So far, the cell phone’s primary contribution to driving has been the emergence of the even more oblivious driver, distracted, eyes wandering, meandering in the lane sometimes like a drunk. But the phone — or more specifically, the smartphone, hand-held computer or other mobile computing device — is poised to give drivers the futuristic capabilities of the Batmobile’s remote control.
Recent concept cars such as the Rinspeed iChange and the Chrysler Global Electric Motorcars Peapod have embraced Apple’s popular iPhone as a device not only for making phone calls or playing music, but as the key to starting the car.
That might sound like an impractical futuristic application of smartphone technology, but in fact, that and many more innovative uses of hand-held computers are coming to market in the near future.
