iPhone, BlackBerry helps in finding Corruption

Mexico City: Curbing corruption may be easier with a new application that enables users of iPhones and BlackBerrys to catch police taking bribe and also check traffic instructions.

The new application created for iPhone and the iPod will soon be available to BlackBerry users. It has a traffic-fine calculator, a map showing directions to parking lots where vehicles are impounded after their drivers violate traffic rules.

The anti-bribe programme costs 20 pesos (about $1.50) in the virtual Apple store, and in less than three months has had more than 11,000 downloads, the administrator of the Futuro Movil company, Daniel Martinez Landeros, said.

Apart from having the list of emergency numbers, the programme gives information about the type of vehicles allowed to commute in any specific area on a particular day and restrictions about the use of old vehicles.

The company has also developed an application to keep users updated about the traffic along their way and alternative routes.

The system will inform the users about road accidents, detours besides giving them access to the history of each vehicle to see if it has any traffic fines pending.