Some people are speculating that the new patent application Apple filed, entitled, “Audio User Interface For Computing Devices,” is in fact talking about the iPhone.

After all, what better device than a phone to incorporate voice commands? Trying to navigate through menus while driving is an insanely dangerous activity. But navigating through the screens and menus by voice command could work! Even though this is a refresh of an old patent from 2004, the new language submitted in the patent rings very appropriate for the iPhone: “an audio user interface that generates audio prompts that help a user navigate through the features of a computing device. The audio prompts provide audio indicators that allow a user to focus his or her visual attention upon other tasks such as driving an automobile, exercising, or crossing a street.”

According to an article on Information Week, “By one estimate, cell phone distractions contribute to a yearly cost of 2,600 fatalities, 330,000 injuries, and a total societal cost of $43 billion.” Don’t be the first iPhone fatality! Until technology like voice interface arrives, be careful.

[Via Information Week]