Text Message Blog

NHL App Shoots and Scores

2010-05-28T10:30:00.001-04:00

Advanced Mobile Solutions Announces the Release of the Versus NHL Mobile Application Designed for all Types of Smart Phones

Mobile Marketing Site Now on Affiliate Networks

2009-09-01T11:52:00.001-04:00

Affiliate marketers are now able to harness the power of mobile marketing site 84444.com with its newly announced affiliate program with the Share A Sale network.

Mobile Marketing Site 84444.com is Now Available for Internet Affiliate Marketing Sales

Text Messaging Used More than Voice

2008-10-01T00:07:00.000-04:00

Text messaging is used more now than voice calls on the cell phone.

Here is the breakdown of average calls versus texts per month based on age group.

AGE -- CALLS -- TEXTS

<12>

13-17 231 1742

18-24 265 790

25-34 239 331

35-44 223 236

45-54 193 128

55-64 145 38

65+ 99 14

Advertising Supported Mobile Messaging Revenue

2008-09-30T10:29:00.002-04:00

Anticipated revenue for advertising supported mobile messaging in North America 2006 - 2011 (Source -- eMarketer; Nov., '07)

2006 -- $0.40

2007 -- $0.81

2008 -- $1.47

2009 -- $2.38

2010 -- $3.06

2011 -- $3.83

Total revenue in billions.

Timberland Settles Text Message Spam Suit

2008-09-29T13:29:00.002-04:00

Timberland has settled a class action lawsuit for sending unauthorized text message promotions to consumers from 2002 through 2008. The total amount of the settlement is $7 million.

Those in the do-it-yourself text message industry are pleased to see the action taken, although Timberland has not admitted any guilt in the settlement. The thing that will set promotional text messaging apart from email spam is the fact that all consumers must opt-in. Apparently, Timberland was sloppy about its opt-in practices.

Customers who received the text messages from Timberland can apply for up to a $150 refund for their troubles. I received the form and it is certainly curious. It asks how many texts you received from Timberland each month since 2002! Now, who is going to have record of that!

If you wish to apply for a refund, you can download the Timberland class action lawsuit form here at the TextMessageBlog.

Funny Movie Clips Sent to Your Phone

2008-09-25T20:44:00.001-04:00

You’ve seen the explosion of Funny Movie Clips on the web, why not have 30 second snippets sent to you on your phone so you can have a laugh wherever you are? The number one source of Free Mobile Videos is msnack.com and you can sign up today. Our web site includes a wide range of video channels and all you need to do is indicate which ones you’re interested in receiving, along with your phone number.

Tabrio Keeps You in Touch by Text

2008-09-09T14:32:00.001-04:00

Save money on communications with no contracts to sign and no equipment to buy. Whether you are in the business of serious saving, or looking for a solution to inexpensive worldwide communication, Tabrio delivers what you need.

Tabrio is the affordable solution to all your communication needs. Stay in touch with people using your existing mobile phone, your PC or the web at a fraction of the cost you're currently paying. With Tabrio there are no contracts to sign. No extra equipment or upgrades to buy. No set-up costs. No hassle.

Choosing Tabrio means saying goodbye to expensive call rates and saying hello to super savings on long distance voice calls and SMS text messaging. There's no need to choose between low-cost or high quality again. With Tabrio, all voice calls have high-quality, reliable connections every time, and at such reduced call rates, Tabrio is the only sensible solution.

Long distance roaming charges are eliminated which means you are not paying more than you have to in order to stay in touch. Not only are you making huge savings through inexpensive rates, you are also saving big money on Tabrio's unique global two-way SMS text messaging. Tabrio only charges for outgoing SMS text messages at an extremely cost-effective rate.

Tabrio runs on your existing computer or mobile phone. Set-up costs are avoided, as there are no additional phones or headsets required to start up. There is nothing you have to buy for Tabrio to begin working for you – and saving you money!

Because Tabrio has no service contracts, you won't be locked into contracts that cost you your hard-earned money. Hidden fees are a thing of the past with Tabrio providing instant communications savings. Tabrio is quick and easy to download and once set up, Tabrio starts saving you money.

Tabrio. Everything you need to stay in touch for less.

Teen Girls More Likely to Have Cell Phones

2008-08-18T11:29:00.002-04:00

In 2007, 91% of 17-year-old American girls had cell phones compared to 78% of 17-year-old American boys. This is according to a study by MultiMedia Intelligence.

