If you absolutely can’t trust your kids to avoid texting while they’re driving the family car, the ORIGOsafe provides a brute-force way to keep them focused when behind the wheel. It’s a smartphone dock that prevents a vehicle from actually starting until their phone is inserted, ensuring the distraction remains out of sight.
But, for safety reasons, the phone isn’t actually locked away inside the ORIGOSafe while the vehicle is running. In an emergency, it can still be used, but an alarm will sound if the phone is removed from the dock when the vehicle’s running without the parking brake applied. And the next time that user tries to go for a drive, they will discover their phone won’t unlock the vehicle’s ignition until an administrator gives them access again. However, while driving, the phone is still accessible via a hands-free Bluetooth connection, so it’s not like it’s completely unusable until the vehicle is parked.
Unfortunately, the $US279 ORIGOSafe only currently works with one phone — the Samsung Galaxy S III. And while a version of the dock that plays nice with the iPhone 4, 4S and 5 is coming, it’s still a pretty limited selection of supported devices, even if they’re some of the most popular phones on the market. [Origosafe via Gizmag]