SMS Weblogs / Textually / 2004 / 05

The San Mateo County Times reports on various password security schemes, and one is related to SM

From the company that pioneered text messaging, picture messaging and multimedia messaging, comes new innovation - Wave Messaging, or Light Messaging, according to a Nokia press release

By waving the Nokia 3220 camera phone from side to side, the LED lights of the Nokia Xpress-on FunShell light up to "write" a message that appears to float in mid-ai

A free service lets sports fans use text messaging to answer baseball trivia questions at the home of the Oakland Athletics, according to the San Mateo County Times Onlin

I was in Nice (France) yesterday, just for the day and on our way back to the airport, cars were lined up on the side of the freeway, right before the ramp leading to the arrival terminal

Devices such as the Nokia 6600, 3650, Sony Ericsson P900 etc could represent a serious threat to mobile operator revenue streams, reports Wi-Fi Technology New

Australia's Border Mail reports on yet another case where text messaging has been used as evidence in cour

Two California women have sued AT&T Wireless Services, claiming the cellphone company got too big too fast and let the quality of its service slip, according to Reuter

Privately-held Dutch firm Route66, one of Europe's biggest sellers of CD-ROM-based car navigation kits for use on personal computers, said it would sell road maps of an entire country and the necessary navigation software on a tiny memory card that can be inserted into the latest advanced phones, reports Reuter

Orange UK has announced it has launched a "Find Nearest" service, which allows customers to use SMS messages to locate restaurants, businesses, taxis, or themselves if lost - according to DMeurop

Hutch, India's leading cellular service provider, has launched a Push to Talk service, reports Cellular New

A year ago, Booktopia, Korea's leading e-book company by sales, used PDAs as its primary platform to serve reader

Tight security and cellular phones have changed the way Americans pick people up at the airport, reports USA Today in an eye-opening articl

In what looks like the first major blurring between telecommunications companies, credit card networks and banks, a conglomerate of mobile networks is launching a system that may take on credit cards as a way of paying for things, online and off, according to The Guardia

Another school uses text messaging to inform parents of their child's absence, but in this case, a little more agressively than mos

The third season of hit Fox television show American Idol brought in 1

A service for deaf and disabled people that simulates SMS texting, but at a fraction of the cost, has been launched by British company Chatterbox, reports the BB

On Tuesday June 1st, French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin will answer questions online (at premier-ministr

Cash prizes of $ 200 to $300 are on offer to TV viewers in Argentina who are able to reply back to questions sent to their mobile within 60 seconds, reports 160character

A new SMS service is offered by a Belgian community, to remind people to bring down their trash on garbage collection day, reports KanaalZ (in French

This is another story I found on my new favorite blog, we-make-money-not-ar

Spanish company Dualia has developed a system of simultaneous translation in thirty languages to and from Spanish via mobile telephone, according to a wonderful new blog- which I strongly recommend, it's filled with fresh cell phone stories - called we-make-money-not-ar

Voter registration campaigns are turning to a new weapon to combat low turnout among younger voters this November: the cellphone, according to the NY Time

Australia's ABC News Online reports that the Police could get access to stored voicemails, emails and SMS messages under a Bill introduced to federal Parliament toda

Yesterday Mike Masnick posted the story in Techdirt on the teenage Indian girl who committed suicide after receiving an SMS saying (incorrectly) that she had failed her exams, and in reply to this post, one of Techdirt's readers suggested in the comment section, that this was probably just an urban legend (obviously someone who doesn't realize the kind of pressure these students are under

Dodgebal

UrbanWorld Wireless announces the launch of the first mobile content and information portal specifically geared to the urban market, catering to young, hip, mobile phone users, according to a company press releas

People in the UK are spending more on their mobiles than they are on their gas and electricity bills, according to the BB

According to a new development in the Kobe Bryant sexual assault case, The defense reportedly may try to use the accuser's own cell phone messages-- to get the case dismissed, reports abc