At age 13, however, exactly 57% of both girls and boys owned cell phones.

Obama to Announce VP by Text Message

2008-08-13T23:18:00.004-04:00

Barack Obama is going to use text message technology to let his followers know of his selection of his vice-president. Here is the message sent today from the Obama camp.

People keep asking me if we're really going to announce Barack's VP directly to our supporters. The answer is yes.

Let me be very clear. You are the ones who built this campaign, and Barack wants you to be the first to know who will join him in leading our movement for change.

So, if you haven't signed up to receive an email or a text message, sign up now. Or you can text VP to 62262 from your mobile phone.

Make sure to forward this message to your friends and let them know about this special opportunity.

Thanks, David

The UK Just Keeps on Texting

2008-07-31T13:01:00.000-04:00

People in the United Kingdom sent 1.4 billion text messages in a week, on average. That's a 25% increase over last year, according to the MDA.

Mobile Marketing Statistics

2008-07-30T17:22:00.002-04:00

The Mobile Marketing Blog reported on a study done by the DMA that showed that just 2.2% of DMA members polled had used mobile marketing in their integrated marketing campaigns. Clearly, if this mobile marketing study is accurate, mobile marketing has a long growth still ahead of it.

Mobile Marketing Ready to Take Off

2008-07-24T18:23:00.002-04:00

Mobile marketing is making a big push as more US mobile users are obtaining unlimited data packages. It's clear that one of the major factors in increasing mobile use is access to the mobile web. And, while the USA has lagged in areas such as text messaging, it is often seen setting the pace internationally when it comes to mobile data use.

About 40 million Americans are "actively using the mobile Internet." That's about 15.6% of subscribers, according to Nielsen Mobile. 14% of mobile subscribers have an unlimited data package in their cell phone plan.

Clearly, an increase in use of the mobile web will bode well for mobile advertising that stretches beyond the initial world of text message advertising. And, ads are beginning to reach the American public. 26% of Americans report having received a mobile advertisement via text message.

Top destination sites for mobile users in the US are in order:

1. Yahoo Mail 14.2 million
2. Google 9.1 million
3. Weather Channel 8.6 million
4. MSN Hotmail 7.9 million

(Source -- Nielsen Mobile; May, 2008)

Tennessee Leads Way in Text Messaging

2008-07-12T03:28:00.004-04:00

Verizon Wireless has named Tennessee as the state with the most text messages sent and received in its study of text message habits of its customers from the southeast region of the United States. The results were from the company's "Big City Wireless Use Study."

The study revealed that Verizon Wireless customers in Nashville earned the number one spot as the state's most text messages by sending and receiving 819 million text messages from January to April 2008. Knoxville landed the number two position with over 420 million text messages during that same time period, while neighboring Chattanooga earned third place with 408 million text messages.

The "Big City Wireless Use Study" was initially developed by Verizon Wireless to compare the growth in text messaging from April 2006 to April 2008 in the Southeastern states of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.

The study revealed an increase in text messaging among the company's Tennessee customers by 520% in 24 months (April 2006 to April 2008).

Wow! A five times increase in two years! Now, that's significant!

Bell & Telus Blasted for Text Message Fees

2008-07-11T15:18:00.002-04:00

Canadian Industry Minister Jim Prentice will have leaders from Bell and Telus in Ottawa to explain why they plan to raise the fees associated with text messaging to those customers without a bucket plan. Prentice is especially concerned about the public getting charged for an unwanted spam text message.

Bell and Telus say that the phenomenal growth of text messaging has caused it to increase the size of its networks to keep pace. The carriers say that text message volume nationwide in Canada has increased from 369,000 per day in 2002 to 45.3 million per day today. This claim on the behalf of the carriers seems kind of lame, doesn't it? I mean doesn't it cost less to sell a pound bag of potato chips than a one ounce bag?

Canadians to Get Charged for Incoming Text Messages

2008-07-09T10:05:00.002-04:00

Canadians are up in arms today by the announcement that Bell and Telus are going to begin charging for inbound text messages. It's nothing new to Americans as we've been charged from the get-go. But, we always think our friends to the north are a little more civilized and savvy than we are.

