in people relying on the instructions from these devices to get them over even simple A-B routes that they travel regularly.

I've noticed folk who use these for local routing as less inclined to be aware of where they actually are and how they got there. The whole experience of driving has been dumbed down to 'take-the-3rd-exit' and devolution of responsibility to a device.

Using car-nav to get you around an unfamiliar town is one thing (I've done this myself in a number of countries), but for daily use in your local environment it's further removing you from the driving process. An app that 'advises' you you're following too closely does not relieve you of the situational awareness you need as the vehicle pilot. And despite the law agreeing with us both, it won't stop it happening.

Technofreak

6515 posts

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#552872 2-Dec-2011 22:06

Is there anyone else who thinks like I do that many apps are a solution running around looking for a problem to solve? I'm talking about some, not all, apps for any of the major OS's out there.

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semigeek

1606 posts

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#552883 2-Dec-2011 22:28

Printertech: Hmm The market place gave me the message On road is not compatible with LG P500.

You aren't missing much, it didn't work anyway and then it caused the battery to get hot (this was mentioned in the Market) Had air con on, just to keep the phone cool -SGS.

nakedmolerat

4625 posts

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#552887 2-Dec-2011 22:39

semigeek: The other app which I have yet to try is iOnRoad Augmented Driving. This uses your devices camera and GPS, to monitor the traffic ahead of you and warn you if you are following too close and potential crashes in the making. iOnRoad warns you with visual and audio alerts. I will be trialling this today, but won't be following close, just so I can see how accurate it is. :) You can download it here.

this is cool! i wanted something that can record too (let say last 10 mins of driving before stopping) << have you tried it? is this possible?

semigeek

1606 posts

Uber Geek

#552890 2-Dec-2011 22:45

nakedmolerat:
semigeek: The other app which I have yet to try is iOnRoad Augmented Driving. This uses your devices camera and GPS, to monitor the traffic ahead of you and warn you if you are following too close and potential crashes in the making. iOnRoad warns you with visual and audio alerts. I will be trialling this today, but won't be following close, just so I can see how accurate it is. :) You can download it here.

this is cool! i wanted something that can record too (let say last 10 mins of driving before stopping) << have you tried it? is this possible?

The software can take still snapshots, but I had no luck whatsoever getting it to work for following distances. Ended up uninstalling it

semigeek

1606 posts

Uber Geek

#553010 3-Dec-2011 10:54

nakedmolerat:
semigeek: The other app which I have yet to try is iOnRoad Augmented Driving. This uses your devices camera and GPS, to monitor the traffic ahead of you and warn you if you are following too close and potential crashes in the making. iOnRoad warns you with visual and audio alerts. I will be trialling this today, but won't be following close, just so I can see how accurate it is. :) You can download it here.

this is cool! i wanted something that can record too (let say last 10 mins of driving before stopping) << have you tried it? is this possible?

You may want to try DailyRoads Voyager

dontpanic42

1574 posts

Uber Geek

#553108 3-Dec-2011 15:20

Printertech: Hmm The market place gave me the message On road is not compatible with LG P500.

http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=97&topicid=93979

mxpress

376 posts

Ultimate Geek

#553151 3-Dec-2011 17:28

semigeek: As I am always on the lookout for interesting apps, I have just recently stumbled across two apps which can help towards better driving.
The first you may have heard of is Text n Drive Safely. This app will read aloud incoming texts and emails (data plan needed) and let you respond and send by voice commands. A couple of times I tried it, it had problems "listening" to me, and occasionally got a word or two wrong. This may be due to our kiwi accent. You can get it from the market by going here and if you tweet as well as promote it on Facebook, you can get the Pro version for free.

The other app which I have yet to try is iOnRoad Augmented Driving. This uses your devices camera and GPS, to monitor the traffic ahead of you and warn you if you are following too close and potential crashes in the making. iOnRoad warns you with visual and audio alerts. I will be trialling this today, but won't be following close, just so I can see how accurate it is. :) You can download it here.

Sounds great to me. I downloading it now. I thank you very much.

mxpress

376 posts

Ultimate Geek

#553155 3-Dec-2011 17:37

dontpanic42:
Printertech: Hmm The market place gave me the message On road is not compatible with LG P500.

http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=97&topicid=93979

Seems to be okay on Samsung Galaxy S1

mxpress

Ambrose_1

252 posts

Ultimate Geek

#553175 3-Dec-2011 18:15

I remember seeing a while ago, i think it was something you could program into tasker, the ability for it to automatically check via gps if your driving when you get a message for it to reply back saying something along the lines of "I am currently driving at the moment at X [or] at X mp/h) I will reply when I get to my destination" I was going to use it, but wasn't smart enough to get it to use KP/H instead, so just gave up.