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Thread ID: 102400 2009-08-18 04:44:00 cellphones banned, what about ipod touch? batmann (15177) PC World Chat
Post ID Timestamp Content User
802156 2009-08-18 04:44:00 Cellphones are banned from being used while driving in NZ, but does the ban cover ipod touch use?

The second generation ipod touch can run skype which allows you to call and sms people using wifi as it says here:

www.skype.com

The ipod touch 2g hasn't got a microphone built in but apple has earphones with mic built in for ipod touch 2g here:

store.apple.com

Driving around alot of cities have paid wifi hotspots and alot of home users are setting up paid wifi hotspots, so if it is legal(which i think it is because the ban is only for cellphones) then i feel awesome because i can drive and call my friends legally.

If a police officer says he saw me using a iphone cellphone, i will say i am using an ipod touch 2g which has no built in cellphone capabilities.
batmann (15177)
802157 2009-08-18 04:57:00 You're still making calls. It doesn't ban cellphones, it bans making calls and texting. pcuser42 (130)
802158 2009-08-18 05:00:00 Do you have the definitive wording of the law handy by any chance? Chilling_Silence (9)
802159 2009-08-18 05:33:00 Whats to stop a person just hitting the loud speaker button on the phone and just stashing the phone somewhere close by.

I was playing with mine the other day and to my surprise the loud speaker was cleaner and better quality then the normal speaker.
Metla (12)
802160 2009-08-18 05:37:00 With iPods, the user is banned, then flogged. (Fashionably of course.) R2x1 (4628)
802161 2009-08-18 06:21:00 here is the law:

www.landtransport.govt.nz

"ban the use of hand-held mobile phones and other telecommunications devices, such as Blackberry devices and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), while driving (including using these devices to text or email);"

the ipod touch is not a cellphone but it may be a telecommunications device because it has wifi but apple don't market it as a telecommunications device because it doesn't have a microphone and they have the iphone, so i'm sure apple would say the ipod touch is a music listening device, rather than a telecommunications devices, so maybe you could challenge a fine you may get in court. and the wording only says blackberry and pda's and an ipod touch is neither.

I guess the easier thing to do is to buy an old ipod nano and just watch tv shows and movies while your driving because the ipod nano has no wifi at all so it's not a cellphone nor a telecommunications device.
batmann (15177)
802162 2009-08-18 06:24:00 i just thought of something else. you could buy a fake plastic toy cellphone and talk on it and if the cops pull you over they'd be wasting their time because the phone is fake. who would do that? well i guess people who are going to miss talking on their real cellphone :) batmann (15177)
802163 2009-08-18 06:30:00 Simple turn the wifi off. Then you wont have to worry about it Speedy Gonzales (78)
802164 2009-08-18 06:34:00 It's still a PDA, and therefore covered by the law. Erayd (23)
802165 2009-08-18 08:47:00 I guess in 2011 after the cell fone ban has been in place 12 month and the accident rate hasn't gone down the tax collectors will be looking for something else to blame . I know. Incar navigation units paulw (1826)
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