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Google might kill Hangouts' text messaging feature (update: confirmed)
Google might soon begin implementing some big changes to Hangouts, now that the service's purpose has been redefined. According to an email reportedly sent to GSuite admins, you'll stop being able to send and receive text messages through the app on May 22nd, unless you're a Google Voice user. The email says the big G will prepare you for it by notifying everyone who's been using their apps to text on March 27th with details on what will happen going forward.
Contact your Senator with a fax-sending bot
The rallying cry to contact your member of Congress is louder than ever these days, but actually reaching them isn't very easy. Even if they accept email, they're far more likely to acknowledge a faxed message -- but who actually has a fax machine in the 21st Century? Thankfully, you no longer need one to get your point across. A volunteer group has launched Resistbot, an automated system that turns your cellphone's text messages into faxes to your representatives and senators. Once you've offered your name and ZIP code, you just have to type in a message to send it to the appropriate officials. Your first message will go to your senators, but the bot will eventually collect info that helps you reach the House.
Amazon Echo can send hands-free texts for AT&T subscribers
Say, you have your hands full and need to text someone ASAP -- if you're an AT&T subscriber with access to Amazon's speakers, you can now send messages completely hands free. Starting today, Amazon's Alexa-powered devices can compose messages for you and send them to a pre-programmed list of contacts. You only need to say "Alexa, ask AT&T to text <name>," and the assistant will prompt you to dictate your message. Company VP Jeff Bradley said AT&T "is the first carrier to bring this unique skill to a product already known for innovation."
Spam texts could help solve a Canadian murder case
If you own a mobile phone, chances are that you've received at least one spam text message. Normally, an unscrupulous company is trying to hawk its financial services or help you save money on a pair of Ray Bans, but Canada's Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) will today take the unusual step of sending thousands of potential witnesses unsolicited text messages in an attempt to solve a 2015 murder case.
UK government to double fines and points for texting drivers
In a bid to reduce the number of texting-related incidents on British roads, the UK government is set to double fines and points awards for those caught using their mobile at the wheel. The Department for Transport's new rules, which will be introduced in the first half of 2017, will impose a six point penalty with a £200 charge, which may require newly-passed drivers to retake their test.
Foursquare's new bot texts food suggestions before you're hungry
Foursquare is more than a friendly food finder and gentrification-tracking app -- the company is now in the bot business with its latest tool, Marsbot. The bot analyzes users' locations and past preferences to make proactive recommendations via text on where to eat or grab a drink next. Marsbot isn't a chatbot, meaning users won't ask it for suggestions; instead (and ideally), Marsbot will predict when you're ready to try something new and nudge you toward places you should enjoy.
Ghosting redefined
They are our brothers and sisters, our mothers and fathers, our teachers, our students, our bankers, our janitors, the bathroom attendant, the perfume-counter girl, the porn star, the preacher. They are the right-wing nut job, the Left Shark and the guy in the middle seat. There's no discernible difference between us and them. In fact, there's a good chance you're one of them. They are ghosts -- or so we've been told.
Yahoo faces class action lawsuit over text spamming
Yahoo probably isn't the first company you'd think of as a text spammer, but the courts might soon beg to differ. A judge has ruled that the internet pioneer has to face a class action lawsuit for sending Sprint customers automatic "welcome" messages when someone else pinged them on Yahoo Messenger in 2013. These were effectively small, unwanted sales pitches for Yahoo's services, according to the lawsuit -- and it doesn't help that they sometimes followed spam from another party.
People tweeted their phone number and got spammed with cat facts
There are people who share their real phone numbers via a tweet. Yes, really. One programmer decided to teach those folks a lesson by spamming them with cat facts. Using phone numbers that were beamed out in public tweets, the joke included sending text messages about cats until the person tweeted at Edward Snowden "Meow, I <3 catfacts." Although Snowden isn't in on the gag, he is a bit of a feline fanatic. He was also quite forthcoming about his own Twitter faux pas. In this case, automated script pulls data from the Twitter API before blasting out the messages full of meow-based facts with an anonymous texting app. The programmer says the goal of the stunt is to teach users who are so loose with their personal details a lesson on how a more ruthless hacker might attack their mobile devices. Pretty solid way to do so, if you ask us. [Image credit: AFP/Getty Images]
In the App Store, love comes cheap
When you're a writer, people expect you to write. And when you're courting someone the pressure to write for them, and to do it well, is amplified. My most recent romantic conquest, a Mexican interior designer, lived in LA. He was a diehard romantic, hundreds of miles away, and despite a slight language barrier, he had a way with words that I struggled to match. He had the ability to make me melt with a single text. I, in turn, would sit for minutes at a time, wringing my heart and brain for just one drop of sweet sentiment.
T-Mobile delivers iMessage-style texting, starting with Samsung phones
What if the default texting app on your phone offered some of the same handy features as iMessage or Hangouts? Well, if you're a T-Mobile customer, you'll soon be privy to more tools. The Uncarrier announced its Advanced Messaging tech today, delivering options like near real-time chat, larger images and more. Like iMessage, BBM and the like, you'll be able to see when a message has been delivered, read and when the person you're chatting with is tapping out a response. Those larger images? The size limit is bumped to 10MB for photos and videos, giving you more space to futz with if needed.