Blog star Xeni Jardin is interviewed by Fox News on text-messaging and romanc

Retail brand FCUK (French Connection UK) is planning on building an online community via mobile phone, in "a first trans-atlantic SMS promotion" according to PMN and Brand Republi

The non-governmental American watchdog group Council for Excellence in Government has released a new report on the work done by the recently-created US Department of Homeland Security, claiming that the agency can and should do more with mobile technology to keep citizens up to date on emergency development

An explosion in prepaid service has made cellphones available to millions of people in Latin America, and has sent use skyrocketing, according to the NYTime

Following up on a story posted earlier today, about an Indian teenager who committed suicide after checking her exam results and learning (incorrectly) that she had failed, leading mobile service providers are cautioning students to double check their exam results, reports NDT

The Inquirer reports that UK regulatory body, ICSTIS, has managed to fine six companies for a text message sca

Nokia is dipping into China, hoping to get a firmer grasp on the epicenter of Asia's rapidly growing economy and the world's leading cell phone marketplac

See Updat

New research shows that 58% of people in the UK are happy to receive 'coupons' for discount offers and promotions on their mobile phones, and that redemption rates can be as high as 86%, according to Revolution Magazin

In what luckily turned out to be just a hoax, two South African teenagers were arrested for sending a bomb threat by SMS to their High School, according to iafric

According to a survey conducted by Swinburne University of Technology in Victoria, Australia, women prefer text messages when it comes to initiating a relationship on their own, reports WebIndi

Text messaging is working for the wine industry as a promotional tool, with Montana already toasting the success of its "win a trip to Queenstown" texting competition, according to The New Zealand Heral

Textually'sweekly listing of SMS related domain names that have come up for sale and are available to the public agai

Tim Berners-Lee, has gone on record against the idea of a mobile-only TLD (top level domain

Engadget reports on a not-so-funny story and definitely something to keep in mind BEFORE donating a cell phon

Last week in Sydney, fans of Melbourne rockers Jet were given the option of receiving their tickets in the form of a bar code sent by SMS to their mobile phones, reports The Ag

Via Mike Masnick at Techdirt Wireless: "While text messaging has been huge in Europe and Asia, it's been a bit behind the curve in the U

Norwegian teachers are concerned that text messaging is hurting the Norwegian language, according to a sociologist’s recent survey of their attitudes and reported by DMeurop

JetSMS, allows Jetstar customers, who are connected to any mobile network within Australia, to make ticketless bookings 24 hours a day with the airline by SMS, according to Asia C/Ne

Going smart via the SMS mode is an endeavor by (Indian) Chennai City Traffic Police (CCTP) to better service the people and at the same time for the citizens to actively participate in regulating the traffic, according to Voicendata

"While driving on Chennai road, if you encounter any accident or traffic violation you can alert CCTP on the same by SMSing to 98400-0010

Cellular service providers may have launched their latest offering — sms alerts for your missed calls — with much fanfare but most mobile phone users have nothing but complaint

The WSJ reports that a number of

I was wondering around Google and this website caught my ey

Mobile technology research firm mobileYouth claims that under 25 year-olds in the UK spend five times as much of their disposable income on cell phones, calls, texting and content as they are with music retailers [via Revolution Magazine]

This equates to 11% of all spending in this age group, who spend an average of £238 a year on mobile phones and just £49 on musi

According to a new survey - to take with a grain of salt - and reported by Reuters Britain is becoming a nation of text maniacs, and losing the art of conversation into the bargai

This sounds frightening to me, though the company (Azure) claims in a press release that it's needed by wireless networks to ward off telecom criminals trying to defraud the

Kwickee Guides, an "Ask Experts" mobile service mentioned earlier this week, has signed a deal with independent health website NetDocto

