Text messaging
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Magic Mirror -- voyeurism while you shop
We try to keep it on the low, but when it comes to clothes shopping, the Engadget crew is like a gaggle of school girls -- running up and down the aisles comparing outfits and finding the latest accessories to go with our gear. Well the malls might be a bit quieter now, thanks to IconNicholson's Magic Mirror which, not unlike it's Snow White namesake, lets you get the opinion of others before making a decision. What it does is let you try on virtual outfits and share with friends, allowing them to then text you back with a yay or nay. Besides the main panel where you can see your proposed new look, there are two other panels: the left showing you available pieces from the store, while the right offers up info on accessories that you might like. IconNicholson is scarce on the details of how it is exactly your friends are getting this feed from the dressing room, but it best be most secure, because we know all too well how miscreants like to take advantage of technology.
SMS Mac - send SMS from Address Book - for a price
Since we found it, SMS Mac has stirred conflict between price and convenience for us here at TUAW, but I nevertheless felt it pertinent to blog the latest v2.1. Besides the $10/yearly price and $5/50 SMS messages, quit a bit has changed from that original version. It now includes both a Dashboard and Yahoo! Widget, the ability to send SMSes to Address Book Groups, better features for delivery report handling and more.If money were no object, I would call SMS Mac one of the most functional and convenient desktop SMS utilities I've ever seen. Unfortunately, its high price and yearly subscription model have scared this blogger off to find a more reasonable alternative.
Penny texting pays off for Virgin Mobile, hits 4.6 million customers
Virgin Mobile recently announced that at the end of 2006 it had 4.6 million customers underneath its belt, which isn't half bad seeing that the company has only been around less than half a decade. The firm attributes the recent subscriber growth to penny text messaging, its hybrid pricing plans, and Sugermama -- a one-of-a-kind service in the US that allows customers to get airtime credit for watching advertisements. Of course, that uber-cheap texting rate is going directly against the waves created by the other, more prominent carriers here in the US, and it's not too shocking to see consumers flocking to lower-priced add-ons when everyone else uses these areas to pad their profit margins. Nevertheless, it's becoming increasingly difficult out there for an MVNO to make it, so kudos to VM for holding out this long, and look for a few more subscribers to come your way when fast-food value meals end up being cheaper than a two-way SMS conversation.
Sprint's SMS price hike saga
Sprint threw its customers for a bit of a loop last week when it raised its pay-per-use text messaging rate to $.15 per message, leaving some confusion as to whether users could get out of their contract without paying an early termination fee (EFT). The confusion apparently stemmed from the wording of Sprint's contact, which states that customers can be released from their contract if Sprint makes a "material change" to the service. Trouble is, Sprint didn't exactly come out and say if raising text messaging rates constituted a material change. After a short period of of uncertainty, however, CBS 13 in Sacramento claimed that the change was, in fact, a material one, and that customers could cancel their service without paying an EFT, something that was later independently confirmed by PCSIntel.com. So, if you've been looking for a chance to bail on Sprint for another carrier, here's your chance.
