City firm helping drivers meet ban

Via Metro

November 06, 2008 03:46

No handheld cellphones … No dialing, no texting, no handheld GPS, no checking e-mails on the Blackberry.

That, in a nutshell, will be the effect of a new communication device ban proposed by the Ontario government that is making its way through the Legislature.

The looming ban will mean a big change in the habits of drivers accustomed to keeping in touch while on the go. However, wireless options are available for many of those same functions and since the law will still permit “hands-free,” a huge business opportunity awaits firms that can provide the right technology.

And that has QNX Software of Ottawa smiling. QNX’s software is already found in over 50 per cent of all vehicles equipped with factory installed hands-free systems. That works out to more than seven million vehicles.

Andrew Poliak is director of Business Development at QNX, for the auto sector. I reached him in his home state of Washington, which also has a cellphone ban.

He says the Ontario move is good news and will help expand the market. One month after California’s cell ban went into effect, for example, sales in that state of Bluetooth phone kits jumped to four times the national average.

QNX designs the software that allows phones, iPods, Global Positioning Systems — almost anything — to work in a car and interact with the car’s audio system.

For a phone, that usually means voice-activated features, so you don’t even have to look at your device or punch numbers while driving.

Poliak says studies show poor-quality audio on a hands-free system increases driver distraction, so they have developed improvements in audio both incoming and outgoing. The next step is to use their software as a gateway for a variety of onboard electronic functions, from entertainment systems linked to the Internet using Bluetooth and WiFi in the car, to sensors that tell the driver if they’ve wandered out of their lane.

Another piece of technology that’s getting attention comes from Vancouver’s Aegis. Their software determines if your cellphone is moving above a certain speed and it then stops accepting calls until you stop. Emergency 9-1-1 calls and other calls that you designate — such as a parent trying to reach a child — will still get through, though other callers are advised that you’re driving and to leave a message. A final point to consider about driver distraction: R.A.C., a car organization in the United Kingdom with seven million members, says studies show that the radio and the CD player pose a bigger risk of diversion than cell phones.

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