zoomsafer

Tech firms offer texting fixes for cars

LAS VEGAS -- Texting while driving. No issue provokes more public fear and outrage about driver distraction.

Several startup companies say they have an answer, and they hope major automakers take notice.

This year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas devoted lots of space to companies touting safe-driving technology.

Among the exhibitors was Matt Howard, CEO of Zoomsafer Inc., which sells a cell phone application that blocks text messages when people are driving.

The app uses global positioning satellite data to determine whether the phone is moving above a certain speed. If a text message comes in, the sender … Read more

Text police: Vlingo, Text Arrest, ZoomSafer

Ever since California passed its no-texting-while-driving law, we've seen a steady stream of mobile apps aimed at overcoming the temptation. Most are marketed to parents of rebellious teens and lock down certain phone features, like texting, e-mail, and placing calls after sensing movement of 10 miles per hour or so. TextArrest is one such freemium application we've seen at CTIA 2010, and many others abound in a section of the show floor carved out specifically for mobile driving solutions.

As with some of the others, TextArrest--which also has a commercial solution for policing a company's professional drivers--takes … Read more

BlackBerry addicts drive safely with ZoomSafer

Matt Howard, a software entrepreneur, developed ZoomSafer following an incident when he almost killed a 9-year-old boy because he was texting while driving. He knew that if it happened to him, it could happen to anyone.

Howard, along with co-founders Mike Costello and Mike Riemer, gathered $1 million in venture capital to launch preventative mobile software, called ZoomSafer. When the car has passed 10 mph, ZoomSafer disables the keyboard on the phone and replies to calls or texts with a message letting them know the driver is on the road.

Big deal; why not switch the phone to airplane mode … Read more