Ford has released a system called My Key, with a feature they call "Do Not Disturb" for people while driving. This is intended to help parents with the worry of having kids using their phone while driving. "Do Not Disturb" blocks all incoming voice and text messages until the feature is no longer in use. It does not block outgoing ones, however, intentionally for emergency uses.
The feature is hooked to the phone through Bluetooth, and will shut off whenever the car is stopped and the engine is no longer running.
Ford will test out this feature with the 2012 Ford Fiesta in Europe, and if all goes well, Ford hopes to make it a standard feature. Additionally, the My Key system will allow parents to limit the speed of the vehicle, the volume of the speakers, and even the seatbelt be fastened.
Ford is hoping this system will encourage younger drivers to concentrate on driving.
What do you think about the My Key system? Is it good for Ford to invest in a system like this? Compare this system to the Sprint app Drive First here that I blogged about on September 19th. Which one is better?
From what I can see from the two, I like Ford's "Do Not Disturb" feature better. It seems to overall give parents more control. Also, I'm assuming that with the Bluetooth capabilities it should run more efficiently, will be able to add specific phone numbers to the system, nullifying any questions about passengers having their phones disabled while riding in the car, and probably be able to disable the feature faster once the car is turned off.
Still, while I think Ford's feature is better, I think it will still need tweaked and fixed a bit. I'm anticipating they make a few changes before it is available in the States but I can't see it being a standard feature in their whole line of models.
Read the article from The Inquirer
Read the article from theguardian
It will be interesting to see how this system works out. Will it save lives or be an annoyance?
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of the system, but if this system is hooked to the phone through bluetooth, then what is to keep the person who is driving from simply turning the bluetooth on their phone off? Is there any other functions that pairing the phone with bluetooth to the car might have? Music streaming?
ReplyDeleteThat's a good question. I'm not really familiar with Bluetooth, but maybe they are hoping that people will just be okay with making outgoing calls? As for music streaming I did not see anything related to that.
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