Victoria would soon become the first Australian state to clamp down the use of iPhone - or other GPS-enabled smartphones - for navigation purposes while driving!

Going by the information forwarded by VicRoads, the Victorian roads and traffic authority, the new laws of the state would ban the use of mobile phones as satellite navigation gadgets.

With the new rules scheduled to come into effect November 9, it will become illegal for drivers to navigate using devices that serve the dual purpose of being a phone as well as a satellite navigation system.

A spokeswoman for VicRoads said: "A phone will only be allowed to be used for its primary purpose. If it's a phone, it's a phone."

The move will affect a number of navigation-specific applications developed by travel software makers, like TomTom, Navigon and Sygic. In addition, Nokia phones featuring the Ovi Maps application, and the Telstra phones using the Whereis Navigator services will also be affected.

However, TomTom's Australian marketing manager, Chris Kearney, opines that use of a cradle would likely be a legal way around the new rules. Kearney said: "What we are seeing just reinforces our safety message around the fact that you must use a mounted device in a car and not interact with the device while you are driving.

Essentially, it's about using the device in a correct manner."