China is close to completing a draft of its first Telecommunications Law, which could help level the playing field for domestic carriers, better protect consumers and provide opportunities for foreign vendors, reports the WS

boingboing reports that a Swedish cult-leader implicated in serial murders is in trouble because of the damning, deleted SMSes recovered off his mobile-phone's SI

Portuguese bank, Bank Espirito Santo, has announced the launch of its bank services specially designed for the recent Portuguese UMTS platform, reports DMeurop

Textually's new weekly listing of SMS related domain names that have come up for sale and are available to the public agai

The British Methodist Church has launched a text message campaign, asking young people to come up with an "11th commandment" - and first prizes are cameraphones, according to their press releas

This month, Minute Man National Historic Park became the first in the country to offer a cellphone guid

In this story, reported by a local paer, it seems that cell phones and text messages created an information chaos, during a crisis at Gilroy High schoo

The UK’s first SMS-based gambling service is being launched to coincide with the start of Euro 2004, reports sportsbusines

Another precinct, this time in South Devon, is counting on text messaging to crackdown on crime, according to a local bulleti

Young people hooked on using mobile phones and facing increasing debt have been offered support through Queensland's legal aid system, reports ninems

The BBC has launched its first online search and mobile phone services aimed specifically at children, according to the Digital Bulleti

An entertaining press release from Sendo, a British mobile phones supplier to Network Operators around the worl

"What a shame to wake up in India under foreign rule!" says one of the text message sent by opponents of Gandhi, in a campaign against her becoming prime ministe

The Red Ferret Journal reports on yet another general mobile "Ask Experts" service, Kwickee Bitesiz

The Scotsman counts the weird and wonderful ways to ensnare a mate, amongst which is a practice reffered to as jam texting, first written up in 2002 - but hasn't made the papers in a while - which conducted from a car while waiting in traffic, enables a mobile user to text someone interesting-looking in a car nearb

Chess may be the proverbial game of kings, but the World Chess Federation has now sanctioned it as a game for mobile phone users, reports the International Herald Tribun

AirTel in India has unveiled a prototype of a coin-operated public telephone that will enable users to send SMS and e-mails to any mobile phone or mail ID, according to an article in The Telegrap

Starting this week, mobile phone users in Vietnam can order legal documents by text messaging and have them faxed or e-mailed back to them thanks to a new service called Vietlaw-SMS, reports Vietnam New

The Register reports on a Nordic survey which claims "84 per cent of 11,000 mobile users surveyed suffered warmth behind the ear or even burning ski

In a July 2003 survey, Tokyo-based mobile ad agency D2 Communications, found that about 84 percent of i-mode users subscribed to some form of mobile news service, according to Japan Media Review via Smart Mob

The San Mateo County Times describes how some Danish companies have used this week's nuptuals of Crown Prince Frederik to Mary Donaldson, to promote their Web sites and cell phone gamin

In the Philippines, a youth group is calling on all Maranaos to text the marines emergency number, expressing their condemnation of the killing of a student and the wounding of eight others in Tuesday night’s strafing by a Marine contingent, according to Minda New

An article from the Houston Chronicle on Dodgebal

It may be more commonly used to vote on television show or make plans with friends, but text-messaging is increasingly being employed in health problems, according to The New Zealand Heral

The telecom phone revolution has greatly influenced the lifestyle of people with mobile phones becomings an indispensable part of modern life, according to Mobile Lifestyle study conducted by Siemens Mobile, reports deepikagloba

The huge popularity of cell phones and their and multi functions have made for the creation of new professions, think of ringtone composers and now, China is experiencing a proliferation of text message writers, according to an article in China Vie

Posted on adMblog:

Japanese lawmakers scolded for sending SMS in Parliament

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi scolded rookie lawmakers Thursday for reading comic books and sending text messages during legislative sessions, according to The Associated Pres

The Associated Press via Engadget reports on an incident - similar reported incidents are widely credited as being urban legends - whereby flames shot up around a college student whose cell phone rang while he was pumping ga

