iZUP Featured in the Boston Globe

2009-10-26

A text blocker for reckless drivers

Texting while doing anything is bad for you, apparently: One of my journalism students at Emmanuel College recently filed a piece about folks walking into light posts and tripping over sandwich boards, because they couldn’t be bothered to take their eyes off their handsets.

There may never be a digital cure for the lack of common sense exhibited by this cloddish subpopulation. But for drivers, a new Android, BlackBerry, and Windows Mobile app from Concord-based Illume Software might prove a lifesaver.

The app, called iZup, uses GPS to calculate your speed - and whether you are driving. If you are moving faster than your feet can carry you, iZup automatically locks out calls and text messages. That means incoming calls go to voice mail, and text messages are held in a queue, until you come to a stop.

IZup also prevents you from placing calls and sending messages while you are in motion.

A demo version of iZup will be available next week. The full version will be out in December, according to Illume.

Investors obviously see a market for mobile nanny-ware. Illume announced that it has raised $1 million since February. (The company had already received $2.4 million, since it was founded in 2008.)

But I can also see hardcore texters disabling iZup soon after installing the app. It’s like using nanny-ware to curb your addiction to Internet porn or Facebook. Where willpower is lacking, the addict can wriggle out of virtually any trap - especially if it’s one he set for himself.

By: Mark Baard

http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2009/10/26/new_box_offers_a_branded_experience/