Hasta La Gadget!

Automotive manufacturers have been pushing to get improved hands-free technology into automobiles all around the world. Handsfree technology allows drivers to do things such as make phone calls without actually having to touch their mobile phone. Some vehicles will even read text messages out loud to the driver and will allow the driver to send text messages using their voice.

Some lawmakers and automotive manufacturers believe this hands-free technology is safer. However, a new study published by the Texas Transportation Institute now claims that some hands-free technology is just as dangerous as manual options while driving. Specifically, the study claims that it’s just as unsafe to send text messages using a voice to text service as it is to type the text manually while driving.

The study looked at drivers aged 16 to 60 that were tested on a closed course. There were 43 licensed drivers and they all used the same vehicle, a 2009 Ford Explorer. During the test for the study, each of the drivers drove four times for about 10 minutes at 30mph with one session performed while not texting at all, one performed while texting manually, one while texting using voice to text app on the iPhone, and another while texting using an Android smartphone and a voice to text app.

The study found that driver response times were slower no matter what text method was used than when not texting at all. The study claims the drivers took approximately twice as long to react to a change in the situation ahead when they were texting using either method than when they were driving and not texting all. Researchers involved with study also found that while performance is roughly the same with both text methods, manual texting actually required less time than using voice to text.

“That is not surprising at all,” says John Ulczycki, vice president of the National Safety Council. “We have believed that for some time, that voice-activated texting is not any safer. There are two reasons for that. First, the technology is not yet perfected. Messages often come out garbled, which can take even more time. And second, it’s really the same kind of mental concentration that’s involved here. They’re still taking their mental concentration off the road.”

[via USA Today]

Stupid is as stupid does: handsfree texting still dangerous is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

We’re here at Facebook’s phone event, where they just announced Facebook Home, a new home screen of sorts built for Android devices. The company is going a little deeper in depth on some of the new features, one of which is a new messaging system called Chat Heads, which essentially allows you to message your Facebook friends in a new way.

Facebook Chat Heads works in any app that you’re in, so if someone messages you while you’re playing around in another app, a “chat head” will pop up in the corner, letting you know that you received a message from this friend of yours. From there you can tap on the head to reply to the message.

Facebook addresses the problems with messaging on smartphones today, including the fact messaging is treated like “just another app.” This means that you’re switching between apps, which can become really annoying. Facebook notes that you should be talking to people, not apps.

You can also move the picture around to different parts of the screen, and when you’re done with the conversation, you can toss it off the screen to get it out of your way. It looks pretty slick, and really easy to use at that.

Facebook announces Chat Heads messaging service is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

State governments around the US have been cracking down on mobile phone use during the past couple of years. Some states even make it illegal to use your mobile phone at all while driving, while some states will allow you to talk, but not text. However, it turns out that 1 in 3 US drivers still text when behind the wheel.

According to a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, American motorists are far more likely to use their mobile phones while driving than European motorists. The study took a look at two driving behaviors: talking on the phone while driving and reading or sending text messages while driving among motorists between the ages of 18 and 64.

The study found that 69% of US drivers talked on their mobile phone while driving compared to 21% in the United Kingdom. Furthermore, 31% of motorists in the US said that they read or text on their mobile phones while driving, compared to just 15% of drivers in Spain. The study did not offer a reason as to why the US had higher mobile phone usage rates than Europe.

Age-wise, there were some differences in phone usage. Younger drivers were more likely to use their mobile phone while driving, compared to older folks aged 55 to 64. Of course, this isn’t too surprising, since the younger generation is more apt to use mobile devices than older people. While older folks may have their own smartphone, many of them don’t use it as religiously as younger users.

1 in 3 Americans still text and drive is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Texting while driving is obviously really dangerous, and many states have already banned the use of mobile phones altogether while driving, with more and more states moving closer to that goal. However, with voice controls in smartphones becoming more prevalent, drivers are resorting to hands-free texting in the car, but recent studies show that hands-free texting is just as dangerous as hands-on texting.

California just passed a law that states that drivers are allowed to use mobile phones while driving, as long as its all done by voice. However, several groups, such as the National Safety Council for California, are begging the state to rethink the new law, saying that voice-texting while driving is still unsafe, and may be even just as dangerous as regular texting while in the car.

Researchers and psychologists have demonstrated in the past that people suffer significant impairment when they use a mobile phone while driving, and a study conducted by David Strayer of the University of Utah says that participants talking on a mobile phone had slower reaction times and were involved in more simulated accidents than when they weren’t on their phones — hands-free or not.

The participants’ cognitive impairment levels were around the same as those of participants who got in the simulator after drinking enough alcohol to register a 0.08% blood-alcohol content, which would be considered illegal in all 50 states. While hands-on texting certainly seems more dangerous than hands-free texting, studies have shown that sending a simple voice text led drivers to take their eyes off the road more often than usual, and they reported a higher mental demand during the experiment.

While you may be quick to retort that voice texting and chatting with people sitting in the passenger seat are the same thing, Strayer says that each of the two activities use different parts of the brain. Strayer’s research has shown that the mobile phone distractions in the car isn’t just physical, but also cognitive, meaning that drivers who use mobile phones “create weak memories of objects in the driving environment, suggesting a great deal of attention is drawn away from the road.”

[via The Atlantic Cities]

Hands-free texting while driving is still dangerous, according to studies is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Law enforcement representatives from both the state and local level have submitted a proposal to the US Congress that would require mobile carriers in the US to keep SMS logs for all users for at least two years, just in case they’re eventually needed for future criminal investigations. The law enforcement reps say that the lack of a current requirement “can hinder law enforcement investigations.”

Lawmakers are currently considering amending the 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy Act in order to make it more relevant in today’s internet era, and the Major Cities Chiefs Police Association and other enforcement groups want to have a say during the amendment. They argue that text messaging conversations often contain evidence that can be vital to investigations, and current policies among US cellular providers are claimed to be inadequate.

Currently, most carriers store rudimentary data for text messages from the past few months, but the actual content of the text messages are usually only held onto for a few days. According to a Justice Department memo from last year, Verizon stores detailed SMS logs for between three and five days, while AT&T and T-Mobile keep no such records whatsoever. Carriers might have changed their policies since then, but regardless, standardizing a new logging practice for a specific amount of time would give law enforcement agencies confidence that the logs are there if they need them.

Obviously, this will no doubt spark privacy concerns, and the privacy advocates will be out in full force. While your text messages will most likely not be bothered with as long as you’re a good boy or girl, knowing that carriers and law enforcement have access to your detailed SMS logs from the past two years certainly isn’t assuring.

[via CNET]

Police tell Congress they want carriers keeping SMS logs for two years is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.