A few high-end cars already come with technology that will issue a warning—or even brake automatically—if the dashboard computer thinks a crash is imminent. Now, for those of us who can't afford this luxury extra, there's a smart-phone app that aims to do something similar.

iOnRoad for Android detect and tracks cars on the road ahead using a phone's camera and machine vision software. It also draws on a phone's GPS, accelerometer, and orientation sensors to calculate the distance to other cars, and the speed at which they are traveling.

Just place your device in a mount on the dashboard and start up the app. Then your phone will diligently watch the road ahead, and beep a warning if you get too close to the vehicle ahead, alerting you to hastily brake before any damage occurs.

iOnRoad is a clever idea, and it highlights just how powerful and capable smart phones have become. Just few years ago, such an app would struggle on the fastest smart phone.

In practice, however, I found it a bit distracting. During a drive to Cape Cod last week, with the phone mounted beneath the GPS, my windshield felt cluttered. I kept glancing at the phone whenever a car outline changed from green to yellow (depending on how close I was), in addition to checking the GPS. With continued use of the app my eyes would probably stop drifting over to check how far away each vehicle was. Thankfully, I didn't get into any near-collisions, and the road was pretty traffic-free.

The app can also work in background mode, so it'll only sound and show a warning if it detects an imminent collision. So iOnRoad could run behind a GPS app while driving.

The Israeli company behind the app, Picitup, has previously created vision recognition software for to automatically cataloging products (which eBay uses). At first, iOnRoad will be free; and it will be available next month.

The app is programmed to beep if the user is tailgating (at speeds over 10 mph) or if it detects the user is under .7 seconds from crashing (with an accuracy of .1 to .2 seconds). It also has night vision mode, though I wonder how well it could make out cars in foggy or snowy conditions.

"I think early warning systems are likely to take the same track [as GPS]," Alon Atsmon, CEO of Picitup. "It starts in high-end cars and moves into dedicated devices and smart phones."

He may be right, and overall I think this type of technology could help save lives. But I can't help wondering if the proliferation of collision-avoidance technology might also breed less careful drivers.

Images courtesy of Picitup

"Two turkeys do not make an Eagle"

So tweeted Google VP Vic Gundotra earlier this week, casting judgment on what was then just a widespread rumor but was today confirmed: Finnish phone maker Nokia will be teaming up with Microsoft to take on the smart phone market. Nokia's storied mobile operating system, Symbian, will be scrapped and Nokia handsets will be built around Windows Phone 7 instead.

Despite generally good reviews, Microsoft's new assault on the phone market hasn't taken off as they or handset makers had hoped. And Nokia, which remains the world's largest phone maker, has failed to come up with a smart phone capable of competing with Android handsets or the iPhone.

It's too early to know what kind of devices the new pairing will come up with. But Engadget reports Nokia saying they will be aimed at the very top of the market: they're trying to create gadgets that steal the thunder of the iPhone and the most powerful Android handsets.

The end result, said Nokia chief executive, Stephen Elop, is that the smart phone market would now be a "three horse race."

In fact, choosing a new smart phone may be about to get even more complex: Intel and HP are in this race too.

Nokia may have now picked Windows, but in the last two years it had been working with Intel on the MeeGo mobile OS, designed to run on everything from phones to tablets to TVs. Intel now says it will go it alone and that MeeGo devices are still coming. And just two days ago HP refreshed its WebOS software for mobile devices, showing off a tablet and two phones that use the platform.

However, if the iPhone has taught us anything it is that success requires more than phones with good hardware and software, points out ubiqui-blogger Robert Scoble:

"Nothing matters in this world more than apps...HP execs know this. Google's execs know this. Everyone in Silicon Valley knows this. Apps are the ONLY thing that matters now."

Scoble thinks that the combination of Nokia's established ability to make good hardware with Microsoft's operating system might tempt app makers enough to see the new partnership succeed.

Today's announcements from the two main actors have been largely directed at the tech industry, investors and the business press. Expect the focus to shift to app developers and consumers - arguably the two groups most able to make or break this new effort - as Nokia and Microsoft try to make their strategy stick.

Developers await a keynote speech at Google I/O.

Tracking the reception to Google's second day of announcements was best done by closing your eyes, and listening for the sounds from the roughly 5,000 assembled developers in the theatre at the Moscone Center, San Francisco.

Relieved applause greeted the announcement of a new version of Google's Android mobile phone platform, called FroYo for Frozen Yoghurt or more simply Android 2.2, as the expectations of the developers were confirmed by Vice-President of Engineering Vic Gundotera. Minutes later the room erupted into wild applause and hollering with the news that it will be possible to tether Android devices to act as 3G modems, and also to use them to create wireless hotspots.

Gundotera kept the crowd noisy by announcing that phones receiving the Android update will see a 2-to-5x speed increase in all apps, thanks to tweaks to the platform's base, and by revealing that a beta version of Adobe's Flash will run on FroYo. He also earned laughs with a string of jibes at Apple, whether pitched at the iPhone's inability to multitask, or in the form of a demo that showed the iPad's browser couldn't muster the javascript speed to display a robot swimming laps of a pool as fast as a Nexus One phone.

Speaking after the keynote, though, Gundotra emphasized that Google continues to work with Apple in many areas, adding "my talk is available on YouTube... I'm sure we'll hear from him [Steve Jobs]."

When using the eyes-wide-shut method, spotting talk of where the money to pay for all these new toys comes from is a matter of listening out for silence. The devs were quiet as Gundotra talked of new forms of advertising for Android. Text ads will appear inside apps based on their content, business will be able to place "click to call" ads to people nearby, and more traditional display ads that expand over an app will also appear.

The devs woke up again for the second big announcement of the day--Google TV. Senior product manager Rishi Chandra warmed up by pointing out that the average American watches 5 hours of TV a day, feeding an advertising market worth $70bn a year, and then earned applause of his own by introducing a big Sony TV to demonstrate the new Google TV platform. It will, says Chandra, offer the "best of what TV has to offer today, and the best of what the web has to offer today."

With a chip inside provided by Intel the TV is controlled by a wireless keyboard. Users can type to search TV shows by name or topic, and receive results that mix live TV broadcasts, future broadcasts that can be set to record to DVR with a single click, and web content such as YouTube videos and other Flash content.

From this Fall both Sony's new TV's and settop boxes made by Logitech will be available in Best Buy stalls, a schedule intended to surf the seasonal wave of gadget buying. The Google TV platform runs on a version of Android, and will run cellphone apps as well as customized TV-centric applications.

Google CEO Eric Schmidt appeared at the end of the keynote with a parade of fellow CEOs. His gentle chat with the leaders of Best Buy, Sony, Logitech, Dish Network, Intel and Adobe was a reminder of how important third party support will be to Google in the storied world of TV, and there are many questions still outstanding.

One is whether domestic broadband circuits would stand up to large numbers of people streaming high quality video for hours a day, another was what progress is being made on making agreements with content providers. Hulu for example, is a web catch up service operated by TV networks to complement their traditional services. How will they feel about the prospect of it being seamlessly available on TVs? Eric's new friends are a start, but more will be needed for Google TV to deliver on the promises made today.