Cliff Kushler is the Seattle-based inventor of T9, the cellphone technology that makes texting easier by guessing which word you intended to type. (And makes it easier to accidentally write something nonsensical like, “When are you going to the parfait?”) Now Kushler tells the New York Times that T9 is so y-e-s-yesterday. The newest, bestest way to mass-text your friends that you just got dumped is something he invented called Swype.
Jun 15
Like the telephone 100 years ago, fax machines starting in the 1970’s, and email in the 1990’s, employers and employees alike are struggling to adapt to new communication technologies and how they can and should be used. The current struggle seems to largely be over the appropriate use of text messaging in and about the workplace.
A new survey shows certain workplace interactions — those traditionally reserved for a face-to-face or phone conversations — are taking place more and more over text message.
When it comes to college kids and recent grads (18-24 years old):
- 11% think it’s appropriate to ask for a raise via text;
- 32% say it’s okay to “call in sick” to work via text and 22% have actually done it; and
- 11% think it’s okay to quit a job via text.
As you might suspect, the younger you dip into Gen Y, the more acceptable these actions became. For 13-17 year olds:
- 18% of 13-17 year olds think it’s appropriate to ask for a raise via text;
- 51% think it’s okay to “call in sick” to work via text; and
- 20% think it’s okay to quit a job via text.
Jun 09
DJs can take song requests and shout-outs via text message while DJing and interact with the crowd!
Build a mobile subscriber list for event attendees and send text message updates about events and promotions.
Simply choose the exclusive alias you would like to use (i.e. DJSPIN) and patrons in the crowd can text message DJSPIN to 30300 initiate a song request/shout-out and subscribe to your mobile list.
Jun 08
It’s common knowledge that in case of emergency, you call 911. But what if you can’t call out?
What if you’re in a hostage situation, or hiding from a burglar in a closet at home? Such questions have floated around local law enforcement agencies for years as wireless phones continue to flood the market.
Taking advantage of the latest trends in technology, Marion County, Fla., has become the latest in the country to accept distress calls via text message. By texting a message to a Sheriff’s Office phone number, residents who are in danger can reach emergency responders through the Communication Center. The Marion County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) advises that the new number should be used for serious situations, but only if calling 911 isn’t an option.
“Call first, if you can,” said Judge Cochran, MCSO’s public information officer. “But put this secured phone number in your cell phone just in case you’re in a scenario where you cannot talk.”
Jun 01
At midnight Valentine Uwingabire’s back began to hurt. Her husband ran to tell Germaine Uwera, a community health worker in their village in the fertile foothills of Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park.
Equipped with a mobile phone from the local health center, Uwera sent an urgent SMS text message and within a quarter of an hour, an ambulance had whisked Valentine to hospital. Minutes later Uwingabire’s third child was born.
“We called our child Manirakoze, which means ‘Thank God’,” she told reporters, sitting outside her mud and bamboo house pitched in the shadow of Karisimbi volcano, home to some of the world’s few remaining highland mountain gorillas.
Had it not been for Rwanda’s new Rapid SMS service, Valentine would have been carried in agony, down the hill to the nearest town on an improvised stretcher.
As is the case in much of Africa, fixed-line telephone networks are virtually non-existent outside of the capital and major cities.
May 27
While you cannot currently use video Skype or talk on cell phones in the air,one wireless mainstay may eventually be adopted on planes: text messaging. Michael Small, the chief executive of Aircell, which provides wi-fi to 10 large North American airlines, says his company is considering developing a simulated text messaging application that would work in-flight.
For technical reasons, real text messages won’t operate thousands of feet in the air, but Small says Aircell could create similar software that would let people send and receive short messages via cellphone. Such a service would appeal to the many phone users who prefer to text rather than exchange emails as well as people with less sophisticated cellphones.
Small declined to give a timeframe for the text messaging service, saying simply, “This is an idea we know needs to be done sometime…It’s a matter of deciding to do it and how we want to price it.”
May 14
UNICEF and its partners are working to harness innovative forms of communication to improve the lives of children. In Nepal, a new program is using mobile phone technology to support one of UNICEF’s core tenets: that children’s voices must be heard.
UNICEF teamed up with a popular Nepali youth radio program to launch a free text message project geared toward young people. Each week, the hosts of the radio program, Saathi Sanga Man Ka Kura (or SSMK), are announcing a topic of debate live on the air and inviting opinions from listeners. Young people can then text their views and comments on the topic—free of charge—directly to the UNICEF Nepal website.
May 12
Roman Catholics can send now text messages of support to Pope Benedict XVI, Italian public television said Saturday, as the Church faces an international paedophile scandal.
The mobile phone service was launched by Rai television’s Sunday weekly religious programme, ahead of a gathering organised by lay groups in Saint Peter’s Square on May 16 to show their backing for the pontiff.
All messages sent to the special number — +39 335 18 63 091 — will be passed along to the pope by the end of May, the broadcaster said. They will be shown from Sunday during the television show “In His Image”.
“It’s a truly unique event, because with this number everyone can show their solidarity without being physically present in Saint Peter’s Square,” said Rosario Carello, the chief of the programme on the Rai Uno channel.”
May 10
Google Calendar lets you add events via SMS. (Standard messaging rates apply) All you do is compose a plain-English message (see below), then send it to GVENT (48368).
For example:
Lunch with Bob at Crunchy’s 12:30pm tomorrow.
Brendan Benson concert at Blind Pig 9pm June 3.
Send a text like that and presto, Google Calendar will create a new appointment with all the pertinent details.
Before you can take advantage of this slick feature, however, you have to configure GCal to work with your phone. Here’s how:
1. Sign into your Google Calendar account and click Settings.
2. Click the Mobile Setup tab.
3. Enter your phone number, click Send Verification Code, and wait for a message to arrive on your phone. It should get there in just a few seconds.
4. Find the verification code within the message, then type it into the corresponding field and click Finish setup.
Pretty cool, huh? Now you can always add events to your calendar by texting GVENT (48368).
