Cellphone applications for drivers

Make more effective use of time and vehicle with cellphone applications

Nov 22, 2008

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Special to the Star

Hands-free calling and having your car read text messages to you might seem cool, but there are software applications for cellphones that can help you do everything from tracking fuel consumption to finding the nearest gas station to keeping track of your acceleration times.

The move toward making mobile phones into an essential tool for drivers took a giant leap forward a few years ago with the advent of so-called "smartphones."

These phones, like the Apple iPhone or a BlackBerry Pearl, have a touch- or stylus-sensitive screen, a full keyboard, and typically offer more computing power than a regular cell.

Their added computing power makes them a logical home for running software that has useful applications for when you're on the go.

The Apple iPhone is a smartphone that has changed the game in two ways: it is easy to install new applications on the device, and its feature list of GPS, Bluetooth, and integrated accelerometer put a lot of mobile computing power into the hands of its users.

The iPhone's success will have a trickle-down effect in that other mobile platforms will become better and more feature-rich over time, providing more options for users and software developers.

Justin Morgenthau, an iPhone developer, said there are two reasons smartphones are no longer tools for just computer geeks.

"There are things you can do with it that you can't on a PC – like capture accelerometer readings, access GPS or the Internet. It has more power than a desktop for certain things," Morgenthau said. "When these things come together, these devices become very relevant to the average consumer."

Morgenthau's company, BunsenTech, developed an iPhone-specific application called Dynolicious. For $13, it allows you to track vehicle performance data, like 0-to-100 km/h times, horsepower, and cornering Gs – all using just the iPhone with their software. He says on the first day the application was available, more than 20,000 copies were downloaded.

Applications that track fuel consumption and make trip logs have seemingly always been available. For software developer Boyd Timothy of Appigo, creating an iPhone application that tracked fuel economy was an easy decision – but only if it lived up to the team's expectations.

"AccuFuel is something simple, instead of writing things down on receipts," said Timothy. "In the past, phones haven't been fast or polished enough to warrant an application like this – and because your phone is with you everywhere now, it's where you want your data. It's changing how people share information."

An interesting development in the quest to share information comes from Toronto software developer and PhD student Mark Pavlidis, who has written a $9.99 iPhone application that sends your phone updated traffic camera images and traffic flow maps for major cities in Canada.

For instance, the Toronto version, Totraffic, displays 189 cameras and traffic flow maps – making planning your route and avoiding gridlock much easier.

"You'd check the traffic cameras before leaving home, and the road conditions would change by the time you were on the highway," Pavlidis said. "Now with such advanced technology in your pocket, you can access data and check things out when and where you want to."

But what if you don't own a smartphone? Developers are coming up with innovative services for regular cellphones as well, like MyMileMarker.com. This site will, once you've set up an account, allow you to send it text messages containing information on your last fill-up from any phone – enabling you to track mileage, print out fuel consumption data, and estimate what your yearly fuel cost will be.

Simply dialing a number on a regular cellphone can also yield impressive power.

Just launched in the Toronto area, a service called Ask Kinjo uses cell tower triangulation, once you call, to pinpoint nearby gas stations – with the lowest-priced station nearby listed first, ATMs, parking lots, or traffic updates.

Soon, the service, which reads the results aloud, will expand to include data on restaurants and other locations.

It's a free service, paid for by the commercials you listen to while receiving the data.

For software developers, though, this is just the beginning. Timothy says that location-aware services may change how consumers make purchasing decisions.

"Let's say you're looking at a car, and you have a web browser. Right on the spot, after a salesman tells you the price of a car, dealers pop up around you who have updated the prices of their cars or show you related models," he said. "Suddenly, the phone is not just a geek's tool."

Every day, more location-aware applications are becoming available. One task-management tool called OmniFocus for the iPhone can read your to-do list, notify you when you're near a grocery store, and provide a handy shopping list once inside.

Morgenthau says that because it's so easy to install and use these powerful applications, motorists will find it easier to navigate through life, using their cellphones – and the data stored in their pockets.

"There's the question of if an Internet connection make us more intelligent," he said.

"I don't know the answer to that one, but I do know it changes daily life and how you can attack problems. I think it'll make life easier."

Toronto Star