[Nissan]'s latest concept is called Signal Shield, and it relies on a 180-year-old creation -- the Faraday cage. A Faraday cage uses conductive material to block electromagnetic fields. Installed in a Nissan Juke's center console, it's capable of blocking all communications to the phone, whether it's Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or regular ol' phone signals.
Thanks to its conductive properties, a Faraday cage blocks electromagnetic signals, preventing them from leaving or entering the cage.
Obviously, the goal is to prevent distracted driving. And it succeeds to that end, because a phone that can't do anything isn't going to distract a driver. Owners will still be able to use the phone through the infotainment system, thanks to a wired connection inside the center console.
[...] Or you could just head over to Amazon and buy a Faraday cage for less than $10 and keep it in your glovebox. That's always an option, too, even though it's far less elegant.
-- submitted from IRC
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Ethanol-fueled on Friday May 05 2017, @11:58PM (1 child)
They have this all backwards. This should be to stimulate family discussion (and, by extension, bonding) during medium-long trips and conversation and attention-span training on short trips. Well, at least it should be.
If the kids don't like that and start kicking and screaming you can always threaten to drop them off at the shelter or give them up for adoption, and then remind them that the foster-home system is like prison where they get beaten by the older kids and then sold into slavery.
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Saturday May 06 2017, @12:06AM
Feed their short attention span with the offer of a movie that portraits how orphanages and foster care works and the prospects for the feature after such life start. Then have the family bonding talk ;)
However it is not a cop out for adults to re-evaluate their own experiences and "truths" may not be relevant in how the society works for children now. Nor to keep pushing for a high and insightful level of discussion. Kids brain are wired to survive and explore the relevant things for the world. It has worked for some 200 000 years.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 06 2017, @12:01AM (1 child)
It aint' no faraday cage. Are they lacing up all the glass surface with metallic grid? Sounds more like center console jamming up RF signals.
You are misunderestimating SN folks.
(Score: 2) by wonkey_monkey on Saturday May 06 2017, @12:16PM
It's a small Farady cage built into a box in the console which you can place your phone into.
You are misunderestimating SN folks.
Not if they're as dumb as you...
systemd is Roko's Basilisk
(Score: 4, Insightful) by leftover on Saturday May 06 2017, @12:47AM (4 children)
If you do not wish to be distracted by your phone and lack the willpower to ignore notifications, just turn the silly thing off.
Sheesh.
Bent, folded, spindled, and mutilated.
(Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday May 06 2017, @12:54AM
See my comment above. Sometimes we just want to harness the power of God, man, for the good of mankind.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 06 2017, @02:51AM
The problem isn't just for the driver, the problem is for everybody else around the driver. But, the driver is the only one that has control over whether or not the phone and other items are used while driving.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by wonkey_monkey on Saturday May 06 2017, @11:47AM (1 child)
That's essentially what this box does, except without the hassle of having to push any buttons on your phone. You get in, you throw it in the box, you shut the box. Sounds like the kind of the thing a driver would more easily integrate into his routine than switching his phone off/airplane moding every time.
systemd is Roko's Basilisk
(Score: 2) by gidds on Monday May 08 2017, @12:54PM
And then, when you arrive, you open the box, get your phone out, and find that its battery is flat due to it continually trying and failing to contact a base station?
An easy way of turning it off (and/or engaging ‘airplane mode’) would seem a much better solution all round.
[sig redacted]
(Score: 2, Interesting) by rts008 on Saturday May 06 2017, @12:49AM (4 children)
While this is a small step in the right direction, it is only voluntary to put your phone in the console storage area for this to work.
IMO, a vehicle-area jammer should be mandatory on all vehicles until autonomous vehicles are in use 100%.
And yes, I realise that 'what if I'm in a wreck, and I can't call 911' scenarios exist...those cases existed long before cell phones...so what? *My opinion is unchanged. Been there, done that, and have the tee-shirts mounted on a wall.*
The only accidents I have been in since my unruly teen years of the 1970's, have been other people on their cell phones hitting me, while driving distracted with their calls, four times! Enough, I say! A pox on them all! And get off my lawn, while you're protesting.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by frojack on Saturday May 06 2017, @01:06AM (2 children)
Yes, yes, more draconian pronouncements from lonely guys who never ride with anyone, and who no one will ever ride with them.
There are other people in the car who may want to surf the net, or talk to someone. Sitting in stony silence staring straight ahead is NOT a recipe for an accident free trip.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by rts008 on Saturday May 06 2017, @01:30AM
LOL!
You do realise that car trips existed(and successfully) long before cell phones, don't you?
You are 'projecting' your own mentality, not the reality for the rest of us. You have become a slave to your device. It is only yet another tool we use, yet your tool uses you. Good luck with that.
I have passengers quite often, and find your 'Sitting in stony silence staring straight ahead...' an unknown experience with them.
Climb down from your 'all knowing' Ivory Throne sometime, and take a good look at reality, instead of your fantasy land. You will be surprised, I'd expect.
P.S. I knew there was a good reason I avoided seeing most of your posts. I feel vindicated in that regard.
(Score: 2) by lx on Saturday May 06 2017, @09:41AM
Let them bring a book or a magazine.
(Score: 3, Touché) by Grishnakh on Saturday May 06 2017, @01:49AM
Take your authoritarianism and shove it up your ass. Next time you have an infection, make sure to refuse the use of antibiotics since people used to do just fine before those were invented.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by corey on Saturday May 06 2017, @01:02AM (6 children)
What this will mean is much shortened battery life as the phone maxes out transmission power to talk to the towers. In regional areas, my phone lasts half as long as in the city.
