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Watch TV On Your Satnav
Barence writes "Satnav firm Mio is launching a device with an integrated TV tuner. The Mio Spirit range includes a digital television tuner that is intended to be used 'during breaks in the journey or at their final destination.' However, safety campaigners fear there's little to stop the television being used at the wheel. When the system is first turned on a warning message is displayed, telling the user not to watch television while driving. If this is ignored, a secondary warning message kicks in if the GPS chip detects the vehicle is moving at more than 5mph. But that's it!"
I always thought that warning messages were more likely to get you killed in the 0.05s you spend pressing "ok" when you could have done the one thing you wanted to do.
There is more to science than physics!
www.iomalfunction.blogspot.com
Even the current GPS units/DVD players can easily be defeated. In most cases, all you need to do is ground one of the pins in the connector, and it always thinks you are parked. My brother has been playing Family Guy DVDs in his in-dash unit for years. The SAME Family Guy DVD.
Brett
I will never watch TV while driving. I swear it.
Now give me that Satnav and please desactivate those warnings. I swear they are not needed.
--- Bouh !!! ---
Similar devices are all over the place in South Korea. There isn't much scarier than weaving through traffic while your cab driver's watching the big game.
But should it really be up to the device to monitor this? Can't I use my navigator to let the kids watch TV in the back seat if I don't need it for navigating?
A nav system integrated into the front console would be another story though...
.: Max Romantschuk
Life is like Unix and you are the superuser. With that comes the power to 'rm -rf' the system.. intentionally or not.
--iamnotayam
Get shitty drivers and give them mobile phones to talk on so they become even shittier drivers. Now get those bastards to watch TV while talking and texting on their mobile phones and we'll have the shittiest drivers on the road. Hopefully, these bastards will kill themselves without killing others, making the road safer for everyone else.
Oh well, back to reality.
Because if only we could prevent this one particular stupid thing people can do while driving we will eliminate all driving-related injuries and deaths.
Seriously, there is an endless supply of stupid, distracting things people can do while driving, with out without GPS, a cell phone, TV, children, or any of the other things they might have in their car. If someone is stupid enough to be distracted by TV while they're driving they'll likely be able to find something similarly stupid to do even if you ban every bit of technology you can name from the dashboard. Like DRM, the only thing you'll accomplish by adding silly technologically restrictions like this is annoyance for people who have legitimate uses.
I never watch TV while driving ... however, I do frequently shower and shave while driving.
TV should not work while the satnav moves faster than, say, 5 km/h!`
Or, if you switch TV on, it must stay still otherwise it will turn off.
It's simple, but will never be implemented!
Maybe Computers will never be as intelligent as Humans.
For sure they won't ever become so stupid. [VR-1988]
I'd say you've got about two minutes.
The TV/Nav units in Japan (and other parts of Asia) have no such restriction and it's only a problem for lazy stupid Americans.*
*Disclaimer: JaxTJ is an American that is motivated by laziness and sometimes does stupid things.
Brian: "Look at all these Hummers. What kind of jerk would drive one of these?
Hummer Jerk: "Dude, this car kicks ass. And I can watch Madagaskar while I'm drivin'!" (looks to onboard tv)
Lion: "What kind of music do you like, Gloria?"
Hippo: "Hippo-Hop! Yeah baby!" (music kicks in)
Hummer Jerk: "Hahaha, those animals are so fucking funny, they wanna make me merge without looking! YEAH! RUMSFELD!"
http://s94.photobucket.com/albums/l89/blackh3/?action=view¤t=fg-hummer.flv
safety campaigners fear there's little to stop the television being used at the wheel
Silly safety campaigners... don't they know we're too busy texting on our mobile phones while driving to watch TV?
Lurking at the bottom of the gravity well, getting old
When the system is first turned on a warning message is displayed, telling the user not to watch television while driving. If this is ignored, a secondary warning message kicks in if the GPS chip detects the vehicle is moving at more than 5mph. But that's it!"
I thought the whole point of "in car entertainment systems" was for the passengers, hence why you have displays in the back of the front seats and so on. For the kids to watch DVDs during long drives or whatever. To me that sounds much more useful than a system that only plays when stationary, because it's only occasionally that one sits in a stationary car for the duration of a TV episode.
Plenty of systems also provide a screen for the front seat passenger.
Playing videos while the car is in motion is a required feature for entertaining the kids during long drives. That's why there's nothing stopping videos playing while the vehicle is in motion.
