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Tag: texting

TextNoMore: It’s like a nicotine patch to help prevent texting while driving

One company may have a solution to help decrease the number of people texting behind the wheel–and in so doing make the roads safer. That company is Portland’s own TextNoMore.

Rick Turoczy on September 22, 2010

Now, we all know—or should know—that the habit of texting while driving is less than safe. Actually, it’s dangerous. Some studies say it’s as dangerous as driving drunk—perhaps moreso. And yet, millions of people do it every single day. Because we’re a little addicted to the whole texting thing. Even though it’s illegal.

Now, given that we live in a rewards-based, give-me-a-cookie-for-doing-what-I-should-be-doing-anyway society, one company may have a solution to help decrease the number of people texting behind the wheel–and in so doing make the roads safer. That company is Portland’s own TextNoMore. Read More

ccSync: Bringing the chatroom and IRC dynamic to SMS with group texting

With Portland-based ccSync, suddenly your text messages begin to resemble a chatroom or IRC. Every message goes to every person in the group. Voila. Group SMS.

Rick Turoczy on November 18, 2009

[Full disclosure: I have consulted with ccSync in the past before they reconfigured their product offering. I was pre-briefed on the launch of this product, but I have not been involved in the launch planning.]

For all the cool Web apps, iPhone apps, and mobile technologies, few things beat SMS for market penetration. That’s what makes it so great. Next to actually calling someone on the phone—but I mean, who does that?—texting is the easiest way to communicate with folks. Because practically anyone carrying a phone in their pocket can send and receive SMS messages—so long as their data plan I allows it.

So as far as having SMS? Great. But using SMS only works for very particular applications. Like one-to-one conversations. If you want to use that technology to communicate with three different people, you’re going to wind up sending that message three different times.

If only there were some way to talk to a group of people—in a controlled confidential way, not a public Twitter way—using this nearly ubiquitous technology. Well, now there is. Introducing ccSync. Read More