Carriers so often don't see the forest from the trees. Yeah, they'll make a little from the inbound texts to users that don't have a bucket plan. But, they'll increase their customer service calls in explaining why. Moreover, it's these kinds of actions that cause advertisers to be more reluctant to run a text message advertising campaign. That's where the real money is Bell and Telus.

Cool Stuff That We Like!

2008-07-01T14:11:00.005-04:00

We have certain friends in the biz that we'd like to tell you about. Here is a list of some of the best!

Link2Me Link Exchange Directory - The Best Link Exchange for SEO Professionals

Market Share by Cellular Carrier

2008-06-26T16:28:00.002-04:00

As per CTIA, the total wireless subscribers in the USA is now 260.7 million.

Here is the breakdown of the USA cellular market by carrier.

1. AT&T Mobility -- 71.3 million

2. Verizon -- 67.2

3. Sprint/Nextel -- 52.8

4. T-Mobile USA -- 30.8

5. ALLTEL -- 13.2

6. Tracfone -- 10.0 (prepaid)

7. US Cellular -- 6.2

8. Virgin Mobile -- 5.1

9. metro PCS -- 4.4 (mostly Atlanta, Dallas, Detroit, Las Vegas, LA, Miami, Orlando, SF)

10. Boost -- 4.3 (southeast & west -- 12 states)

11. Leap Wireless/Cricket -- 3.1 (23 states)

12. Cellular South -- 700,000

13. Centennial Wireless -- 663,000 (IN, MI,OH,LA, MS,TX)

14. Cincinnati Bell -- 579,000 (Cincy, Dayton, KY, IN)

15. nTelos -- 421,000 (VA,WV,KY,OH,TN,MD,NC)

Monthly Text Message Traffic

2008-06-23T21:22:00.000-04:00

Text message traffic continues to grow rapidly.

Text messages sent worldwide per year.

2004 -- 4.66 billion
2005 -- 9.76 billion
2006 -- 10.70 billion
2007 -- 40.14 billion

Wireless Data as Percentage of Carrier Revenue

2008-06-22T21:10:00.003-04:00

Data is becoming an increasingly important part of carrier revenue. Listed below is the percentage of revenue obtained by carriers from data (ie...text messages, ringtones, etc...).

2000 -- 0.4%
2001 -- 0.9%
2002 -- 1.2%
2003 -- 2.5%
2004 -- 4.0%
2005 -- 8.9%
2006 -- 13.5%
2007 -- 17.9%

MacPoker is the MacDaddy

2008-06-11T09:50:00.000-04:00

Who doesn't like playing poker online? Everybody does. Poker has become a national phenomenom thanks to television which has actually made stars out of guys who sit around and play cards.

If you aren't a Mac user, however, you may not know that playing poker from a MacIntosh is not easy; in fact its nearly impossible. Most of the major sites do not cater to Mac's. Enter macpokeronline.com. Macpokeronline saw the opportunity for catering to the niche market of Mac users (yes there still are a lot out there).

MacPokerOnline is a great portal site for finding poker games that work well with Mac's. And, to cover the market completely, your poker software must be able to work efficiently on Mac's.

They've done it with games like Bugsy's Poker and Full Tilt Poker. All expertly designed for Mac's. There hasn't been anything this exciting in the Mac business since the Big Mac!

And, if its bingo you fancy, there's a really great online bingo site that my mate won big on just last week. She won $3500 on two pots combined!

American Idol Sets New Text Message Record

2008-05-27T10:48:00.003-04:00

It's amazing what American Idol has done to increase awareness of text messaging in the United States.

According to AT&T Wireless, American Idol set a text message record when it took 78 million messages this season.

American Idol, which began using text in its programs during its second season in 2003, offered several options for its fans to text message this year. Text message solutions were provided for trivia games, sweepstakes, text chat, vote reminders, and, of course, voting. In addition, for the first time ever, Idol actually notified contestants of their moving on to the next round via a text message.

The great thing about American Idol is that 22% of all those who participated said that their first text message ever sent was to vote during the American Idol show. That's great news for the mobile marketing industry.

John McCain is Out of Touch

2008-05-18T12:10:00.003-04:00

John McCain is Out of Touch

…with the American public.

At a time when nearly 60% of Americans use text messaging, how does the McCain campaign not have a text message element?

Text messaging today is as important to the American public as the fireside chats of the FDR era that targeted radio listeners. In fact, statistically, text messaging is more important than radio was in the 1930’s.