Granted, there's a risk that by having the system in the driver's field of view they could become distracted by it, but the summary acts like there's no possible explanation for this feature, which I don't think is true.
"Goodness me, how unlike the FBI to abuse the trust of the American public." -- The Onion
Is possible in my brothers brand new 2009 ( some asian car model). [Maybe If I remember I will find out and post it later.] It doesn't matter, I don't know the brand of the navigation system as well. What is important is that he can watch DVD's while driving. The only safety feature is that the parking brake has to be engagded, but only one click and he can watch DVD's while driving. That is nothing. He could drving across europe without problems with the hand brake engaged to the first ratchet.
quis custodiet ipsos custodes
Japanese SatNav system makers are required to install electronics that can prevent viewing while driving, and car manufacturers who install SatNav systems for their customers as part of the purchase options are required to make use of this facility. However if the SatNav is fitted later by a third-party the rule is not enforceable. And even when it is fitted as an option at purchase, the protections can be overridden by some simple rewiring (the hardest part is getting behind the dashboard to access the cabling harness.)
It is very unnerving when driving along at night to see the flickering light of the TV in the car in front of me which is carrying nobody but the driver. I usually switch lanes or overtake to get away from them. I've not seen anyone pulled over by the cops for the offence either (and it is an offense.)
More distractions for drivers will eventually mean more cyclists being killed on the road. Looking on the bright side, this could accelerate the eventual transition towards having computers assume control of vehicles on the streets.
It is amazing how many drivers here in Japan (specifically near Toyota City, but I assume elsewhere in this country) are watching TV while driving. Add in texting on a cell phone, not wearing seat belts and things get more dangerous.
If I have nothing to hide, don't search me
Plus they'll probably[1] be more distracting in combination than the sum of their individual effects.
[1] no studies that I'm aware of
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
Please forward to the I-can't-see-what-could-go-possibly-wrong dept. Many Thanks in advance.
I was just thinking that. What about my passengers? Why can't they watch TV while I drive? It's like saying having a bar in your car is illegal because you might drink. I don't have to. But I might want to offer the boozeheads I transport something to shut up and be drunk.
I dunno what's more a distraction, TV in the car or bored kids. From my experience, I'd say the latter.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
... I don't want to be on the same road that those that need it are on.
Seriously.
If you need to be told to not watch TV while driving, GO BE A VEGETABLE AT HOME BEFORE YOU TURN ME IN TO ONE.
Now get off my road, I have driving to do.
wreckless driving, and it shouldn't be tolerated. Shouldn't anyone watching TV while driving lose their license?
The reason people do things like watch television or tweet or text while behind the wheel is because they aren't afraid. They don't believe anything can happen to them. The punishment for this kind of thing should be severe. After all, they put all on the road at risk with this behavior. If the punishment actually reflected the crime then more might become cautious. I think reckless endangerment would be a good charge. A year or two in prison for subjecting their fellow motorists to the risk of loosing life and limb seems appropriate.
I personally detest every bit of kit that assumes I'm some sort of moron who obviously needs to be told everything.
We have microwaves that bleep for 5 minutes just on the off chance that someone doesn't realise that microwaving means hot food, I have a dishwasher doing the same and I have come across plenty kit that keeps beeping until it gets attention, like a small child. In that same vein I consider UIs that time out so you have to do everything in a certain amount of time - the whole point of a machine is that it's not supposed to be impatient.
The main problem I see with this is that end users are less and less required to use their brain. The function "common sense" is by now all but atrophied..
I guess the counter will be class action against all those suppliers for damaging common sense, as that has wider ramifications than just the bit of kit they make..
Insert
The Japanese models turn the TV off altogether when the car starts moving but you can slip the dealer a bit of cash and he'll turn that "feature" off for you.
Presumably all the people who find this acceptable would have no problem if the surgeon putting them back together after they crash watches TV whilst doing the surgery.
"... safety campaigners fear there's little to stop the television being used at the wheel."
When the original version of The Andromeda Strain aired on TV circa 1971, I packed a 12" B&W Zenith portable with a 12 V DC car cigarette lighter adapter into a friend's car and we set out watching it. He made it 2 blocks before hitting a curb. I tried and made it 1 block before doing the same. We then parked and watched the rest.