SMS to the rescue: texting saves boy's life
Granted, it's incredibly annoying to be unknowingly tracked and monitored by your superiors, but you know what they say, you really can never be too careful. In the case of a Bourne, Massachusetts boy, the cellphone his parent's presumably used to keep a short leash on him ended up saving his life; after being duped on MySpace (haven't we learned by now?) and flown to a small town in Georgia, the hopeless kid was held captive by a crazed (albeit technically illiterate) maniac. By making the mistake of leaving the clever youngster alone -- and assuming all communication required spoken words -- the child was able to warm up those texting fingers and shoot out an SMS to his folks containing his exact location and precarious environment, which eventually led to his rescue. While specialized SOS phones are making emergencies easier to evade, it's good to see texting finally get some positive PR love for a change.[Via Textually]
This is your cellphone... this is your cellphone on drugs
Alright, kids. Rule #1: Don't do drugs. Rule #2: Cellphones and drugs don't mix, as these two recent events amply illustrate. First we have the case of Oklahoma resident Elizabeth Burchfield, who thought she was text messaging a friend to get some help finishing off a stash of marijuana but, in fact, was texting Broken Arrow Police Officer Philip Short. At first, the officer ignored the messages, but when they kept on coming he arranged for an impromptu traffic stop, found drugs in Burchfield's car and arrested her (still oblivious to who she was actually texting) for drug possesion. In other news, a U.S. District Court Judge has ruled that text messages will be admitted as evidence in the case of Antoine Jones, who's accused of being involved in a Washington D.C. cocaine-distribution ring. In this instance, Jones didn't text message the cops, but the judge determined that the Wiretap Act didn't apply to archived email or text messages, and therefore wouldn't be protected under it. So, remember, save the cellphones for more legitimate purposes, like cheating on tests.Read - KOTV.com: Text Message Mix-Up Ends With An Arrest [Via Boing Boing]Read - CNET News.com: Judge OKs text message use in drug case [Via Textually.org]
EBS boldly enters 21st century, preparing SMS alerts
Although the nuclear war for which it was designed thankfully never happened, the US' Emergency Broadcast System (EBS) soldiers on, occasionally interrupting our Wheel of Fortune viewing with disconcerting bloops and bleeps. FEMA, recognizing that the mobile phone now easily outstrips traditional media for reaching the uninformed masses in the event of a crisis, is finally turning to text messaging to give us a heads-up on air raids and the like. A system for distributing emergency text messages from the nation's digital TV stations to carrier networks has been in testing since 2004 and is getting ready for its public debut in the Gulf area by the end of the year, with rollouts in large cities nationwide thereafter. Apparently, the texts do little else but tell you to flip on your TV -- and you'll be able to opt out if you so choose -- but if we can track down that frighteningly dissonant EBS tone to use as our incoming message indicator, we're all for it.
Cingular's southern base skewing American Idol results?
Market research firm the NPD Group thinks it might have an explanation for American Idol's apparent bias toward contestants from the south, pointing to the show's exclusive arrangement with Cingular for voting via text messaging. You see, Cingular is based in Atlanta, and the majority of the company's customers -- some 20 million -- are also from the south; of the 18 million Cingular customers that use text messaging across the country, more than half are (you guessed it) from the south. So, NPD suggests, since only Cingular users are able to vote by text messaging, it would stand to reason that they'd be more likely to vote for contestants from their own region -- and, wouldn't you know it, all five American Idol winners are indeed southerners (even though Cingular wasn't sponsoring the show during the first two seasons). We hope you'll understand if we don't get too worked up over this.[Via RCRNews]
Zi announces advanced Chinese text messaging input system
Calgary-based Zi Corporation has announced an updated version of its eZiText predictive text input system that they say is the most advanced predictive text solution for China to date, making it even easier for users to break China's questionable texting laws. Zi's new system offers full phrase-level input for both phonetic and stroke modes and promises new levels of error toleration, as well as Cangjie support for users in Hong Kong and Taiwan. More details on how well all this actually works should start coming out when the system is unveiled at CommunicAsia in Singapore next week.
eBay launches PayPal Mobile for impulse buying IRL
So PayPal Mobile -- not to be confused with Papal Mobile, the MVNO for the active-lifestyle Pope on the go -- is finally getting off the ground today, bringing a whole generation's eBay buying addiction to bear in the real world. We're just excited to finally put an end to certain restaurant leechers (you know who you are) who never seem to "remember" cash, but won't have as much of an excuse with their phone sitting right there in their pocket. PayPal hopes to work with brick and mortar stores, charities, and media outlets to nab those impulse buys from people who might not be carrying a credit card, or don't want to take the time to make a regular physical transaction. To make payments you first need to activate you phone at the PayPal website, and then you just text message PayPal a product ID number, or an amount and a recipient. PayPal will then call you to make sure the purchase is legit -- they require a unique PIN number to confirm. After that PayPal will pay the recipient, and even specify shipping info with what is currently listed on your account. Current retailers that are slated to work with the service include 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, Bravo, MTV, and the NBA Store.[Via CNNMoney.com]
