I’m addicted to my Blackberry and thus addicted to text messaging and the instant access to my email. I’ve overcome some of my need to check it obsessively with each “ding” or “beep” by assigning different sounds to different email accounts, txt messages and UberTwitter so I can better identify what arrived without looking. But it’s still hard for me to avoid sneaking a peak when I’m at a stop light. I’ve considered setting the phone to silent or to my custom “phone only” sound scheme when driving, but I often forget to do that until the first SMS message arrives after I’m already well on my way.
A post about a potential solution to this crossed my twitter feed via @mamamezlove the other day and I think it might do the trick – Drivesafe.ly, an application that reads your incoming texts and emails outloud. The free version only reads 25 words of your messages, but that’s often more than enough for a text message. For those who need more, there are two levels of paid service – monthly and a one-time “life of the phone” license. And because it’s not always appropriate for your messages to be spoken outloud, it’s easy to toggle on and off and adjust the volume of the speaking voice.
Right now this software is only available for Blackberry OS 4.5 and Android OS 1.5, but iPhone, Windows Mobile and Symbian are expected to be coming soon.
TECHBUNNY 