New iPhone apps read blood alcohol levels

Two new apps have been created which can read alcohol levels and hail a taxi if drinkers are found to be over the limit.

The apps – Breathometer and BACtrack – can detect blood alcohol levels and use GPS navigation to call for back-up if users are over the limit

The smartphone phone applications, BACtrack for iPhones and Breathometer for iPhones and Android, were created to help curb drink driving in the US.

Both inventions can not only display alcohol readings in seconds, but can also detect a users GPS location and call a friend, family member or taxi should they be found to be over the limit.

They use US Food and Drug Administration-approved ethanol sensors, calculating blood alcohol levels within a 0.01% accuracy rate. The mobile breathalyser devices plug into the headset of the user’s smartphone, which the user can then blow into and retrieve an alcohol-level report.

The apps also estimate how long it will take for users to sober up and provides a drinking habit graph.

Charles Michael Yim, chief executive of Breathometer, said that connecting breathalysers to iPhones will help save consumers money buying a separate hand-held devices and will appeal to tech-savvy modern users.

In the US, it is illegal for drivers to get behind the wheel with a blood alcohol reading above 0.08%, a figure which might reduce to 0.05% under recommendations by the National Transport Safety Board.

Both set for worldwide release next month, Breathometer has an RRP of US$l49, while BACtrack’s RRP is US$150.