Barrack Obama is using a cutting edge text message campaign to sway voters. Last summer, the Illinois senator launched a text message initiative to organize volunteers and encourage supports to text GO to 62262 (OBAMA).

The Obama campaign’s site offers free ringtones from Obama’s speeches, Obama wallpapers, and voters can send questions to get policy statements. The text campaign also includes information on how to donate or volunteer for the campaign.

Obama’s text campaign is also the only one to regionalize its database. This has been valuable in getting the public out to see the senator during his local political speeches.

While Obama’s text message campaign may be the most active, Hillary Clinton and John Edwards actually had their text message campaigns going before Obama did and former President Bill Clinton recently stated that he’s no longer a text message virgin. But, Clinton’s campaign failed to use a vanity short code and never got the recognition that Obama’s has today. Maybe that’s why Obama is the clear favorite of young voters.

Text message campaigns on the political front are clearly here to stay. A University of Michigan and Princeton University study found that using text messages to remind voters to get out and vote increase voter participation by 4% among young voters. You can bet Obama will be sending reminders on election day.

The efforts of Obama and Clinton contrast starkly to the John McCain campaign that has yet to add any element of mobile marketing. “It’s not surprising given his age,” said Bob Bentz, director of marketing at Advanced Telecom Services that supplies text message solutions to businesses. “Only 11% of those over 65 use text messages.”

Maybe that’s one reason why Barrack Obama has a huge advantage among younger voters. When it comes to text messaging, John McCain just doesn’t get it.

Smoltz Text Message Sends Him to Bullpen

2008-05-04T12:58:00.002-04:00

In a text message sent to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, injured Atlanta pitcher and future Hall of Famer John Smoltz made one singular point clear- when he returns to a baseball diamond it won't be as a starter said Smoltz's text message:

"I am planning on coming back as a reliever first, and more than likely for the rest of this year."

Smoltz is of course eminently qualified to pitch where ever the heck he wants, as the 40-year-old is the only player in the history of baseball to log at least 200 wins and 150 saves.
The move, that is if Manager Bobby Cox signs off on it, would serve the duel roles of lightening the load on Smoltz's injured shoulder and solidifying Atlanta's shaky bullpen.

Text Messaging Time by Age Group

2008-04-27T13:39:00.002-04:00

This chart from the Austin-Statesman shows the time spent using text messaging per day by age group. It seems high to me, but it's their text message study.

Borders Offers Coupons by Text Message

2008-04-17T19:04:00.002-04:00

If you're like me, you can spend an hour at a book store just browsing. And, when I buy something, I always remember that I just received an email coupon from Borders. Unfortunately, I almost never have the darn coupon with me.

Now, however, you can sign up for text message coupons from Borders. So, when you are browsing, you will always have the coupon on your cell phone.

Border's endorsement of text message coupons is a great thing for the mobile marketing industry and I'm sure many other companies will copy the success of Border's.

US Consumption of Mobile Content

2008-03-23T11:53:00.002-04:00

The USA still trails the rest of the world in its consumption of mobile content and application, especially when it comes to receiving an advertisement via text message. In the USA, only 19% report receiving an SMS advertisement compared to 51% in the European Union and 72% in Spain.

Other statistics form the M:Metrics study concluded that:

* 4.5% have watched a video

* 6.2% have listened to music

* 13.0% have accessed news

* 9.0% have played a game

* 4.6% have downloaded an application

* 21.4% have sent or received photos

* 9.7% have purchased ringtones

* 11.9% have used email

* 3.9% have access social networking sites.

Mobile Search Growth in the USA

2008-03-17T18:24:00.003-04:00

More people are accessing search engines on their mobile phones than ever before.

Can mobile search one day surpass online search spending?

Here's the latest statistics from eMarketer.com.

WORLDWIDE MOBILE SEARCH ADVERTISING SPENDING

2007 -- $83.3 million

2008 -- $243.7

2009 -- $596.6

2010 -- $1,289.9

2011 -- $2,345.2

2012 -- $3,773.2

USA MOBILE SEARCH ADVERTISING SPENDING

2007 -- $34.5 million

2008 -- $107.4

2009 -- $241.8

2010 -- $530.5

2011 -- $910.2

2012 -- $1,484.2

Win Your Fantasy Baseball League This Year

2008-03-16T14:22:00.002-04:00

Pittsburgh – Its editors describe it as: “so close to the action you might get spit on.” And, from the first read, I can see why that’s absolutely true.

