Beginning January 1st, 2011 Illinois’s new text messaging ban goes into effect. Illinois’s Public Act 096-0130 prohibits sending or reading text messages while driving.
Specifically for all drivers:
A person may not operate a motor vehicle on a roadway while using an electronic communication device to compose, send, or read an electronic message
Using hands-free or voice activated modes are permitted.
Fines for first offenses begin at $75.
Beginning January 1st, 2011 Kentucky’s new cell phone ban on drivers under age 18 and text messaging ban for all drivers goes into effect. Signed by Governor Beshear on April 25th, 2010 Kentucky’s House Bill 415 prohibits cell phone use while driving.
Specifically for under 18 drivers:
Any person under the age of eighteen (18) who has been issued an instruction permit, intermediate license, or operator’s license shall not operate a motor vehicle, motorcycle, or moped that is in motion on the traveled portion of a roadway while using a personal communication device, except to summon medical help or a law enforcement or public safety agency in an emergency situation.
And for all drivers:
No person shall, while operating a motor vehicle that is in motion on the traveled portion of a roadway, write, send, or read text-based communication using a personal communication device to manually communicate with any person using text-based communication, including but not limited to communications referred to as a text message, instant message, or electronic mail.
Penalties for a first offense is $25 with subsequent offenses costing $50 plus court costs.
Beginning January 1st, 2010 Illinois’s new law restricting cell phone use in school zones goes into effect. Illinois’s Public Act 096-0131 prohibits cell phone use while driving in a school zone.
Specifically:
A person, regardless of age, may not use a wireless telephone at any time while operating a motor vehicle on a roadway in a school speed zone
There was a glitch in the iTunes App Store which has been preventing users from downloading paid versions of DMV Test Prep. If you tried to buy our apps you’d get a message saying “The item you tried to buy is no longer available.” It turns out that Apple’s ‘agree to our latest updated version of our contract with you’ had expired, which prevented new purchases.
Everything has been fixed and downloads will be active again soon. Sorry for the inconvenience but this came to us without warning or communication from Apple.
Tracking the gas mileage of your car is a great way to detect maintenance problems, and to improve your own driving habits towards economical driving. That’s important because it saves you money. Pen and paper is how I tracked mileage as a young driver, and still it was worth the effort. But today we have iPhone apps to transform tedium into simple, fun, and powerful.
Gas Pump [itunes, $4.99] for iPhone is super-easy to use and has built-in graphics to visualize your mileage log. But what’s really cool is cloud sync. Your mileage log and car info can be shared with other iPhones (or any iOS device). Great if more than one person is driving the car.
If you’ve got an extra moment it’s worth checking out on the App Store now.
This week we’ve been rolling out updates to the localized versions of DMV Test Prep, which updates the apps to universal with support for both iPhone and iPad. Now that iPad support is coming to all apps there’s no need to maintain a separate iPad-only version. Therefore the standalone DMV Test Prep for iPad app has been removed from sale. The same content, iPad UI, and StudyBox support can now be found in selected localized state versions, and eventually all state versions.
CDL (Commercial Driver’s License) has been our most requested practice test. But unlike a single driver’s license exam, CDL is comprised of a knowledge test and numerous complex endorsements.
To really develop an effective system for CDL practice we enlisted help from a professional driver, and produced over 550 practice questions for both the Knowledge test and endorsements, including:
✓ Air Brakes
✓ Combination Vehicles
✓ Doubles and Triples
✓ Driving Safely
✓ Hazardous Materials
✓ School Bus
✓ Tank Vehicles
✓ Transporting Cargo
✓ Transporting Passengers
✓ Road Signs and Signals (U.S.)
CDL Test Prep Pro was designed as a universal app, giving you an experience optimized for both iPhone and iPad devices.
DMV Test Prep apps for the United States have been downloaded more than 150,000 times. Our customers are thrilled with the results they get. Now, we’re pleased to announce that we’ve been hard at work producing a version for Canadian provinces.
Our first release is for the Ontario Level One (G1) driver test. It comes with over 200 practice questions and answers, along with nearly 100 road signs, all in multiple-choice format. This test is designed specifically for Ontario with targeted questions directly from the manual. The initial release is for iPad only but soon we’ll be updating this to a universal binary which works on both iPad and iPhone/iPod touch.
If iPhone makes a good platform for mobile education, then iPad makes a great platform for learning. To really take advantage of what iPad can do we built a new app from the ground up especially for iPad. This isn’t just a blown up version of the iPhone app, but a complete rethink of how we’re doing things.
The most exciting change is LessonsMob, a cloud services platform we built which allows content updates on your device with just a simple sync. We can update existing practice questions and add new ones as state laws change.
We’ve also added the ability to bookmark questions which you’d like to review later. You can even write your own notes.
The biggest feature is how we took advantage of iPad’s larger screen. We were able to eliminate all navigation to different screens. The smaller size of the iPhone screen required moving around different screens to get things done, which is a significant distraction when you’re focused on learning.
In fact, the redesign is entirely focused on reducing distractions while you’re studying. The subdued white metallic theme, no ads, lack of hyperlinks in study material, annoying popups urging you to write a review, and the hyper-clean single screen design are all intended to help you study better… without distractions.
And one more thing… the price is still the amazing low at just $2.99.
For 2010 we decided to consolidate all the localized editions into a single app which we call simply DMV Test Prep [iTunes, $2.99]. This edition will contain all the DMV Prep features we currently have available together with a greatly improved UI, all at the same price as the localized editions.
We decided to do this because the feature set was getting to big to maintain across 50 separate apps. Going forward we will be able to offer new features faster than ever before. Soon, we’ll have Facebook and Twitter integration so you can share your progress.