Cell phone users who want to get out of work or a dreaded dinner date now have a handy excuse, according to Wire

From MobileWhack: "On one episode of "24" Keifer Sutherland's character was unable to call for hel

Game giants Sony and Nintendo have respective plans for high-powered devices that are expected to expand the portable-gaming market from the kid focus of Nintendo's Game Boy Advanc

Technology Editor Francis Chin for Today Online, writes a great essay on how information technology (IT) has helped trigger revolutions and topple tyrant

USA Today reports on a start up company, i2teleco

In case of a car crash, vehicules will be equipped to automatically send a text message to an emergency number, reports Teleco

Following yesterday's post on mobile search engine-style services, another human search engine by SMS has launched in the UK, but this time, the service answers questions adressed by a very specific group of the population, pet owner

Belgian incumbent telco Belgacom has announced it is to scrap roughly 4,000 of the country’s telephone booths because so few people are using them anymore, according to DMEurop

Dobson Cellular Systems has announced it will market a dynamic new wireless telephone that uses the world's first interactive wireless accessory known as a SmartSkin, reports TMCne

In Manilla, The National Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) admitted yesterday it was overwhelmed by the volume of election returns results sent via text messaging, saying this caused a delay in their tabulation

Two Chinese men have been jailed for using cell phone text messages to swindle money from subscribers by telling them they had won lottery prizes, according to the Xinhua news agency, reported by Reuter

Textually's new weekly listing of SMS related domain names that have come up for sale and are available to the public agai

Japan's top mobile phone service provider NTT DoCoMo Cor

More on issuebit

Fans of CBS' hit show "CSI: Miami'' recently joined the official probe into a fictional air disaster on Miami Beach, and while they watched the show, viewers picked through the forensic evidence online, trying to solve the mystery first, reports The Mercury New

For the first time in the show's eight-season history, America can vote for their favorite "Survivor" using their wireless phone and text messaging capabilities or online via ww

A text message casanova in Australia has duped a single mum into incurring a $7000 SMS bill, reports the The Advertise

adMblog reports on an up and coming Coca-Cola summer promotion with" James Bond-like gadgetry", sneak previewed in USA Toda

European football fans will be able to follow all the action from Euro 2005 on their mobile phones, reports the BB

Michael Dailey of Australia, 44 was fined US$158 for chatting on his cell phone, not while driving a bus, a commuter traing, a cab or his own car, but his bicycl

Calls made to cell phones at Los Angeles International Airport, the Rose Bowl, Universal Studios and other high-profile landmarks could be jammed during terrorism alerts, according to the AP and reported by Mike Masnick in Techdirt Wireles

Mobile phone maker Motorola In

New Media Zero reports reports that British Airways has joined forces with Vodafone to offer Vodafone Live! mobile Internet users a range of airline informatio

Dennis Redmont for the Associated Press, reports on a two day meeting of some of the world's major newspaper editors and their concerns with regard to shrinking newspaper circulatio

A text message stored in a woman's mobile phone - but not sent - claimed her former husband wanted to kill he

In an article Australian IT reviewing successful tie-ups with televsion shows and text messaging, News Corporation content and marketing senior vice-president Lucy Hood, believes direct-to-mobile film series are the futur

Sharp has put a 3D display (no glasses need) into two cellular telephones for NTT DoCoMo, according to PC World, in an interesting article on 3D technolog

This is wild - if I got it straight - in which case it would be a real firs

A consultancy firm, Frost & Sullivan, believes that sending text messages from your fixed line phone is the next big thin

The use of mobile phones as a marketing device has become more and more popular over recent years, reports in-source

The Assaulted Women's Helpline and Canadian wireless operator Bell Mobility will be launching a mobile service to come in aid of battered women within the province of Ontari

Japan's top mobile phone operator NTT DoCoMo said its group net profit in the year to March tripled to a record 650 billion yen (