So they're right to be alarmed. They're just several decades late. But then, we knew it was stupid to try it. I suspect far more people these days wouldn't realize that unless the TV told them, and then many would still ignore it. I'd wish for natural selection to take its course with them, except it might do so head on with someone not deserving of the same fate.
"I may be synthetic, but I'm not stupid." -- Bishop 341-B
and begins muttering rosaries, as the unit detects I'm hitting 90 mph.
"Speaking the Truth in times of universal deceit is a revolutionary act." -- George Orwell
How is this news? Satnavs in cars have been able to show television for years now (including restrictions like "not showing TV while car is moving").
Here in Asia, we've had cars with integrated satnav/tv/dvd for the better part of this decade. But the TV and DVD on the front screen won't operate unless the car is in park. This is of course easily defeated, and no more silly than any other 3rd party ICE system you install in your car.
A lot of these "safety features" are just a nuisance...
Many satnavs wont let you adjust the route if you're moving, but what if a passenger in the vehicle is trying the adjust the route on behalf of the driver? Similarly with TV, what if passengers want to watch it?
Stupid drivers will kill themselves regardless, if they can't watch tv on this as they drive they will just take their own portable set, or portable dvd player, or use a phone, or whatever else they're gonna do which is dangerous. All these "safety features" do is inconvenience the legitimate users.
http://spamdecoy.net - free throwaway anonymous email - avoid spam!
A road I often travel down used to have no speed limit, then it was 40mph, then 30mph and soon it will be 20mph. I have no doubt that the speed limit will eventually be a rigidly enforced 5mph and I can happily watch tv to while away the many hours on the road.
They whose government reduces their essential liberties for temporary security, receive neither liberty nor security.
tv-tuner in the satnav is nothing new? Audi's had it since 2000 or even earlier .. nothing to see here.
already got that TV stuff on my 5 year old Pioneer SatNav, so nothing new under the sun...
Depending on where you drive, it can be illegal to have an open
alcohol container on the front seat, or even in the car, period.
Same reasoning, I guess.
No good deed goes unpunished...
Natural selection is put to test. Creationists may be suprised by de results...
Ok, then it's just as braindead. Just because another law forbids something similar doesn't mean that it should be done similar, too. "X is illegal so Y should be illegal too" is one way to view it. The other way is "Y is legal, so why isn't X?"
It becomes more and more common these days that the latter question is actually the more sensible one.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
What about passengers? Just because the car is moving means the passengers aren't allowed to watch TV? Now if they use seat sensors to determine if someone else is in the car first, I would find that as a suitable compromise. However, I'd rather see a suspended license law if caught driving recklessly while the TV is on or something. Not just a ticket, but suspend their license. Most people would think twice if1 strike and they're out.
-SaNo
I think TV would be fine.
Wow, I should not post when knackered.
Yes, there will always be an exception to the rule, but how far do we go to attempt to catch all? There's no feasable method unless you start forcing people, and I guess this is where you have to draw the line if you want free will or not.
I would suggest that no safety concern justifies the implementation of *ineffectual* safety requirements. The ubiquity of portable television devices and personal media players (heck, my *phone* is a personal media player) insure that anybody who wants to watch TV while driving will have the ability to do so. Arbitrarily closing out one of the many LCD screens available to them is not going to prevent someone from watching a video screen if they so choose.
The only real deterrent would be enforcement -- police see a motion video screen operating in the front seat while the car is moving, and they fine your ass into the next decade. I'm not comfortable with that either, but it would at least have an effect. Arbitrary limits on a single LCD panel will do nothing, and we'll be greeted by an army of Chinese import devices that ignore the restriction anyway.
Isn't one of the drawbacks of an ATSC digital signal that it's difficult to maintain a lock on it while you're in motion? They're advertising it as something to do once you arrive in your destination, so its not like people haven't been warned about the realities of the situation
Because if only we could prevent this one particular stupid thing people can do while driving we will eliminate all driving-related injuries and deaths.
Every little bit helps.
But I can't help wondering why the multi-tasking geek always trots out this excuse for inaction.
It's a patently false dilemma.
We can do other things while we do this one thing.
Because no one could EVER find a safe use for mobile TV while moving more than 5 MPH. I don't know, shot in the dark here, but Handing It Back to The Passengers Might Be One! This Nanny society crap is getting ridiculous. What's next, hardwiring cars to not go over 25MPH and requiring full body padding to drive the 5 Miles to work.
