If your Blackberry could talk it would probably tell you to keep your eyes on the road. Sure you’ve customized your ‘berry with a theme, some handy apps and a desktop image of your girlfriend holding her cat Fluffy. But now your Blackberry can have a voice thanks a new add-on device called iLane.
We all get the urge to check our inbox while driving. Mostly we fight it or just leave our ‘berry out of reach while we drive. New laws hitting the books everywhere will make it a costly mistake to make calls on any mobile-phone while driving.
But some of you may decide to commit the heinous act of tapping keys on your Blackberry as you coast through a traffic signal anyway. Suddenly the light turns red and that message from your girlfriend that started with Dear John explains she’s running off with the personal trainer. The message ends asking if you’ll you please feed Fluffy while she flies away to Bermuda.
You react naturally by wrapping your sensibly leased Nissan around the rear bumper of an Escalade. But before you can start fumbling for insurance papers you still have to set a reminder in your calendar to pick up a box of 9-Lives on the way home.
IMS is a company out of Waterloo, Ontario that has a way to avoid that scenario. It’s called iLane, a device that lets you talk to your Blackberry while you drive. You can perform basic functions that normally require the keypad like checking messages or your calendar. iLane’s voice-only interface will read your emails to you and even lets you reply.
You’re done with keypads while driving. Now you can reply to your ex-girlfriend’s message hands free. Go ahead and bid her have fun in Bermuda and assure her that her best friend Susan will be over regularly to help take care of Fluffy.
Blackberry developer RIM, the other Waterloo-based three letter acronym has been working with IMS on iLane’s development. When the product launches on Monday it’ll be a Blackberry OS exclusive. But IMS plans to bring iLane over to other mobile operating systems soon including Symbian and Windows Mobile.
One of the coolest features is streaming content from the web a feature IMS plans to expand tremendously in coming months. Content is currently streamed from Associated Press and Weather Network and allows you to navigate only the news you want, when you want it. All the while you can keep your eyes on the road and your hands upon the wheel – just as Jim Morrison recommends.
Who knows – maybe someday soon you’ll get BBGeeks tech tips over iLane.
For more info on iLane visit www.iLane.com
1 comment… read it below or add one
If you want to just check the email without another device to lug around, the service from MailSpeaking.com may be an option. It lets you listen to emails while driving using text to speech.