BOCA RATON, Fla., July 20, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Two-time Grammy
nominated singer/songwriter Justin
Bieber and PhoneGuard, Inc. (OTCQB: OPMG) (PINKSHEETS:
OPMG), have announced the July
19 launch of their Text Responsibly campaign through the use
of PhoneGuard's free Drive Safe™ phone application, which disables
the texting, emailing and keyboard functions of a mobile phone
while in a vehicle moving faster than 10 miles per hour. As an
advocate of responsible texting, Justin and PhoneGuard
(www.PhoneGuard.com) have joined forces with the Remember Alex
Brown Foundation to create a dialogue with teens and their parents
to raise awareness of the issue. The Remember Alex Brown Foundation
was established by the family of Alex
Brown, a high school senior who tragically lost her life in
2009 while texting and driving.
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110720/FL38265-a
)
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110720/FL38265-b
)
The multi-faceted campaign features video footage of Justin, who
informs drivers that they are more important than any text will
ever be, as well as footage of the sweepstakes. Every driver that
downloads the free Drive Safe™ application is entered into a
sweepstakes to win a Justin
Bieber-signed jacket from his concert tour. Additional video
footage details the Brown family's tragic loss and the importance
of responsible texting. Photography featuring still images of
Justin Bieber, the Brown family and
the PhoneGuard team with Justin is also part of the campaign, while
quotes directly from Justin reiterate his partnership with
PhoneGuard and his dedication responsible texting and the Remember
Alex Brown Foundation.
"This is a cause that's really important to me, and I know
affects a lot of my fans," Justin
Bieber said. "That's why I decided to work with PhoneGuard,
because we share the same vision and goal. It's simple: text
responsibly."
According to the Department of Transportation, those who text
message while driving are 23 percent more likely to get
into an accident, and more than 1,000 deaths result from
texting and driving each year. Additionally, distracted
driving causes more than 600,000 accidents and 448,000
injuries a year, making responsible texting imperative for drivers
today.
"We are thrilled to partner with Justin
Bieber as we launch the Drive Safe™ responsible texting
application," said PhoneGuard CEO Scott
Frohman. "Knowing Justin's dedication to responsible
texting, it was only natural for PhoneGuard to join him in
spreading the message to every driver on the road."
Available for Blackberry and Android smart phones, the Drive
Safe™ application enables global positioning satellite (GPS)
tracking to calculate the speed of travel while a vehicle is in
motion. Once vehicle speed reaches 10 miles per hour, the Drive
Safe™ application locks the phone's keyboard, preventing the user
from emailing, surfing the web or texting while driving. Other
Drive Safe™ features include an Auto-Reply button, a pre-set
response that is automatically delivered to the texter or caller
and reads I am driving and will contact you when I reach my
destination; a Request Permission button that allows users to
request permission from the administrator to have functionality of
the mobile phone; and an Admin Override button, allowing the
administrator to type in a set password to override PhoneGuard's
System Settings so that specific mobile
functions can be utilized. For example, if a child is riding the
bus, Drive Safe™ will know he or she is in a moving vehicle and
will disable the phone. The child will then hit Request Permission,
which sends a text message to the administrator. The administrator
can then text "yes" back to the disabled phone, unlocking the phone
for 15 minutes. After this time limit, the keyboard will be
disabled again.
PhoneGuard and Justin Bieber
developed Drive Safe™ as a simpler and free version of a larger
application suite, which will be available in September at
$29.99 a year through this initial
free application. Their hope is to make Drive Safe™ accessible to
as many drivers as possible.
For more information regarding PhoneGuard's Drive Safe™
responsible texting application, as well as Justin Bieber's joint campaign, visit
www.PhoneGuard.com, www.facebook.com/PhoneGuard or on Twitter at
@Phone_Guard.
About PhoneGuard, Inc.
PhoneGuard, Inc., a subsidiary of Options Media Group Holdings,
Inc., is a leading provider of mobile applications software. The
Company's flagship product, the Drive Safe™ anti-texting
while driving software application suite, is a next-generation
software suite with the most robust set of features and functions
available today. The software product, which is easily downloadable
to mobile phones, allows for global positioning satellite tracking
of the mobile device in order to calculate the rate of speed of
travel. Above certain predetermined speeds, the Drive Safe Software
will lock the keyboard and prevent the user from emailing, surfing
the web or texting. While Drive Safe Software is designed to
prevent texting while driving, it also offers parents and employers
the ability to monitor the driving habits of mobile phone users in
order to prevent speeding. More information on PhoneGuard is at
www.PhoneGuard.com.
SOURCE PhoneGuard, Inc.