"Killed by a guy who just couldn't wait until he got home to watch that 'Home Improvement' rerun"
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
European models come with a TV tuner for satnav which is retrofittable in US cars. They switch to audio only at 5mph or so.
Bring back the old version of slashdot.
When I bought my SUV the Lexus sales person said the in Dash DVD player would not work while in Drive (safety feature). BUT it was also indicated it was really easy to by-pass and could do it myself or they knew non-lexus shops that would do it for $20 cash (no questions asked).
My only problem with devices like this is that they harass the user with needless "warning" messages that have to be clicked through.
I'm not stupid enough to actually try to watch TV while I'm driving. (Is there really anything on that's even worth it anyway? Most of the time, I'd say the scenery out my window while driving is probably more interesting... but that's another topic.)
The point is, though - if a device is sold with features X, Y and Z, I should be able to easily use those features whenever I decide to do so. I don't want annoying pop-up screens blocking me first, and I don't want the device trying to second-guess my reasons for choosing a feature and selectively refusing to do what I tell it!
As people pointed out, you'd *probably* want to use the TV or video feature while driving so a PASSENGER can watch it.
I was just thinking that. What about my passengers?
Legal in-car TV/movie systems are designed such that the driver cannot see the screen, thus making it impossible to watch while driving.
This would rather defeat the purpose of a satnav system.
I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust
Think of the children thing really needs to stop..... What's next? Let's make speedometers go blank while driving because driver looking at it for a split second could be distracted, or better yet lets block off all side windows so driver can't look at trees and what not because they are too distracting. Come on... If you're a moron who will attentively watch TV going 70mph on a highway, or if you're a parent who allows his kid to play on a highway, you both deserve to die. I can perfectly drive with a screen next to me, just listening, I have 40 gigs of music videos that play on my ipod all the time, does that mean I always stare at my ipod while i drive?!!? No, no accidents in 9 years of driving. I don't see how this would be different from me listening to the news on TV and once in a while throwing a quick glance at the screen to see the face of who's talking and let my imagination do the rest as I listen. Why shouldn't I be allowed to make the jugdement of when it's safe to glance at the screen, or change station, or dial a number, or light up a cigarette, or to look out my window and check out that hottie walking on the sidewalk!?! Why do people want to outlaw everything? Why don't you start putting people on trial for crimes they may or may not commit in the future? When I crash into someone, sue me or put me in jail, until then stay the f...k out of my freedoms.
RoSPA believes that the law regarding video devices in cars is "fuzzy" and needs updating. The group points out that the use of cathode ray televisions in cars is illegal, but that there is no mention of LCD technology.
Well, that may be the case over there, but I don't think it is here in the states. The only reason you can no longer buy little 5" CRTs that have car lighter/aux power adapters here is because there are no signals for them to tune into anymore.
I look forward to seeing more portable ATSC-tuning TVs in the future. We need some high-pixel-density LCDs in consumer products. Then we can rip them out and build them into our shuttle PCs. Mmm... 5" 1080p front-panel-display computer.
Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
I could have had a better use for that tax money which will now be spent on scraping him off of the pavement and helping him to recover in a hospital.
It could have paid for my chemotherapy.
A recent indash unit purchase has a line to the parking brake sensor so that (if installed according to directions) it won't show video if the parking brake is off, unless the additional line connected to the reverse gear sensor indicates that the car is in reverse, in which case it will display the video sourced from the input supposedly from the backup camera. Like I'm going to dig around and splice into those wires when I could use what's left of my brain to decide not to watch Wildest Police Videos while driving...
It also has an internal motion sensor that overrides the parking brake sensor if it decides the car is in motion, which could be a drawback...
But... THIS device uses satellite info to determine whether the car is in motion relative to Earth's surface. Sometimes I really want to watch a video while on board the 2.5 hour ferry from Ocracoke, but even though no one's driving the car, the system will decide not to show video? Poor design decision, that.
What's more, I use a car GPS device occasionally on my bicycle. Maybe I want to watch TV while bicycling in heavy traffic, because that's still not as dangerous as applying eye makeup while yapping and smoking and swilling coffee behind the wheel.
http://bash.org/?195969
Did anyone else read "Satan" ?
Not to worry. This will earn a 3rd-degree criminal idiocy conviction under the new laws I'm going to buy, so I can fill my new chain of privately-run-for-profit lunatic asylums. As it'll be my tame shrinks who decide who's fit to leave, no-one will ever get out. Problem solved.