Mobile Radio Simplified. Accessible. Relevant.

Tuesday, July 1st marks the big day in which California and Washington drivers will be required by law to use hands free devices while operating a cell phone and driving. We’ve been ramping up for this day, and we’re circling back to remind our readers to be prepared. There a number of ways in which you can become law abiding in this regard.

• Speaker Phone
• Use a bluetooth wireless device.
• Use a “wired” headset. (The kind that plugs into your headset.)
• Install a “car kit” (most expensive)
• Abstinence (don’t use your cell phone while driving)

You can find a variety of affordable options to safely equip you for driving under the new laws, such as this bargain-priced car kit.

As it pertains to radio listening, it could well attrition as those who’ve thus far chosen radio over using cell phone in car, for safety reasons, will now have good reason to jump on the hands free train. Further, listening to cellecasts and other cellphone-based audio media will suddenly be a lot more practical and feasible than ever before. Fourth Speaker has advocated hands free listening all along. This new law just puts necessity in our corner in addition to convenience, which has been there all along.

As for me, I’ll be heading to the Sprint store this week to replace my Bluetooth headset that remains MIA.

Now that The Dr. Laura Program is coming to CelleCast, many of her listeners that happen to be 9-to-5ers will no doubt seize upon this opportunity to listen during the morning and evening commute, when they have time but she’s not broadcasting.

To make such an opportunity worthwhile and safe, the Fourth Speaker gang has been researching products that provide easy, affordable hands free solutions for listening anywhere. One of the most accessible we’ve found is the Southwing SF505 Bluetooth Hands free device. It can be used at home, work or in the car. It slips into a pocket without being bulky or clips onto a car visor as well. There’s no installation required; just pair it with your phone and go!

There are quite a few other products out there that also make life easier for the cellecast listener on the go. Quality, multi-setting use, affordability and ease of use are the standards we judge product reviews against. If you know of other great products that will improve the ability to listen to cellecasts hands free anywhere, feel free to leave a comment with more information.

California and Washington are the next two states on the list where having a cell phone in your hand while driving will soon be a ticketable offense. Granted, it is a secondary offense, meaning you have to also be in violation for a primary offense in order to be pulled over. So if you’re speeding and talking on your cell phone in one of these states come July, be prepared to give Uncle Sam a big bonus.

These new laws cause an uproar on both sides of the argument, but the bottom line is safety trumps all. Having both hands available to drive allows one to respond more quickly to avoid accidents. With radio programming now available on cell phones, the instances of listening to time-shifted audio in the car will greatly increase as well. The issue then becomes convenience in addition to safety. Who would want to listen to their favorite radio program on demand, holding the phone up to his ear? (Insert sound of crickets chirping.)

Indeed, there is no need to sacrifice convenience when there are so many great inexpensive products out there to make in-car cell phone and cellecast listening a breeze. With a nicely priced wireless headset, your listening can happen anywhere!

We strive to make sure consumers have quality, affordable options for hands free cell phone usage.

Effective tomorrow in the state of Washington, text messaging while driving will no longer be legal. A similar law hits New Jersey in March. In the spirit of ensuring safety for oneself and other drivers, laws such as these will be coming to many more states in 2008. You can find a state by state law roll out here. For a broader, international view of hands free cell phone usage restrictions, this page is a good reference.

As many of us have adapted to using the cell phone while driving, and may even consider ourselves to do it reasonably safely, the coming laws must be adhered to to avoid unnecessary fines. There are many cost-effective ways to set up your cell phone so that you can still enjoy it hands free while driving.

One such way is through devices such as the AudioBUG ATB 350 FM Transmitter. Simply plug it into your car’s cigarette lighter, plug the other end into your cell phone, and enjoy your cell phone audio piped through your car’s stereo speakers at any FM frequency. It’s pretty slick.

We’ll continue to provide you with other hands free solutions for safe driving while using your cell phone and keep you updated on new laws that will impact your in car cell phone usage.

Happy New Year!

Fourth Speaker is committed to reporting on relevant, consumer-friendly hands-free solutions. This of course within the context of empowering people to safely maximize their use of mobile radio whether at home, in the car, or on the go. Reviews of some popular headsets can be found here: http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-6448_7-5144869-1.html. They provide good information on usability and comfort when considering a headset to purchase.

Another good resource is http://freeheadset.org which, as the name implies, provides a free headset to anyone to promote safety on the road. The consumer is only responsible for the shipping charges.

The good people over at about.com, specifically Brett Larson, gives us this view into the needed transition we all.. I mean all will be taking within the next couple of years:

This is the kind of package we think will make our users really enjoy mobile radio.

http://www.daydeal.com/product.php?productid=16074

Tell us what you think about this product. We are not selling it here. For now, the profile alone is enough to get us excited.

Review coming as soon as it arrives. For now you can read this review first. If you own one, let us know your own story here.

This post is just to remind everyone that we have not forgotten one of the big points of the fourth speaker is to share thoughts and do reviews on the various ways people succeed and fail in making their cell phones and other mobile devices produce good audio.

Getting the best audio solution is quite a challenge for many, but alas, too many suffer in silence.

I look forward to your comments and questions to get this discussion going.