FantasyBaseballDugout.com, a new fantasy baseball tips site owned by Saint Davids, Pennsylvania-based Olympic SEO, is the brainchild of Bob “BallparkBob” Bentz and his nephew Jonathan “BatBoy BeeZee” Bentz. The two men share a love for fantasy baseball and, quite frankly, got bored with winning their respective leagues each season.

BallparkBob, who started playing fantasy baseball in college in 1980 when it was still called “Rotisserie Baseball,” claims to have won his fantasy baseball league 19 of the past 28 seasons, including nine in a row at one stretch. BallparkBob, who is often mistaken for Cleveland Indians’ pitcher Paul Byrd, said that his goal is to spread the word about winning fantasy baseball leagues. “There’s a lot of bad fantasy baseball players out there,” said BallparkBob, “but, it’s the ones who do the research that should win. That’s where Fantasy Baseball Dugout comes in.”

BatBoy BeeZee has similar ideas for Fantasy Baseball Dugout. “A lot of fantasy baseball websites are overwhelming for first time players, because the game is very driven by statistics.” Every website has injury information, statistics, mock drafts and trade analysis, “but our site has news and research players with all levels of experience can use.”

When I first reviewed Fantasy Baseball Dugout, I was impressed by the amount of information that they had on the site in such a short amount of time. The site is also not just a statistics-laden one, but offers player profiles and player projections. It offers inside information that is far more topical than what you’ll find in the fantasy baseball preview magazines. It’s a site that a pure baseball fan would also enjoy reading and learning about the MLB.

“A lot of websites also fail to pay attention to fantasy baseball players who use auction formats for drafts, but we haven’t forgotten about them, either,” said BeeZee.

When asked what are the most important fantasy baseball tip that he could give me, BallparkBob responded by saying: “draft more closers than your competition—saves is the easiest category to win. Don’t ever pick a player just because he’s on your favorite team or is one of your favorite players. And, don’t ever go to a game and tell a major leaguer during BP that he’s on your fantasy baseball team. He doesn’t care.”

“Hey Pat Burrell, you’re on my fantasy team!”

Hispanics Lead Way in Text Message Use

2008-03-15T18:04:00.000-04:00

The recent Pew report shows that 58% of Americans have sent or received a text message, but that figure is much higher when it comes to Hispanics and African-Americans.

On a typical day, 31% of Americans use text messaging. That figure rises to 60% among those under 30. Clearly, one would think that under 30's would be the best target for cell phone advertising campaigns.

Accessing the web through a cell phone was done by 65% of Hispanics, 54% of African-Americans, and 70% of users under the age of 30.

The pew study also concluded for the first time ever that it would be harder for Americans to give up their cell phones than their land line phones.

List of Cell Phone E-Mail Addresses

2008-03-02T21:07:00.003-05:00

Did you know that every cell phone number has a corresponding email address? This enables you to send an email to the phone from your computer rather than sending a text message. Here's the list of the larger USA cell phone carriers.

ATT or Cingular - number@cingularme.com,
number@mobile.mycingular.com,
number@txt.att.com
T-Mobile - number@tmomail.com
Verizon - number@vtext.com
Sprint - number@messaging.sprintpcs.com (Sprint PCS)
number@messaging.nextel.com (Nextel)
Alltel - number@message.alltel.com
Virgin Mobile - number@vmobl.com
Boost - number@myboostmobile.com

States with Cell Phone Bans While Driving

2008-02-27T10:48:00.003-05:00

by Bob Bentz

Recently, this author was pulled over in the state of Connecticut for using a cell phone while driving. As a native of Pennsylvania, where cell phone use while driving is permitted, I simply was not aware of the law.

Therefore, as a reader service to readers of the Text Message Blog, I provide an updated list of states where you should not use a cell phone while driving.

California -- cell phone use while driving banned effective July 1, 2008

Connecticut -- cell phone use while driving banned October 2005

District of Columbia -- cell phone use while driving banned July 2004

New Jersey -- cell phone use while driving banned 2004

New York -- cell phone use while driving banned November 2001

There are many states that have partial bans on the use of cell phones while driving. Most common is the ban on school bus drivers using cell phones. Some states have banned the use of text messaging while driving.

