How technology enhances the back-to-school experience

........"Texting is also a serious issue that has taken on many different forms, two of those being texting while driving and sexting. And while technology may be to blame, technology is also working to fix the problem. Many companies are trying to make parents sleep a little easier. Iconosys has an SMS Replier, which sends a prewritten message out to people who text someone when he or she is driving. That way, they don’t feel pressured to whip their phone out and start texting as they cruise down the highway. Although the SMS Replier is available now for certain phones, it is not yet ready for the iPhone but should be soon."
- As found in the "LA Times" (6/15/10)

Excerpt from LAPD Magazine

L.A. Fire Chief Millage Peaks offered a sobering statistic Monday [June 7] as he joined Chief Beck and Mayor Villaraigosa in launching a campaign to stop the dangerous practice of texting while driving: the LAFD responds to 100 traffic accidents a day and 28 percent are caused by someone texting while driving. That’s potentially more than 10,000 accidents in Los Angeles annually that could be prevented by focusing on the road instead of your iPhone, Blackberry, or cell phone.
The U.S. Department of Transportation tells us there are three forms of distracted driving: taking one’s eyes off the road (visual), taking one’s hands off the steering wheel (manual), or taking one’s attention off driving (cognitive), any of which creates a greater risk of injury or death while driving. Because texting while driving involves all three, it is the most dangerous form of distracted driving. Other research has shown that drivers who send or receive a text message tend to take their eyes off the road for about five seconds, enough time for a vehicle going at highway speed to travel more than 100 yards. This helps explain why nearly 6,000 people died in crashes involving distracted or inattentive drivers last year and more than 500,000 were injured. Researchers found that the most frequent offenders are the youngest and least-experienced drivers—men and women under the age of 20.
Chief Beck noted that it is illegal to text while driving and he has instructed officers to enforce the law. Every time a motorist is stopped for such an infraction, he/she spreads the word to family, friends, and coworkers that police are cracking down on the dangerous practice. As the word gets out, more and more people will comply with the law—for their own and others’ safety.
In our fast-paced, multitasking society—where we all feel time challenged—it can be very tempting to read and/or respond to text messages while stopped at a traffic signal or in grid-lock. We certainly hope the campaign launched this week will cause people to take steps to avoid the temptation. If you find it hard to resist, try this: silence your device and put it in the glove compartment until you reach your destination. You will be doing your part to make our streets and highways much safer.
 As Found in LAPD Magazine(6/7/10)

Speech Recognition Texting vs Automated Texting

Recently there has been a lot of commotion to ban texting and driving in the United States and throughout the world. There are many companies out there trying to develop new applications and devices to prevent texting and driving accidents from happening. Due to an uprising in many new developers coming out and sharing their products, some people have questions. One of the biggest ones is whether the applications which will read you the text and then allows for speech to text replies, or the applications which will send out an automated message every time you receive a text or a call is better.



What are the Pros and Cons of Speech Recognition?

The pros of the speech recognition applications are that you can know what the text said and then send an immediate text back. Although this would be a nice application to have, and could potentially be very useful… it still doesn’t get rid of the fact that it is still distracting. Sure, you do not have to be looking down at the phone and completely focused on what is being texted, but you still will end up looking at the phone and making sure what you said is texted. There was a recent video of the CEO of one of these companies displaying their product and while he was being filmed he drove through a red light. So, obviously these products still are not distraction free.



What are the Pros and Cons of Automated Text Response?

The pros of the automated text response applications are that your mind and focus can be full on the road and on what is happening around you. Also, with products like SMSReplier (http://www.smsreplier.com/) , it allows you to send either a default or custom message back to people stating what your current activity is. Little innovations like this are what is driving the industry forward and helping to prevent more texting while driving accidents. The only downside to applications like SMSReplier is that you cannot send the text right that minute; you would have to wait to send the response that you wanted to send when you arrive at your destination.



The Verdict…

I would have to go with the automated texting response applications, such as SMSReplier (http://www.smsreplier.com/). It is a lot safer for the user and still gets the job done. I would trade my safety for a late text message any day of the week.

For more information about SMS Replier and other available features visit http://www.smsreplier.com/ or http://www.iconosys.com/. For news and stories about texting and driving visit http://www.textkills.com/.

Technology That Makes Your Smart Phone...Smarter

As the advancements in technology continue, the hazards that accompany them become more prevalent. The turn of the 21^st century marked the era of instant communication. Cell phones have become a commodity, and texting a tool. As great as this may seem, the dangers that they entail are now being recognized.  In recent studies, the statistics show that 21% of teens that have been involved in a car accident were distracted by their phones.

So, why don’t the lawmakers do something about it?

They have, but regardless of the many laws banning cell phone use while driving, and the strict compliance from the police; the accidents from texting and driving continue to pile up. 

Why?

