In the last days of 2001, federal District Judge Matthew Kennelly ruled in Vosi's favor, reported the Chicago Tribune. The ruling defines the language in three Vosi patents on in-car recording devices in broad terms to include telematics communications. This could mean millions of dollars in licensing fees from the automotive sector.

This is definitely not good news for Motorola who filed suite in June of 2001 against Vosi to limit the scope of the start-up company’s patents.

Vosi’s VosiCello
Vosi Technologies’ Visocello is an all-in-one communications, security and entertainment system for the car. While a driver’s cell phone sits the recharge unit, they will be able to receive pre-selected downloaded information from the Internet such as e-mail and weather information. The driver can also talk hands-free and record important calls for later playback.

Motorola’s Bluetooth Hands-Free Car Kit
Days after the ruling, Motorola introduced its version of hands-free driving with the introduction of its Bluetooth hands-free car kit.

By combining Bluetooth and voice recognition technologies, Motorola says it has brought hands-free communication to a new level. For example, when a driver enters their car engaged in a telephone conversation using any Bluetooth 1.1 compatible mobile handset, the conversion will automatically be transferred to the in-car system. Then using simple voice commands, a driver can initiate a call and dial over a 100 voice-activated phone numbers as long as the handset is within a 30-foot radius of the system. Motorola says the handset does not necessarily have to support voice activation to be compatible with the telematics system.

During the course of the year, many states are expected to follow New York’s lead and implement hands-free legislation, thus intensifying the hands-free communication battle not only in the marketplace but also in the courtroom.