Japan"s Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp and Honda said on Tuesday they have developed a car navigation system that allows drivers to send e-mail without taking their hands off the wheel.
The next-generation system, which lets drivers listen to their e-mail and encode voice messages into text, will be test launched next year, the two firms said.
Aside from map graphics, standard to all car navigation systems, the new system"s voice function will also tell the driver about road conditions, said Mariko Yabe, spokeswoman for Honda, Japan"s third-largest carmaker.
"The system will also weed out unnecessary e-mail when the road ahead looks too tough for the driver (to be distracted)," she said.
Yabe said it was too early to say how popular the new system would be.