 The results of a recent study show that 52% of teen drivers answer cell phone calls and 34% admit to text messaging while driving. Realizing that laws alone cannot cap the death toll caused by texting and driving, Wayne Irving, CEO of Iconosys, took matters into his own hands by creating an app for one’s phone that limits its distracting potential while one is driving. This app, SMS Replier, is a revolution in the cell phone industry, demonstrating the full potential of a smart phone. This product, available for the Blackberry, Android, Droid X, Windows mobile, and most other smart phones, does not “brick” the phone, like many of the other competing products. Instead, SMS Replier automatically sends a response set by the user to anyone who texts or calls a phone when the app is activated. This is an ingenious solution to the easily avoidable problem of texting and driving.

For more information about SMS Replier and other available features visit smsreplier.com or  Iconosys.com. For news and stories about texting and driving visit textkills.com.

Written by: Philip M.

Edited by: Brandon S.

Ignorance? (my personal reflection on Jennifer Flockhart's story)

                It’s funny how fast things can change. Blink and you’ll miss it. Or in Jennifer Flockhart’s case, send a text message. The Iowa teen was killed in a car accident when she sent a text message that caused her to drive into a ditch. She was only 17. I am 17. A few weeks ago, I was speeding on the freeway; texting like it was going out of style. I was ignorant and irresponsible. I could've ended up like the young Ms. Flockhart.  This seems to be one of those issues where the phrase “ignorance is bliss” comes to mind. People figure if they don’t know the dangers of texting and driving, they are immune. I, however, strongly disagree with the phrase “ignorance is bliss”.  In this case, it is dangerous. After doing a little digging, I quickly realized...

Auto-Reply to Texts So You Can Drive Safely!

SMS Replier Pro is a must in today’s world of hundreds of crashes caused each day because of texting and driving. It is a simple and easy to use mobile application which allows the user to not feel the need to respond back to a text message in the case they are either busy or cannot respond back for whatever reason.

Onboard, built in is Iconosys proprietary driving recognition technology known as DriveReply™. DriveReply™ makes driving safer for everyone, because DriveReply™ recognizes when your car is moving and in response it will send out an "away" text message so that the driver doesn’t have to.

SMS Replier is fully customizable, allowing for personalization of messages both while driving and in 52 or more other instances where the user would need or benefit from an "away" type message. Personalization is what separates SMSReplier w/DriveReply™ from any competitive product.

There are 52 pre-set, built in, changeable/customizable messages and the user has the ability to add an unlimited amount of custom "away" type messages for any conceivable reason or purpose. The No-Reply List is a nice feature as well; this allows you to choose who the away messages are not sent out to.

The No-Reply is a function that prevents the app from sending a auto-reply or "away" type message to.

Why is No-Reply Important?

Are there people in your life that if you contact in any shape or manner, they would receive that as an invitation to continue to contact you. Example, harassment, ex-wife, ex-spouse, ex-stalker, ex-friend, etc.

The SMS Replier is a necessary application for your mobile device. You never know when a car will dart out in front of you or if something will fall off of a truck. You never know what is happening in front of you if you are looking down at your phone instead of at the road. Your vehicle is three to seven-thousand pounds and it can kill when not stopped.

Last seconds are deadly. Recent statistics shows that 28 percent of car crashes are now caused because one of the drivers was either texting or talking on the phone. Luckily, there are companies out there such as Iconosys, the creators of SMS Replier Pro, who are putting their efforts into stopping texting and driving.

Download SMSReplier at SMSReplier.com

by: Nick R.

edited by: Textkills.com

Have Some Common Sense- Texting and Driving

Basic common sense states that given two different activities of varying danger and the same end product, a person will take the safer route to reach the destination. This can be seen with many examples, such as riding a motorcycle with or without a helmet; most people would choose the safe option, of foregoing looks and wearing a helmet that could possibly save their life. However, when it comes to driving, people seemingly forget all about this principle. A statistic recently released from a joint survey between AAA and Seventeen Magazine in 2007 showed that 61% of teens admit to dangerous driving habits, and of that, 46% will admit to texting frequently while driving.

This begs the question, why?

If people have learned to take the safer road, why do people still insist on endangering not only themselves, but others as well, on the road with texting while driving? The answer is simple: we live in a fast-paced technological society, where responses are expected near instantaneously. When we’re driving, we feel the need to respond to whoever tries to contact us to keep up with the social norm, no matter how much we may be putting ourselves into harm’s way.

How can we fix this?

The answer is simpler than you think. Programs, such as SMSReplier with DriveReply, are designed to alleviate both of these problems at the same time. How it works is as an “away message” for your phone while driving, allowing for you to seemingly respond to your friends’ attempts of calling/texting you, while at the same time keeping your focus on the road where it should be. Products like this are the answer to our problem of texting while driving that we’re faced with every day.

You can download SMSReplier from SMSReplier.com.

-Brandon S. 7/22/10

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