By 
A recent change for drivers in last couple of months is the introduction of a new law banning the use of mobile phones while driving.
The law, an amendment to the existing Road User rules which will be enforced from 1st November 2009, bans the use of hand-held mobile phones while driving, as well as a number of other changes.
The ban includes calling, texting or any other mobile use.
If you need to make phone calls while driving you will need to invest in a “hands-free” calling kit. The laws exempts drivers who use one of the following kits:
• A wired earpiece that allows the driver to make and receive calls without handling the phone
• A wireless hands free kit that offers the same features. If you install a secure mobile mounting point in your car, you will also be allowed to handle the phone briefly and infrequently, making a phone mount well worth investing in.
What does it cost?
You may have received a wired earpiece and microphone when you purchased you phone. You can use that with your mobile provided you are not handling the phone to make or answer calls. A new wired headset should start at around $20 depending on your model. You can also purchase a wired car kit for most mobiles that plugs into your stereo and may include a microphone, so that you can use your car’s stereo to hear your caller.
There are several kinds of wireless headsets depending on your needs:
• Wireless Earpiece – This is a device that sits in your ear and connects to your phone via bluetooth. It will let you answer your phone without touching the phone, and the better models also allow you to use “voice activated dialing” to simply say the name of the person you want to call, and your phone will call them. Starting at around $50
• Wireless Hands-Free kit – This is a device which sits on your sun visor or is mounted below the windscreen, and would include the same features as an earpiece. Starting at around $200
Mounting your mobile
You should seriously consider installing a phone mounting point into your car. This will hold your phone securely in one place, making it easier to connect other hands-free devices to it, as well as allowing you to make calls provided you only handle the phone briefly. Starting from around $20, there are many kinds of mounting kits. Some will need to be screwed or bolted onto your dashboard while others use a suction cup or sticky pads to stick to your dash or windscreen. You should make sure you purchase a mount that fits your mobile snugly and has the appropriate holes if you need to connect your headset or car charger.
Links:
• For more info on the new laws, check out the LTSA Website: www.landtransport.govt.nz/rules/q-and-a/
• BlueAnt – Hands-free www.myblueant.com
• Parrot - Hands-free: www.parrotminikit.com
13:01, 04.10.2009
I clearly remember a few years back driving along Kennedy Road with a take out coffee in one hand, thinking I was glad my latest car purchase was an automtatic because I had one hand for the steering wheel and one for my coffee. No more juggling to change gears.
Then my phone rang. On picking it up I realised I had a small problem, or at least the other road users did. I only had two hands and their priority appeared to be coffee and phone. Driving on auto pilot took on a whole new dimension!
That was the point I had a handsfree installed in my car. Best thing I did. But it was short lived. Soon after I upgraded my phone only to find my new phone didn’t work with the handsfree kit.
I am sure things have improved since then and connecting with the stereo seems a great idea. But whatever gadget I get I will be asking the question about usability with other phones.
16:17, 05.10.2009
I use the BlueAnt – $169 – and it is blutooth so works with most phones. The other great advantage is that is can have 2 phones sync’ed to it at once. Nice and easy to set up as well.
13:49, 06.10.2009
My mobile is up for renewal – any recommendations – I’m with Vodafone and not changing esp not to XT.
Keen on an iphone but notice that some gurus (Rod) don’t use them…
14:24, 06.10.2009
The Nerds are pretty keen on the Nokia E71, seems a good phone with all the bells and whistles you would need (until the invent new ones). Not a touch screen though so depends on whether you want to go that way in which case an iPhone could be the way to go.
15:17, 06.10.2009
Not sure about an iPhone but I have an E71 – it’s getting fixed at the moment… screen crapped out. Not good.
My advice would be to get a Blackberry – emails get pushed directly to you – rather than you having to access the network to get them (which is what you have to do with the E71).
15:41, 06.10.2009
iphone all the way! I have one of the original imported ones and am amazed at the functionality and ease of use. It is a real confluence of a lot of other devices and there is a whole world of developers out there generating new and free apps for it all the time.
19:04, 06.10.2009
I run a Blackberry Bold that pairs to my car’s stereo system via a Parrot Bluetooth, synchronises with our contact database and allows voice recognition, music playback and dialing from the steering wheel..when i step out the car calls gets transferred to my headset. just gottta remember to take it off before walking around town.Big problem with the Blackberry is the lack of decent applications,, e.g. I’d need an iPhone to have a decent GPS application as Google Maps sucks bandwidth whilst driving around.
