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Google and Samsung partner to take next-gen texting mainstream
Google is teaming with what's arguably the biggest Android phone maker to help push its new text-messaging standard to the masses. "Working together, Google and Samsung will ensure that our messaging clients, Android Messages and Samsung Messages, work seamlessly with each company's RCS (Rich Communication Services) technology," Google's Sanaz Ahari writes in a blog post. The first evidence of the partnership will be found in Galaxy S8 handsets (including the S8+ and Note 8) and newer devices like the S9 lineup.
Sacramento Kings use next-gen texting to send tickets and schedules
The Sacramento Kings are still as obsessed with technology as ever, although their latest move could be particularly helpful in the long run. The basketball team has teamed up with Zipwhip to become the first pro sports outfit to use next-gen RCS texting. The richer format lets the Kings send tickets, schedules and other rich info without making you check your email or use a specialized app -- you can just use the same texting app you would to message your friends.
Recommended Reading: Plz vote 4 me
Campaigns enter texting era with a plea: Will u vote 4 me? Kevin Roose, The New York Times Political candidates have a number of tools at their disposal to try and win your vote. Slick branding, TV commercials and social media ads are just the beginning. The New York Times dives into how campaigns in 2018 are hitting us up via the good ol' text message and the questions that arise from that method of outreach.
Android Messages hits the web for browser-based texting
Google added Rich Communication Services (RCS) into its Android OS to help it compete with Apple's popular iMessage. Google has also been exploring texting from your web browser since at least February. Now the feature appears to be officially available, and will roll out over the next week or so, along with four other features.
Alexa can send SMS messages using your voice
To date, messaging with Alexa has meant sending screeds using Amazon's in-house system, which doesn't do you much good if your recipient doesn't have an Echo speaker. You won't have to be quite so selective from now on, however, as Amazon has added support for SMS messaging through Alexa-capable devices connected to Android phones (there's no word on iOS). You can explicitly tell the voice assistant to "send an SMS," but it will also pick SMS automatically if you message a contact that doesn't have an Echo.
Sprint and Rogers connect for iMessage-like RCS texting
Nearly every major tech company has come up with their own messaging services with enhanced features and SMS is starting to look long in the tooth. But there's hope for text messaging. A newish standard (it was released in 2012) RCS (Rich Communication Services (RCS) with its improved media sending and improved group chat support is making its way onto Android phones and being support by carriers and according to Google's VP of communications products, Nick Fox. It looks like Sprint and Rogers are letting customers send RCS messages between their services.
Most of us are using our phones while driving
Between the hefty fines, disturbing PSAs and social shunning that comes from using your phone while driving, it turns nearly everyone is still texting, tweeting and generally fiddling with their phones while behind the wheel. According to Zendrive's extensive three month study of three million US drivers, we're use our phones at least once during 88 percent of our trips.
Google's Android texting app has a new name
Despite how common texting is, its integration on Android has always lagged slightly behind, as Google appeared to focus on other things. Sometimes it wrapped the feature into other services/apps like Google Voice and Hangouts, but lately, the main Android texting app has been getting some tweaks too. The latest one brings a new name, as it goes from Google Messenger (probably frequently confused with the bot-laden Facebook Messenger) to Android Messages.
T-Mobile Digits brings calls and texts to all your devices
T-Mobile is doing its Uncarrier thing again. As the carrier works on bringing its LTE network to US forces and older cars, it's also bringing the latest technology to its existing customers. The company's new Digits program lets you add multiple numbers to your phone, and then use them across all your devices. Starting today, postpaid customers can sign up to try out a beta version of the service, which the company says will launch commercially next year. Those who join the trial will need to have at least Android 5.0 or iOS 9 installed on their phones, and/or Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome on their Macs or PCs.
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.
ICYMI: Saving the ocean and ghosting on love interests
try{document.getElementById("aol-cms-player-1").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: The Burner chatbot would let a machine ghost on acquaintances you'd rather not text with anymore. So that's point one for the endtimes, zero for humanity. But this Dutch inventor should more than switch that around with a small prototype of the ocean fence that is designed to collect ocean trash passively, allowing currents to push plastic and other stuff that doesn't belong in the water into a collection fence. If it all works out, a huge, 60-mile long version of his invention will grace the Pacific Ocean within a few years and hopefully be a solution to solving the Great Pacific garbage patch. If you're into Nerf guns, you must watch this video. As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
Facepalm, selfie and shrug emoji are on the way
The annual additions to Unicode emoji library have been approved, which means 72 new tiny pictures are headed to your phone. When version 9.0 is released in June, selfie, shrug, facepalm, bacon, cucumber, avocado and dozens more new emoji will make the cut. Just in time for the Rio Olympics this summer, a smattering of event-related options and medals will also join the thousands of images that already exist. Even though the new additions will be included in Unicode this month, you'll still have to wait until companies include them in their mobile software. The good news is new versions of Android and iOS are both due this fall.
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.
The government is shaming people for texting and driving
It's a bad idea to text and drive. Beyond just being dangerous, it's now illegal in most US states and in several countries around the world. Yet, despite the many ad campaigns telling them it's wrong, people still do it. In fact, some of them actually brag about it on social media. Well, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will have none of that. The government agency has actually taken to Twitter to name and shame those who publicly confess to using their phone while behind the wheel:
AMC is considering letting people text in movie theaters
Just as AMC was starting to win customers back by replacing every old seat in its auditoriums with recliners, the company wants to destroy that good will among moviegoers. That's because CEO Adam Aron thinks letting people use their phones during a movie would be a good idea. "When you tell a 22-year-old to turn off their phone, don't ruin the movie, they hear 'please cut off your left arm above the elbow,'" Aron tells Variety. "You can't tell a 22-year-old to turn off their cellphone. That's not how they live their life." Yes, he actually said that.
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.
End texts with a period if you want to seem like a jerk
It appears as though those among us who use proper punctuation when texting look like big jerks. A new study out of Binghamton University says that text messages appended with a period come off as kind of rude. Computer Mediated Communication (email, texting, instant messages, etc..) lacks any sort of the context clues of face to face communications methods, so to see what the period meant in terms of CMC, the researchers had a small group of undergrads rate conversations that were framed either as handwritten notes or text messages.
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.
Teen texting can be just as compulsive as gambling
There's no question that modern teens are more comfortable with cellphones than earlier generations, but there's now evidence to suggest that some of them are a little too comfortable. A recent study shows that some teen texters exhibit the same compulsive behavior you see from gamblers, including the inability to cut back, sleep loss and lying to cover up habits. For the girls in the study, this frequently translated to poorer grades at school (though they still fared better overall than the boys). The quantity of texts didn't affect the teens so much as their inability to pull away from their devices. Sending just a few messages doesn't matter if your eyes remain glued to the screen, after all.
Yahoo's Livetext is a messaging app for the Snapchat generation
Yahoo's Livetext video-messaging app popped up in Hong Kong's iTunes store a few days ago, and now it's rolling out to more locales. The app is the company's effort to provide software similar to its popular Messenger app that's appropriate for how people are chatting these days. This means offering a an option that's similar to Snapchat and the like, but with a focus on one-on-one conversations. With Livetext, you can let the person (no group chats yet) you're chatting with via text get a look at where you are and what you're doing. While the app does provide a video stream, it doesn't include sound. Why? The folks at Yahoo found that enabling sound caused folks to think twice about answering a message and instead wanted to offer "a way to connect that's quick and non-intrusive." It might keep you out of trouble in the office, but we'd surmise most folks would prefer it offer at least the option of some audio.
