Breathalyzer Reviews

LG LP4100 Cell Phone with Breathalyzer

An ABC News report says that Korean manufacturer LG plans to introduce its LP4100 breathalyzer-equipped cell phone to the US market during 2006.

The company placed several models on the market in [South Korea] last year and already has sold more than 200,000 units.

...Here's how it works: Users blow into a small spot on the phone, and if they've had too much to drink the phone issues a warning and shows a weaving car hitting traffic cones.

...The LP4100 also allows users to set up the phone so on certain nights and after a certain time they do not call certain people in their phone book. Think ex-boyfriend or ex-girlfriend.

If you have a blood alcohol level over .08, the phone will not let you dial that person. So it not only promotes sobriety, but chastity — and probably your dignity, as well.

LG previewed the unit at CES 2006, and it attracted some media attention (with multiple appearances of the headline "Friends Don't Let Friends Drink and Dial").

The Destructoid website commented:

Now this is one neat-o gadget for gamers who like taking their addiction to places such as GameWorks and Dave & Busters. You know, those “arcades” for adults. Presenting the LP4100 by LG. Yep, its a cell phone. We all have one, we all need one. All the expected features of a cool, modern gadget are there; an awesome LED screen, a 1.3 megapixel camera, mp3 player and more. BUT, what truly sets this one apart is the built-in breathalyzer! That's right kids, you can take a SOBRIETY TEST with this bad boy after a 5 de Mayo gaming fest! Also, I think it's intended to look like a sports car, which it kinda does. Too bad it's only available in Korea. Even if we had it here, it has a $400 price tag. Yikes! Complain to LG.

Iconoculture said:

Friends don't let friends drink and dial. Unless it's for a cab. That being the case, Korea's GSM LP4100 phone might be the best friend a barfly ever had: Its built-in breathalyzer gives a silent instant read on blood alcohol level and displays it on an LED screen.

We think this phone is dialed in about making a potentially embarrassing but necessary tool discreet. It empowers clubbers to stop themselves in their slurry-speeched tracks before they leave a regrettable voicemail message, let alone make a regrettable move behind the wheel.

Products that make it easier for party animals to play safely score points with both college kids and the 'rents. (At $400 a pop, this phone may require financial assistance.)

Discretion is the key to ... confronting embarrassing truths? Compared with in-your-face methods, a cellphone is about as discreet a protection one can get.

Gizmodo wrote:

You breathe into the phone and it’ll let you know how intoxicated you are. Simple enough right? Wrong. I was testing a model out last night after drinking a whole bottle of Jack, when I vomited all over the phone. In fact, it didn’t calculate anything! I tried again but dropped the phone 4 times before I got it. The screen didn’t say anything as the battery started to fall out, so I took it as an A-OK for me to get behind the wheel. Seriously, props to LG for this though. Every college student needs a breathalyzer phone along with a HotOrNot detector for late night Frat party hook-ups.

Mobile Magazine said:

The world’s first sports car phone with alcohol Breathalyzer has gotten tremendous popularity in Korea. The cell phone by LG was a big hit from the beginning mainly because of its outward appearance of a sports car.

...Having an alcohol measurement device attached to something like a cell phone is nothing but brilliant, especially among younger crowds who regularly drink after work or school and like to party. To use the sensor an intoxicated individual simply opens the phone and blows on the sensor, the LCD will tell you whether your level of alcohol in your blood is safe to drive.

Besides the alcohol measurement feature of this cell phone it is equipped with an advanced remote control for your TV, DVD and karaoke machine, etc. These two functions make this sports car phone appealing to most youths.

June 28th, 2006

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