U.S. Transportation secretary Ray LaHood said he will not issue a nationwide ban on using cell phones and hand-free devices while driving, as proposed recently by the National Transportation Safety Board. LaHood believes that hands-free calling is not a problem in the United States, and his stance certainly supports the auto and mobile industries. Ford, for example, equips several of its car models with Ford Sync hands-free technology. A ban on hands-free devices would likely prevent the company from selling ...

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) voted on Tuesday to recommend that all states ban the use of using cell phones while driving, whether for talking or texting. It is also recommending that states ban hands-free devices, which are typically used as a safety measure among those who do place phone calls while driving. “No call, no text, no update is worth a human life,” NTSB chairman Deborah Hersan said. “This is a difficult recommendation, but it’s the right recommendation and it’s...

A new research study published by the Governor’s Highway Safety Association (GHSA) suggests that cell phone use directly increases crash risk among U.S. drivers. The group studied 350 scientific papers that were published between 2000 and 2010 on highway safety. Distractions, which include cell phone use, are responsible for between 15% and 25% of all crashes, including minor fender benders all the way up to fatal accidents. The report also said that there is “no conclusive evidence on whether han...

Today Microsoft’s Larry Hyrb, also known as Major Nelson, announced that Microsoft has added Netflix support to the Xbox 360 Kinect accessory. Using Kinect, you’ll be able to browse your Netflix queue by waving your hands or speaking out loud, which means you won’t have to go searching for your Xbox 360 controller just to watch a movie. Controls include the ability browse, play, pause, fast forward and rewind, and you can perform any of those actions using your voice or gestures. Hyrb said t...

Winner of the best cell phone accessory at CTIA this past spring, the Blueant V1 headset has been officially launched. It is listed at Amazon for $119.99 and at MobileCity Online for $99.99, with an expected availability of Aug 29th. The innovative new Bluetooth headset features a unique voice user interface that allows you to speak commands to the headset, access a verbal help system and check on the headset status. No funky LEDs to decipher or fumbling around looking for buttons, just talk to your headset a...

The recently-released Aliph Jawbone 2 is definitely one of the best bluetooth headsets out right now in terms of functionality, but it’s also pricey. At $130 a clip, it probably comes in north of most other headsets you might be considering. For a limited time however, Aliph is running a promo that knocks $20 off the price of the headset for recent recipients of tickets resulting from Hands Free law violations. $110 is still a healthy sum to pay for a bluetooth headset but, well, it’s better than ...