Tag: wearable tech

The first person to receive a ticket for using the smartwatch while behind the wheel is in Quebec, Canada.

A man named Jeffrey Macesin, who lives in Quebec, Canada, has now become the first person to receive a traffic ticket for having used the Apple Watch while behind the wheel of a vehicle that was in operation.

That said, Macesin has revealed that he intends to appeal this fine as he was not using a handheld device.

The ticket was for CAD$120 (approximately US$96) and four demerit points were added to Macesin’s license after he was spotted by police using his Apple Watch to change the song that was playing on his iPhone. The smartphone, itself, was in a bag, plugged into a charging cable that was also connecting the device to the radio. He explained “I have it in the bag charging while the auxiliary cable is plugged in to the radio and this controls my phone to play the music,” adding that “I was changing songs with my hand on the steering wheel.”

As the Apple Watch was used to change the music, a police car turned on his lights and pulled Macesin over.

Macesin obtained his smartwatch on the first day of the device launch, April 24. He has now been prosecuted under Section 439.1 of the Quebec Highway Safety Code, which says that “no person may, while driving a road vehicle, use a hand-held device that includes a telephone function.” What Macesin is now arguing is that a smartwatch is not a hand-held device. It is wearable technology. The reason is that the device was not in his hand, it was on his wrist.

Wearable technology has caused people to experience troubles behind the wheel in the past. In October 2013, a woman was famously pulled over for having been wearing smartglasses. Cecilia Abadie was driving in San Diego while wearing the Google Glass headset. That said, that situation was different from the one involving the Apple Watch in Quebec, as the law in California said that the regulation that was violated was for “driving with monitor visible to the driver,” which specified the device display as opposed to the nature of the gadget.

The announcement was made at the New Fantasyland ribbon-cutting ceremony in Disney World, Florida.

Disney has implemented a billion dollar mobile technology system in many of its different theme parks in order to help its guests to be able to reduce the length of time that they spend standing in line, and to be able to pay for the items that they want at the gift shops.

Now, it will be expanding this mobile tech to reach into other parts of its Disney resorts and parks.

The MyMagic+ $1 billion program uses mobile technology build into wristbands and an app that make it possible for guests at Walt Disney world resorts and parks to be able to pay for food and merchandise, open their hotel room doors, book their ride times, and even make meal reservations at restaurants. This makes it possible for the guests to book more of the different parts of their trips in advance, to reduce waiting time, personalize their visits, and allow them to move through the park more quickly, without delays.

So far, there have been more than 11 million of the mobile technology wristbands (MagicBands) used.

According to Tom Staggs, the chief operating officer, “The folks who are saying the MyMagic+ experience is excellent is the vast, vast majority of folks who are using it, and that, we know, is good for our business.” Staggs was speaking from the Disneyland Resort at an apartment once occupied by Walt Disney, during the 60th anniversary year of that park.

Staggs had been the head of the Disney parks and resorts division from 2010 until February 2015, when he became the COO. It is believed that he will be next in line for the CEO position when the current chief exec, Bob Iger, steps down in 2018.

One of the many ways in which Disney intends to continue the growth of its business is to ensure that it keeps on top of the latest in wearable and mobile technology. According to Staggs, they intend to continue to bring additional versions of MyMagic+ to their different parks and their other businesses across the globe.