Will Apple respond to the new California "Hands Free" Law with the iPhone?

solsun · June 25, 2008 12:53AM

There are already signs everywhere on the freeways..

Starting July 1st, 2008, it will become illegal to drive and use any phone that is not completely hands free.. This of course means that it will become illegal to operate and make any calls on an iPhone in the state of California while driving...

Anyone think that Apple plans to respond by offering hands free dialing as an update for iPhone owners.. Afterall, Cupertino, California is Apple's hometown and as a state probably has more iPhone owners than any other in the US...

surfrat · June 25, 2008 1:42AM

I sure hope so.

I've seen those signs all over the freeway as well. I mean, what's the point of having "hands free," if you're still using your hands to operate the phone?

admiralcrunch · June 25, 2008 10:26AM

My Blackberry has voice dialing but it basically just doesn't work.

nofeer · June 25, 2008 6:01PM

my moto v551 has voice dialing and works pretty well, best car kit so far for me is the blueant

would like to try jawbone

this is such a no-brainer why why why iphone won't have this. it to me is absolutely necessary for me to buy an iphone

period end.

tutumiles1 · June 26, 2008 1:00PM

it is a good law for California and a major miss on Apple's part to not have voice dialing as a feature of the phone it touts as more advanced. I own the iPhone but I miss voice dialing as a feature because it really does help. Also, the iPhone is very much specific touch oriented. I don't mean to constantly knock the iPhone as I do enjoy the experience of it but there are practical components that need attention. I am a loyal Apple guy but it would not be insulting to the Apple mantra to listen to consumers at least some of the time!

bbwi · June 26, 2008 1:19PM

I'm curious as to why everybody thinks this is Apple's fault? Maybe Apple is simply leaving it up to the customer as to who's voice recognition software will be the best when the new App store opens? Lets not be shortsighted by thinking that voice dialing is the only situation where voice recognition software would come in handy on the iPhone.

So, be patient, this is obviously a huge feature need (especially as other states follow California's lead) and easily added with a simple software upgrade or App store purchase. There is no built-in voice recognition in OS X so it leaves the door wide open for companies like MacSpeech and Dragon.

tenobell · June 26, 2008 1:32PM

California doesn't lead in hands free driving. New York/

New Jersey have had the law since 2003. There are three other states to pass the law before California.

There are many who believe people should not be on the phone at all while driving.

samab · June 26, 2008 2:28PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bbwi

I'm curious as to why everybody thinks this is Apple's fault? Maybe Apple is simply leaving it up to the customer as to who's voice recognition software will be the best when the new App store opens? Lets not be shortsighted by thinking that voice dialing is the only situation where voice recognition software would come in handy on the iPhone.

So, be patient, this is obviously a huge feature need (especially as other states follow California's lead) and easily added with a simple software upgrade or App store purchase. There is no built-in voice recognition in OS X so it leaves the door wide open for companies like MacSpeech and Dragon.

Having voice dialing on the iphone doesn't exclude the market for voice recognition software on App store.

If I follow your theory --- then Apple should kill the Google mapping app because they would want to foster the app market for turn by turn navigation.

tutumiles1 · June 26, 2008 6:01PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by samab

Having voice dialing on the iphone doesn't exclude the market for voice recognition software on App store.

If I follow your theory --- then Apple should kill the Google mapping app because they would want to foster the app market for turn by turn navigation.

Samab, I agree with your last point. While the App Store can be the answer for all things not done, it is simply a bad miss on Apples part. Voice dialing has been around for years now. Apples user interface is the best on the market right now but ultimately things will boil down to apps that the consumer needs. it is great that Apple has provided a great platform and it is interesting to see how long it will take other phone makers to come up with a better designed product than they current present. If Nokia designed a beautiful phone with a great interface, it would be a much closer competition.

bbwi · June 26, 2008 7:59PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by samab

Having voice dialing on the iphone doesn't exclude the market for voice recognition software on App store.

If I follow your theory --- then Apple should kill the Google mapping app because they would want to foster the app market for turn by turn navigation.

What? Your first remark reinforces my opinion. I said Apple could release a simple software upgrade or 3rd party App store purchase so solve the issue. Sounds exactly like what you just said.

How do you derive that theory from what I said? Apple has their own Calculator, does that mean they should ban others from making additional Calculators? I don't get your logic. There is a basic set of features on the iPhone and Apple turned to a couple trusted partners to develop a few of those features. That in no way implies that they need to kill those partnerships now to foster the App store.

samab · June 26, 2008 8:31PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bbwi

What? Your first remark reinforces my opinion. I said Apple could release a simple software upgrade or 3rd party App store purchase so solve the issue. Sounds exactly like what you just said.

How do you derive that theory from what I said? Apple has their own Calculator, does that mean they should ban others from making additional Calculators? I don't get your logic. There is a basic set of features on the iPhone and Apple turned to a couple trusted partners to develop a few of those features. That in no way implies that they need to kill those partnerships now to foster the App store.

If it is just a simple software upgrade --- Apple should have put it in at firmware 1.01. We are looking at firmware 2.0 --- and still no voice dialing.