They should work with phone manufacturers to implement a system to enable flight mode while driving. Perhaps via NFC or the like.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Saturday May 06 2017, @01:07AM
Another guy who never shares a car.
Get yee to the church of mass transit.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Grishnakh on Saturday May 06 2017, @01:50AM (4 children)
Wrong. Phones used to be like that 15 years ago, not any more. They're not that dumb these days. I work in a place where my phone doesn't get any reception and it doesn't run down its battery at all.
(Score: 2) by archfeld on Saturday May 06 2017, @03:24PM (3 children)
I just got my Samsung, and if it go into roaming mode or the blue tooth stays active when there is nothing to pair with it searches constantly and eats up the battery like crazy. Airplane mode is easy to activate and stops all that radio beaconing.
For the NSA : Explosives, guns, assassination, conspiracy, primers, detonators, initiators, main charge, nuclear charge
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Monday May 08 2017, @03:01AM (2 children)
Hmm, that's weird. I have a Galaxy S5 and I leave BT and Wifi on all the time, and I get excellent battery life. I could probably go 2 days if I kept the screen off most of the time instead of playing games. However, I will say my battery life is significantly better than it used to be, after I went through all my apps and disabled all the crapware/bloatware apps that come pre-loaded.
(Score: 2) by archfeld on Monday May 08 2017, @07:24PM (1 child)
I wish there was a way to stop scanning for Wi-Fi once I was logged in to a node, but it continually scans and updates the list every couple of seconds. What version of Android are you using on your S5 ? The BT I find is the biggest user of power so I keep it off unless I get in the car for a long drive. If it just back and forth to the market I just ignore the thing until I get stopped.
For the NSA : Explosives, guns, assassination, conspiracy, primers, detonators, initiators, main charge, nuclear charge
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Monday May 08 2017, @09:21PM
I'm on Android 6.0.1. I've been in a location without radio access now for almost 7 hours (with a few breaks where I could reach the tower), with both WiFi and BT on, and I'm down to 83%, and that includes using the phone (for a simple game) during those breaks).
I just checked the advanced options for WiFi and I even have "keep Wi-Fi on during sleep" enabled.
For Bluetooth, there's an option to make your phone visible to other devices (besides just devices you're already paired to). It's unchecked on mine; I'd recommend making sure this is off for you too.
I also checked my "Power Saving" settings and both "Power saving mode" and "Ultra power saving mode" are disabled.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Saturday May 06 2017, @01:44AM
> able to use the phone through the infotainment system
It's to better track you, my darling.
Use your own phone and GPS to fill the Nissan customer database, cheap!
(Score: 2) by DECbot on Saturday May 06 2017, @04:21AM
If I get a Nissan, I know where my work phone goes. I should also get one of the little faraday bags for my pants pocket too.
cats~$ sudo chown -R us /home/base
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Saturday May 06 2017, @05:06AM (1 child)
Why is a review of a 2015 model-year car posted here? The 2017s have been out on the market for many months now.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 06 2017, @12:50PM
The headline does say it's "old school."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 06 2017, @06:17AM
Would it be alright if I just throw the phone into my old metal tackle box, and close the lid?
(Score: 2) by lgsoynews on Saturday May 06 2017, @07:28AM (2 children)
What about not being an asshole and not using the phone while you're driving? (that's a real pb, I see that all the time)
Why come with ever more complex ways (that always create unforseen problems) every time people act like idiots?
People forced to use such a system will just go around it, probably making them more distracted and dangerous...
(Score: 3, Insightful) by GungnirSniper on Saturday May 06 2017, @09:15AM (1 child)
If I wasn't forced into someone else's idea of "safety" by timing all the lights in town so I hit every damn one of them, I wouldn't feel the need to check my phone because I'd actually be driving not sitting.
Tips for better submissions to help our site grow. [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 3, Touché) by Grishnakh on Monday May 08 2017, @09:25PM
That's idiotic. If they don't time the lights so you don't hit every one of them, then how are they supposed to get money from people for red-light tickets, plus also speeding tickets from people trying to "break the cycle"? What the hell is wrong with you anyway? Don't you realize how important it is for the town to make money from traffic citations so the police can retire early and have an extremely generous pension, and so they can build fancy new municipal buildings? Why are you so greedy? We need more safety measures like red-light cameras with yellow lights shortened to 0.5 seconds so that these important programs can be funded!
(Score: 1) by noneof_theabove on Saturday May 06 2017, @11:15AM (3 children)
motion sensing.
Captures steps for pedometers [no not a rating for porn].
Law that states if your phone was hacked by software or hardware to override, BIGLY FINE !
[done by law enforcement if your are involved in an accident]
So when vehicle is moving over say 5 mph / 8 kph then it goes into stupid mode [alters callers, texters you are driving]
Witness a wreck pull over [required by law in most places] and call emergency 911/999/### otherwise keep on driving and you will not overload emergency dispatch.
[disclaimer I worked as network admin for 20 years in the field]
Involved in a wreck, if your phone is near by and not smashed, it will work.
Post thought: since it knows speed and basic location, has a g-force sensor, having X speed and Y g-force followed by 0 speed....initial emergency call with speed, location, phone number...etc.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by wonkey_monkey on Saturday May 06 2017, @11:50AM (1 child)
And for passengers...?
systemd is Roko's Basilisk
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 06 2017, @12:13PM
The nuke-em-all folks who propose these things are:
1) Loners
2) Don't bother to think thru their "great solutions"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 07 2017, @12:40AM
"Witness a wreck pull over [required by law in most places] and call emergency 911/999/###"
yeah right. your shitty luck does not mean i'm late to the grocery store. fuck your law too, socialist.