The website of Alex Kinch, live from London
Posts tagged SMS
Irish prefer to text, not talk
Jun 12th
Link: ENN – Ireland’s IT Newswire
According to a recent survey carried out by Irish telecoms regulator ComReg, texting is more popular in the country than phone calls.
The ComReg report, entitled ComReg Trends Survey Wave1, found that the average mobile user make five calls a day but sends seven text messages. Unsurprisingly, younger users are more prone to sending texts with the report finding that those in the 15-24 age group were the most prolific senders of text messages, averaging over eight per day. Men appear to be more talkative than women, based on the survey’s findings, as their average of six voice calls per day is higher than their female counterparts.
Adults vs kids: can you tell the difference in their texts?
Jun 11th
Link: Can You Spot the Old Fogey by Their Messaging? : Robin Raskin : Yahoo! Tech
My son has a theory. He says that you can tell how old a person is by looking at their text messages. He came up with this theory as I was showing him the comments many of you sent about my piece on the Sidekick iD.
He believes that when grownups make spelling mistakes in their messages it’s because “their fat slow fingers” can’t find the right key (especially when they’re texting on their phones). When kids make spelling mistakes in their messages, it’s on purpose as a form of screen-speech.
Hmm ok. Let’s test this theory, using some examples from the article.
a kid might type “nd 2 talk asap” and an adult would type something more along the lines of “nerd ty talK is siin as passable.”
Really? Ok. I get text messages from ‘grownups’ all the time, and find they’re actually more intelligible than the abbreviated stuff the kids use. Spelling is usually spot on, as is grammar. Maybe it’s cos I is old.. 
Crook gets nabbed by text in South Africa
Jun 11th
Link: IOL: Man arrested after SMS tip-off
Just a few days after the launch of a new ‘text the police’ service in South Africa, one unlucky individual has already been caught by the power of SMS.
A man suspected of armed robbery was arrested after police were tipped off by a cellphone SMS, police said on Monday. “The SA Police Service is delighted that only hours after the launch of Primedia’s Crime Line, the first criminal was nabbed,” said national police spokesperson Sally de Beer.
The SMS service, an anti-crime campaign where people can send information on suspected crime while remaining anonymous, was launched last week. The SMS informed police of the whereabouts of the suspect. He was arrested on Friday in Rustenburg.
USA Today to offer free text alert and search service
Jun 11th
Link: USA TODAY Keeps Readers Informed With Free Mobile Search and Text Message Alerts
USA TODAY partners with 4INFO, Inc., a pioneer in mobile search and text messaging services, to offer this informative and entertaining service to its readers. Users sign up to receive free text alerts on the subjects that are most important to them — from news, sports scores, stock quotes and weather forecasts to celebrities, movies, travel, and a variety of other topics. Promoted daily in the newspaper, anyone can sign up by sending a text message to the short code 44636, along with a key word for the subject desired.
Forgive me father, for I have text
Jun 11th
Link: Bible Quotes, Devotions, and Prayer Requests go Mobile – Christian Newswire
J R Wireless Inc. is a Montreal based company focusing on bringing innovative and value-added mobile services to the North American market.
Their latest mobile service solution will bring advantages and a new communication channel to Christian radio stations, TV broadcasters, ministries and congregations. The solution brings Bible quotes and devotions directly to any mobile phone and enables prayer requests using text messages (SMS).
Riots over TV text voting problems
Jun 11th
Link: The Telegraph – Calcutta : Frontpage
I like the way we do things in the UK. Queue neatly for things, no pushing and shoving. Grumble occasionally about the weather, but still put up with it. And if there’s a problem with voting for our favourite X Factor singer to win the show, the worst that can happen is a national newspaper picks up on it. However, in India, things got a little more serious over the weekend.
Mobs from Darjeeling to Kalimpong vandalised and gheraoed offices of mobile service providers today alleging their SMS votes for a local Indian Idol contestant were not being registered.
Hills people alleged their votes for Tamang were not being registered because of network problems, especially with Reliance and BSNL connections, and claimed ‘sabotage”.