Sprint and Verizon to pay $158 million over bogus texting charges
No, Sprint and Verizon* aren't going to escape the FCC's bid to punish carriers for letting shady text message services bill their customers. The two providers are respectively paying $68 million and $90 million to settle FCC claims that they not only turned a blind eye to this bill cramming, but frequently denied refunds when subscribers complained. About $120 million of this total payout will compensate victims, while the rest will go to both state governments and the US Treasury.
Carriers have to let you text 911 by the end of the year
You've had the option of texting 911 in a handful of US cities for a couple of months, thanks in part to voluntary efforts from bigger cellphone carriers. However, the FCC doesn't want you to be left out solely because you're on a smaller network. The agency has just adopted rules requiring that all American wireless providers have the capability for text-to-911 by the end of the year. You won't necessarily get emergency messaging by that point, but carriers will have six months to implement it in a given region if a local call center makes a request.
Vodafone's WorldTraveller makes roaming cheaper in eight expensive countries
Vodafone's decided to do away with itemised roaming charges in eight far-away countries, today announcing that customers will be able to use their existing voice, text and data allowances in the USA, India, Australia, New Zealand, Egypt, Ghana, Qatar and South Africa for £5 per day. This WorldTraveller add-on complements Vodafone's existing EuroTraveller offering, which covers allowances in numerous European countries for £2 per day (£3 after August 31st). However, both bundles fall noticeably short of Three's Feel at Home service, which offers free roaming in 16 countries, although Vodafone does cast a wider net than its rival. To opt-in, pay monthly customers can dial 5555 when they touchdown in any supported country, and they'll only be charged for days they use the phone.
Three extends free roaming to France and four other countries
Not content with offering free roaming to customers travelling in the US and other far-away locales, Three has extended its Feel At Home service to five countries a little closer to home. From July 1st, Three customers can enjoy data, text and calls at no extra charge when they visit France, Switzerland, Israel, Finland or Norway. That takes the operator's total tally up to 16 countries and throws shade on rival roaming plans, which have come down in price but still require customers to add travel bolt-ons to their existing tariff. Calls to non-UK numbers will incur a charge but Three makes Feel At Home available to anyone on its network -- perfect for uploading Instagram selfies from the beach or sharing Vines by the side of the pool.
Apple to fix iMessage bug that causes ex-iPhone users to lose their texts
Apple says it's fixed a server bug that was affecting "some" former iMessage users who had tried to switch to Android or another OS. However, it admits there's another problem with its messaging platform that it still hasn't managed to address. According to Re/code, the first bug was making it difficult for Apple staff to keep track of which phone numbers are currently associated with an iPhone -- information that is essential for the proper running of the iMessage system. Without an accurate database, ex-iPhone users could find that some of their SMS messages are mistakenly treated as iMessages and sucked into the bowels of an Apple's datacenter, from whence they may never return. As for the remaining flaws, and iMessage's broader dependence on up-to-the-minute record-keeping, Apple says it's working on a fuller solution that will come in a "future software update." In the meantime, the best advice for any iPhone leaver is still to manually disable iMessage and return to regular SMS before they power down for the final time.
Snapchat now does video chat and IM, with self-destruct still included
Snapchat, the photo messaging app beloved of cheeky monkeys everywhere, has just undergone a major transformation. Self-destructing messages are still at the core of what it does, but the iOS and Android apps are being updated today to also handle instant messaging and live video chats -- just swipe to the right from the main camera screen and you'll see a list of your friends, allowing you to chat with them using these more traditional methods.
Google Glass now displays your iPhone's text messages
On the heels of last week's KitKat update, Google Glass nabbed up two more notable improvements today. First, iOS users can now have their text messages displayed on Glass, after a quick toggle of the Bluetooth settings. Here's the catch: "due to some limitations with iOS," you wont be able to reply to those messages directly from the headset. There's also a new Calendar Glassware that situates an agenda to the left of the home screen. Tapping a card in that timeline will allow you edit title, time, location and even RSVP. If you'd rather just skip those festivities altogether, you can delete events or hide them from view. Both of the new features are said to be rolling out to early adopters "in the next few days," so keep your eyes peeled.
Download: HoverChat offers SMS multitasking with Facebook-like 'HoverHeads'
Since Google decided to scrap the SMS app in Android 4.4, developers have scrambled to fill the gap. Apps including Textra, HelloSMS and EvolveSMS have helped raise the bar for SMS apps on the platform, along with HoverChat, an app you might previously have known as Ninja SMS. Like its rivals, HoverChat utilises the traditional list-based inbox, but it's how the app handles incoming messages and notifications that sets it apart from the rest of the competition.
How much should an expansion cost?
We've talked about this briefly in a recent Breakfast Topic, but that's not the same as actually standing up and taking a position on an issue, and I (specifically, I, Matthew Rossi, not all of WoW Insider) do have a position on this one - namely, that this expansion will likely contain as much if not more gameplay, art assets, and overall design work as any game coming out, and that frankly the last couple of expansions have been under what they should have cost. I didn't come to this decision in a vacuum, either - I come to it as someone who does not want to pay the price as established. I'm extremely penurious. almost outright parsimonious when it comes to money. I don't like spending it. So when I heard how much the expansion was going to cost (the day the pre-orders became available) I immediately balked at it. It's only ten bucks more to buy Titanfall, I said to myself, and that's a completely new game. And then I read this post by Kim Acuff (who often comments here at WoW Insider as Ember Dione) a developer on Skylanders, and I started to rethink my position on the relative cost of the expansion, how much it should cost, and the validity of the whole "as expensive as a new game" discussion. Because here's the fact - each WoW expansion has effectively been a new game.