Roll on 4G. We’ve committed to fibre in the ground. Now’s the time to consider what’s next in the air.
09:27, 07.10.2009
I have one of these that pairs with my iPhone http://www.bignoise.co.nz/purchase-products/car-audio/cd-dvd-mp3/alpine/1793-alpine-cde-103ebt-cd-mp3-wma-receiver.html it works a treat…. Oh and the iPhone doesnt use any 3G or GPRS data for its Tom Tom navigation app (all the data is stored on the iPhone), it uses data when you are using google maps but that isnt proper turn by turn navigation software anyway.
10:24, 07.10.2009
Damon, you should talk to us about Nokia E71′s, we had heaps of issues trying to get these to snyc with out server network and in the end gave up and went to Blackberry Bold. Works well and has most of the applications you need but Graeme has the latest iPhone and raves about it. That’s where I’m likely to head if I have any further issues.
11:31, 07.10.2009
I recently had a Parrot MKi9100 hands free installed in my car, works great and works through your car speaker system. Comes with i Pod UBS connection, not cheap but consider to be good purchase.
20:14, 07.10.2009
Yes Wray – tell us why the Nerds love the Nokia E71?
08:53, 08.10.2009
Okay Matt, so as Nerds we’ve used a few different phone types over the years and done set ups of heaps of different types for our customers. A bit of a summary of why we are recommending and ourselves switching over to the E71 as our contracts come up is:
Price – pound for pound the E71 is probably one of the best price points in the market for the level of functionality that it carries.
Integration – we have installed the Nokia exchange integration software without difficulty on our own servers. Compared with other packages (e.g. Blackberry Enterprise Server) it is as easy to install. If it isn’t working with your server it’s probably not the phones fault.
Mapping – we are out and about navigating around a fair bit to get to our customers and the integrated GPS in the E71 is an attractive feature. It can talk you to a location like a Tom Tom, Navman etc (though unfortunately not with Homer Simpsons voice like the Tom Tom can).
Size – It’s a good slim phone, Nokia’s have always been a bit chunky but they finally seem to have got the message.
Reliability – We haven’t been using them for that long yet as they haven’t been on the market for long but to date haven’t had any issues with them. Nokias reliability is legendary so I would hope that George’s screen issue was just a one off.
Keyboard – The QWERTY keyboard on the Nokia is very cool – good feel of the buttons and is very quick to get used to.
Yeah, personally I would probably like an iPhone, the apps are cool but I think the touch screen might get to me in the end. At the end of the day for what we need it for the iPhone is a bit excessive in terms of price and the E71 ticks all the boxes that we need.
09:14, 08.10.2009
OK Wray, fair enough.
But I think George’s E71 is having more than a ‘screen issue’. It’s more like a ‘this phone is not working at all, I think this phone is f*cked’ issue. No sounds, no signs of life other than a dim glow on the screen and the keys.
It’s the second time this has happened. Pretty disastrous when all of your contacts are on your phone and the phone shop gives you the worst phone in the world as your replacement and you can’t sync your contacts from your Outlook or Gmail!
23:46, 15.10.2009
Last week I got an iPhone. Ask me if I am happy. Go on, ask me. HELL YES. Wow, it is so easy to use. Okay, I am an IT chick, but hey, I am a chick. Like things that go clunk are not really my thing. I do soft things, like lines of code.
Anyway about noon I started mucking around with my new iPhone. By that night I had it completely sussed, loaded with music and ready to unleash myself on an unsuspecting digital world (okay, my 12 year old daughter helped me a bit).
One minor drawback was that I can’t sync with my Exchange Public folders, but hey, it is so cool that I can work a Plan B around that one.
I really like how it will play me a song and then I can ask it, with the voice recognition, “what’s playing?”. Wo, that is pretty cool. Anyway for me the best, best thing about the iPhone is that it is very easy to use, I don’t get lost in it, and I can multitask (send a text and take a call) and that phone knows exactly where it was and takes me back to it.
I am definitely a fan.
13:25, 16.10.2009
Ok, so I got my phone back (the E71) and they had to replace the SOFTWARE and the battery!!! Not good.