https://finance.yahoo.com/news/apples...133807684.html

Well, sort of... the patent is to lock out a cell phone while the car is moving... but it requires both an iphone and some device added to the car itself.

Seems to me that smart phones are smart enough to know they are moving, this should not really require something to be added to the car.

Oh well, at least I can see application to keep new driving teens from being distracted if parents install such a device. Of course there are so many "ifs" in that statement...

And a motorist takes things into his own hands...

https://www.yahoo.com/tech/a-florida...369099229.html

Apparently this worked well as he was finally discovered when a local cell phone provider was troubleshooting outages along the drivers commute route and police approached his vehicle only to lose communication with their base. The driver had been using the jammer for a couple of years... no telling if this improved his commute or not. Somehow I imagine frustrated cell phone users staring at their non-functioning cell phones vice the road. No doubt this did stop texting.

The FCC frowns on such action and was able to trace the jammer signal to the driver's vehicle... and sent the police. Fines for such action can be quite heavy.

Hmmm.......something to looking into.

Now if they can just make a device that I can buy that will slow cars down to the speed limit or less, when they are near me while I'm on my bicycle.

I believe the extra equipment for the car is so the phone knows it is being used in the driver's seat so passengers can continue to use their devices.

That would be tough to impliment.

Surprised they got a patent on it. All a patent attorney needs to do is search bike forums and he'll certainly find the idea likely predated Apple's invention.

It's conception+ reduction to practice. Ideas are great, but you need more than an idea to get a patent.

Here is a quote from Wiki about iBeacons.


"An iOS device receiving an iBeacon transmission can approximate the distance from the iBeacon. The distance (between transmitting iBeacon and receiving device) is categorised into 3 distinct ranges:


Immediate: Within a few centimetres
Near: Within a couple of metres
Far: Greater than 10 metres away"

Seems like this this technology could be put to use easily since they are already using and improving it.

Not for a parent wanting to ensure that their new driver is not always texting and driving. It is a darn good idea at that level. I think I'd rip out the car stereo too.

You'd need triangulation. I'm familiar with beacons and they won't prevent someone from just holding the phone further away. Not saying it's impossible, just difficult.

No. Plenty of patents have been issued for ideas that have not been reduced to practice. If the particular implementation is novel, then it's that that is protected. That's most often the case anyway, and even then it does not have had to been built or demonstrated.