‘After sending an SMS through Reliance we were getting a message saying the code word was not found. This means our votes were not getting through. We believe this is sabotage,” said Pranay Rai, Gorkha National Liberation Front MLA from Darjeeling.
Oops. The article goes on, in a bit more technical detail:
BSNL subscribers such as Bimal Sharma said they were not receiving the delivery status confirming their votes had reached. ‘For every 20 to 30 text messages, we were getting a delivery status report for one or two. Our money, however, was being deducted.”
V. Bhattacharya, SDO (telephones) and Reliance suggested there was a problem with the Sony server. ‘We forced our way into their server and registered the votes,” a Reliance official said.
What a mess eh? TV text voting can be a dangerous game it seems!
Innovative use of text in childhood immunisation
Jun 8th
Some interesting news courtesy of iPLATO – who supply patient care messaging systems to over 100 doctors surgeries across the UK.
GP surgeries using iPLATO text messaging have discovered innovative ways of using the system to improve patient compliance to the childhood immunisation schedule. The long periods between booster injections often result in children missing important jabs. Early results have shown that sending targeted text reminders to parents and guardians of children being vaccinated, vastly increases appointment attendance and compliance of these patients.
Stuart Hall, Practice IT Manager from the Vale Medical Centre, Lewisham PCT in South London, who has been using the iPLATO system for the last year, said that his surgery was keen to look at ways of managing patient compliance in this area. ‘We were able to put together a list of children that were overdue for their specific jab and whose parents had not responded to letters sent out previously. Using the iPLATO system, we sent a targeted text message to these parents asking them to call the surgery to book an appointment for their child’s missed vaccination. The result of this text campaign was overwhelmingly positive, with more than half of the parents phoning the surgery in response to the text alert, to schedule a new appointment” comments Hall.
66% of young US drivers text behind wheel
Jun 7th
Link: Shd u txt, chat n drive? Young drivers say OK | Reuters
The majority of young U.S. drivers admit they chat on their cell phones and text message while driving — and almost a half of them see no reason to stop.
A survey by the Zogby International polling firm released on Wednesday found 66 percent of U.S. drivers aged between 18 and 24 send text messages while driving and 93 percent talk on their cell phone behind the wheel.
This compared to 16 percent of Americans cell phones owners overall texting behind the wheel and 77 percent talking on the phone while on the road.
But while 83 percent of Americans overall were in favor of making it illegal to text while driving, a move being considered by some states, the poll found greater resistance to stopping people from communicating while behind the wheel from younger drivers.
Verisign and Clear Channel expand radio mobile deal
Jun 7th
Link: US radio station operator Clear Channel have expanded their deal with Verisign, launched last month, to give another 100 more radio markets access to mobile services.
The service enables listeners to send text message from their mobile devices to their local Clear Channel station’s studio, as well as participate in contests, receive a text alert before their favorite song plays, and to make requests and dedications.
It’s not just SMS either.. according to the article, the service also includes:
A customized WAP mobile portal that presents each station’s look and feel, and allows listeners to view and purchase available content and services.
A J2ME portal that is installed on the consumer’s mobile device, allowing listeners to access station-specific services, and even purchase content and services.
SMS is biggest messaging earner for operators
Jun 7th
Link: SMS Continues as Biggest Messaging Revenue Earner for Operators
The word from the Global Messaging 2007 conference in Monte Carlo is SMS will continue to provide the mobile operators with their biggest messaging revenue earnings.
Pamela Clark Dickson, editor of Mobile Messaging Analyst published by Informa Telecoms and Media, noted at the event that messaging revenues are estimated to be nearing US$80 billion worldwide. SMS messaging was seen to be responsible for US$60 billion of this revenue.
“Predicting the demise of SMS has become like chasing a rainbow. Each year it moves further into the future,” said Dr Pieter E. Streicher. Dr Streicher attended the Global Messaging 2007 in his capacity as managing director of BulkSMS.com, a wireless application service provider.
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