alifornia recently passed a law that fines drivers talking on their cell phones without a hands-free device, and was criticized for not including a text messaging ban in the bill. As it turns out, when the first bill was initially submitted, lawmakers had purposely omitted the text messaging ban to speed things up, according to the Mercury News, and obviously they succeeded.
This time around, lawmakers are tackling the texting issue by passing a law that will hopefully keep motorists from sending, writing, and reading text messages while driving on California’s roads. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the bill into law this week, and drivers can expect a statewide texting while driving ban starting January 1, 2009.
Like the hands-free law, the texting ban will carry a $20 fine for the first infraction, and a $50 fine for any subsequent violations plus any additional court fees. Sadly, those fines are too low, and chances are drivers will disregard the ban because of it. The LA Times points out that a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol says over 19,753 citations have been issued to chatty drivers after the law took effect in July, and that number doesn’t even include citations given by local police departments.
Drivers can still talk on their cell phones while driving if they use a headset device. Unfortunately, study after study shows that talking on the phone,with or without a hands-free device, is just as dangerous as driving drunk!
A recent online survey conducted by research firm Harris Interactive reveals that it is necessary to have the latest cell phone in their hands. Out of 2000 teens who participated in the survey 45% thinks that a cell phone is the ” key to social life ” for them, while 37% considers their phones as an “indicator of personal style” and the rest chose to answer that it’s “how I stay connected”.
Teens now prefer Clothes and Gadgets to Jewelery and Shoes in terms of determining their Social Status.
Cy-Fi is the world’s first Hi Fi wireless sports audio speaker especially for those who loves biking, boating, camping or any other activity. Available in two models that support almost any music-carrying device: one is the ultimate iPod accessory using a small dongle, and the other supports Bluetooth enabled cell phones, PDAs and MP3 players.
This small gadget connects wirelessly to all Bluetooth-enabled device or iPod so you can listen to your favourite tunes anytime. The portability, sleek design and it can attaches itself to almost anything like backpack, bike’s handlebars or sun visor gives this cool gadget a plus point. To control the playlist of songs you have four buttons which can operate on volume levels and skip songs. You can even take calls if you have the Bluetooth version and connected the speakers wirelessly to the phone. Cy-Fi has a battery life of six hours and can transmit signals within 30 feet.
With variation of 3 colors: black, red, and silver, Cy-Fi will hit stores at the end of this month and will be retailed for near about $200.
Those who are not looking for an annual-term contract just to use 3G enabled phone annual would be more than happy to check out Virgin Mobile’s Shuttle handset. Yes, Virgin Mobile launched their first 3G enabled handset that runs on Sprint’s EV-DO network. Sounds good to you? Well, till now nobody could expect 3G from a pre-paid phone? More on the advantageous side of this 3G offer, Virgin Mobile has added some handful of applications so that users can enjoy. These appilications are YouTube, MySpace, and Buddy Beacon. The black and red slider phone model has a 2-inch screen, stereo Bluetooth, 1.3 megapixel camera, extra memory card slot, video capture/playback and media player.
One can buy monthly data plans for $5 (20MB) and $10 (50MB). For usersit is not required to sign any service contract. Users can buy pay-as-you-go plans ranged between $5-$20. But the price of the phone is sure to go up to $80 once it goes out for sale on September 28th at all Best Buy stores.
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