Software maker Majesco is working on a wireless application for Nintendo's Game Boy console, that will allow users to send text messages, reports New

Worldwide shipments of mobile phones grew in the first quarter of 2004 compared with the same period last year, buoyed by strong demand for camera phones and color screens, reports New

Hey, this could really be helpful to a lot of people, a cell phone magnifying lense accessory, The Phone Monocl

South Africa, Uganda and Nigeria were singled out for praise in promoting telecommunications development by an official of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), during the the African Telecoms 2004 conference yesterday, reports allAfric

The Belfast Telegraph reports on yet another example of law enforcers using cell phones to fight crim

A British mobile phone network engineer has become the world's fastest texter, according to the BB

Minutes are being cut from response times because of technology that allows crews to pinpoint the location of the distress call, writes Justin Hunt for The Guardia

As the Philippines prepares for next week's general election, an independent vote counting body is preparing to relay its tallies by tapping into the country's fondness for text messaging, reports the The Voice of Americ

South African pop diva Brenda Fassie's hospitalisation has generated so much public interest that a SMS service giving updates and allowing support messages to be sent went into operation on Wednesday, reports iafric

French consumer association UFC-Que choisir has called for an SMS boycott on 9 May to protest the cost of the service, reports Telecom Paper (pay per view)

"At end-2003, the group had criticised 80% profit margins made on SMS

John Witney, 39, who launched Jobserve, a ‘jobs by email’ service in the UK, is launching a mobile version called Jobstel, reports Online Recruitemen

Cingular Wireless publishes for the second year in a row, some hurricane emergency tips before the weather strike

In a case of over doing it, Indian politicians - who are in in the midst of five rounds of national elections that will finish May 10th - have been manipulating SMS technology into a tool of annoyanc

The security company, SecurityFocus has reported a flaw in the software of the Siemens S55 phone that could enable messages to be sent from a handset without the owners knowledge, reports Cellular New

Cell phones remain high on the list of the most complained about industries in the United States for the second consecutive year, according to 2003 data released today by the Better Business Bureau

Johna Till Johnson writing for WirelessNewsFacto

In Brunei, students of the Universiti Brunei Darussalam can sign up online to receive their exam results by SM

Wireless entertainment company MForma said its wireless games will be sold through Yahoo!’s newly redesigned Mobile site, reports RCR Wireless New

This article in Media Week claims media professionals are more mobile savvy than workers in other industries and explains how they communicate with their clients by cell phone and, if the client agrees, by text messagin

An SMS strike is planned in France on May 5, inviting french people not to send any SMS on that day, in protest of the operators' high billing rate

Hitachi has developed a new mobile phone chip that nearly quintuples image-processing speeds, making video game characters and scenary move faster and smoother, according to MobileMa

Tony Connock for the Telegraph writes an interesting article on "the little-recognised role that technology has in exposing the real you

How did I miss this? Justin Hall wrote on April 21st a feature story entitled Cellular Cruising for Casual Sex for TheFeatur

Dear John letters are in danger of being consigned to the dustbin of history as almost one in 10 people has finished a relationship by text message, according to a survey, reports UK Telegrap

Netinformer, a wireless interactive media company, and Verizon Wireless have teamed up with Major League Baseball's Anaheim Angels to launch an in-stadium mobile messaging system allowing fans to participate in live interactive contests, according to a company press release

"Fans will use their mobile phones to play an interactive baseball trivia game broadcast on "Angel Vision" between innings of the gam

The once-coveted beeper is on its way to fading out into oblivion in India, unlike its counterparts in US and Europe where they co-exist with their trendier cousins — mobile phones, reports The Times of Indi

Experts in text and chatroom speech have identified a trend to create different styles of English within the usual contractions and abbreviations, which is similar to the way that different languages gradually come into existence, reports The Sctosma

Josey Vogels from Saturday's GlobeandMai