T-Mobile offers app that blocks texts, calls while driving
By ANISaturday, January 22, 2011
WASHINGTON - Don’t have the willpower to decline calls or texts when you’re driving? Well, a German telecom company has come up with an application that does it for you.
T-Mobile has developed a new service, DriveSmart Plus, which automatically disables most texting and calling features when a phone senses that it is in motion.
“We heard loud and clear from our customers that distracted driving is an issue they care deeply about. They want to help themselves drive responsibly, and they want to make sure their kids are doing the same,” ABC News quoted Torrie Dorrell, T-Mobile USA’s vice president of applications, content and games, as saying.
The 4.99 dollars per month application, developed by Emeryville, Calif.-company Location Labs, will be available to T-Mobile customers with Android smartphones.
When activated, the DriveSmart application determines how quickly a phone is switching between cell phone towers. When it senses that the phone is moving faster than 10 mph, within a few minutes, it automatically sends phone calls to voicemail or a hands-free Bluetooth headset (depending on which version the customer selects). It sends text messages to a user’s inbox.
Depending on the phone, the application can also disable audible alerts so that the driver isn’t even aware of incoming messages.
If drivers want to override the service for an emergency call or if users want to override the feature while they’re in the passenger seat (or even on a moving bus), DriveSmart allows that.
Location Labs’ CEO Tasso Roumeliotis said the application would initially only be available on newer T-Mobile Android phones. But considering that the response to the service has been “exceptional,” they hope to reach other platforms. (ANI)