When you see the iphone going from 1.0 to 1.01 to 1.02 to 1.1.1 to 1.1.2 to 1.1.3 to 1.1.4 to 2.0 --- then it's Apple's fault for not including it.

bbwi · June 26, 2008 10:08PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by samab

If it is just a simple software upgrade --- Apple should have put it in at firmware 1.01. We are looking at firmware 2.0 --- and still no voice dialing.

When you see the iphone going from 1.0 to 1.01 to 1.02 to 1.1.1 to 1.1.2 to 1.1.3 to 1.1.4 to 2.0 --- then it's Apple's fault for not including it.

FYI: Simple software upgrade does not mean simple development of an iPhone Operating System upgrade.

Simple software upgrade means the process to upgrade my iPhone is simple... just plug in, download, and upgrade. It does not mean the process of developing voice recognition software is simple. We've heard from two people in this posting that the companies that build their voice software is less than what they expected. So the development of voice recognition must be more difficult than we think. Be patient

davegee · June 26, 2008 11:14PM

Also don't forget that for voice dialing to work the iPhone would have to constantly be monitoring the microphone for sound and then process each sound it intercepts to determine if a voice dial command was issued... if you don't think a complex process such as that... if not done in a very very efficient manner, would be an enormous battery drain then you better think again.

I'm all for voice dialing and think it better dam well come sooner rather than later but i can also see valid reasons why Apple chose not to include it right out of the gate.

Dave

bbwi · June 27, 2008 10:03AM

One last post and then I promise I'll move on...

Voice recognition is different than hands-free. There are more and more cars that have built in bluetooth and I think some responsibility needs to be put on the auto manufacturers to continue to include hands free dialing on more cars.

samab · June 27, 2008 10:28AM

And voice dialing is different from voice recognition.

Voice dialing --- the computer only needs to know a few hundred words (the 10 digits and a bunch of proper names).

davegee · June 27, 2008 12:28PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by samab

And voice dialing is different from voice recognition.

Voice dialing --- the computer only needs to know a few hundred words (the 10 digits and a bunch of proper names).

Okay but the concept still remains the same...

1 - Mic has to be constantly monitored

2 - Audio has to be captured

3 - Audio has to be 'compared to' the 100 or so voice enabled names you setup.

4 - Match = dial the phone

5 - No match go to line 1

Dave

nofeer · June 27, 2008 7:28PM

voice dialing doesn't need the "mic" to be constantly monitoring....when you use a car kit, you press a button and this starts the sequence .....i don't know of any car kit that doesn't require the user to initiate the call in some way.

what we should be discussing are the best car kits and best headsets

i have a blueant, and a plantronics voyager.... wished the voyager had better noise cancellation i quess the jawbone is best but lets give people info they can use, hopefully provide some reviews and prices

i like the blueant because it's thin, easy to transfer has wonderful battery life

the plantronics headset also has great battery life but looking for replacement if i can find reasonable quality close to jawbone. samsclub has the plantronics 815 for $48

davegee · June 27, 2008 9:24PM

I guess I too this too literally?

Quote:

illegal to drive and use any phone that is not completely hands free

Believe it or not I've never used voice dial on any of my cell phones so I just assumed it was a feature that was always active when turned on... but I guess the points I listed above it wouldn't be too practical for it to be always active...

Dave

ipeon · June 27, 2008 10:08PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by solsun

Starting July 1st, 2008, it will become illegal to drive and use any phone that is not completely hands free.. This of course means that it will become illegal to operate and make any calls on an iPhone in the state of California while driving...

Holding a phone next to your ear while driving, that is the issue. I doubt very much you will get pulled over for dialing a number. Come on...

dfiler · June 28, 2008 12:26PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iPeon

Holding a phone next to your ear while driving, that is the issue. I doubt very much you will get pulled over for dialing a number. Come on...

All the human factors studies i've seen, indicate that the act of holding a conversation with someone (who is not in the vehicle) is the real problem, not the physical act of holding an object.

Meaning... hands-free is really a red herring. All the data shows that hands-free talking is nearly as dangerous as holding the handset to your head.

I'm not trying to advocate one way or the other, but I fully anticipate phone calls to eventually be prohibited completely while driving. The hands-free laws going into effect in the states and around the world are only the beginning. There is conclusive empirical data that shows talking on the phone to be roughly as impairing as driving while drunk. Calling while driving is just so damn convenient that people aren't wanting to pay attention to the data. Legislating a ban would be political suicide at the moment... but societal norms change. Within a couple decades, there will probably be just as big a negative stigma for phone calls while driving as there is for drunk driving.

With that said, i'm not looking forward to the ban. I'm not as obsessed with safety as perhaps most people are, and am comfortable with the current accident rate.

southerndoc · June 29, 2008 10:49AM

I've used a Bluetooth earpiece for so long that I feel uncomfortable driving and talking on my iPhone without my earpiece. I really do believe I can concentrate more on the road while talking through an earpiece, although I think there are studies that show otherwise.

I really miss voice dialing. I had it on my RAZR, and I'm hoping Apple includes it in a future iPhone update pretty soon.

Will Apple respond to the new California "Hands Free" Law with the iPhone?

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