As for the $100 fine levied on me by the state of Connecticut. I gathered evidence that there were no signs notifying drivers when they entered the state of Connecticut. I asked to speak to a judge prior to my trial date. When the state agreed to lower my fine to $35, I accepted it, deciding to not fight city hall any longer.

South African Journalist Gives Ideas for Using Text Messaging as a Promotional Tool

2008-02-25T17:21:00.001-05:00

There are many ways you can use text messaging to make your business life easier.
Marketing and Promotion

Firstly, texting opens another channel of communication with your customer, and an intimate one at that, as many people carry their mobile phones everywhere. This allows you to promote new products, quickly conclude the transaction and provide customer support following the sale.

Send a text message to announce a new product offering, especially if customers previously expressed interest.

Use text messages to do time-sensitive promotions. A recent poll shows 56% of people respond to work-related text messages within 30 minutes of receipt.

Send text message to notify your readers that the edition of your newsletter is up/your web site or blog has been updated.

Send promotional vouchers to customers by texting.Scheduling

A service orientated business, like a dentist or beauty shop, may use texting to notify customers on waiting list that of openings due to a cancellation. This ensures last minute cancellations do not affect your business.

Use texting to inform a customer when item they reserved is available. For example, a bookshop may notify a buyer who ordered a book that it is available to be picked up, or will be delivered, giving date and times.

Use texting to notify people of change of plans if a meeting overruns and you can’t go out to make a call. Enable transactions

Sell some products as premium content, where payment is immediately deducted from the value of your airtime.

Enable automatic identity check by sending SMS alerts to the customer's mobile phone.

If you run an offline business and offer a line of credit, use text messaging to provide customers with account information and remind customers to pay an account, especially if they are in arrears.

Send a text message to ask employee a quick question without interrupting a meeting.

Use texting to update your blog, or post on online social networking forum.

Damaria Senne is a journalist and author based in Johannesburg, South Africa. She writes about the telecommunications industry in South Africa and Africa, including cellular, mobile and wireless technologies and messaging news and trends.

Read her business related articles at http://www.itweb.co.za . She blogs about parenting/writing at http://damariasenne.blogspot.com

Short Codes Open Johns

2008-02-02T22:04:00.000-05:00

Authorities in Finland, wanting to try and avoid damage to public toilets, have come up with an interesting solution. In order to use the toilet, you have to text ‘OPEN’ to a shortcode — which immediately opens the door. In this way, if someone damages the facilities, authorities have the relevant mobile phone numbers to follow-up.

I can imagine some funny situations if you had to go really badly and were a slow texter.

Most Text Messges are Deleted

2008-01-28T15:37:00.000-05:00

by Bob Bentz

Just in case you were wondering, most cell phone text messages are not saved or recorded anywhere.

So, if you are doing something you shouldn't be doing, or said something that you shouldn't have said, chances are you're in the clear if you did it by text message. Certainly, this is not the case with emails that have been used as evidence in countless court cases, even when the message was first deleted. It certainly costs a lot to recover deleted emails, but they do remain on your hard drive and a forensics company can do the job for you for about $2200.

According to an article in the Detroit Free Press, Sprint saves text messages for about two weeks, AT&T saves them for about three days, and Verizon keeps them for a "very short time."

Unfortunately, for him anyway, Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was using SkyTel for his text message dalliances with chief of staff Christine Beatty. Unlike Sprint, AT&T or Verizon, SkyTel records everything.

While text messaging via cell phone leaves no recorded trail, sending email via cell phone does, just as if it was sent to your computer.

So, if you are looking for something to stay private, its better to send it via text than via email. Better yet, don't send it at all.

(That's Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick pictured on the right. That's not Christine Beatty with him, but wouldn't that be ironic...)

ESPN Scoring Big with Mobile

2008-01-10T11:03:00.000-05:00

During the final week of the NFL regular season, ESPN reports that it had more visits to its mobile ESPN product than to its similar pages on its web site. For one 24 hour period, ESPN's wireless NFL section received 4.9 million visits versus 4.5 million to its web pages. In total, there were three days during the week when ESPN mobile outdrew ESPN's internet NFL services.

32 million Americans access the mobile web on a monthly basis and ESPN has 9 million of them using its service thus making sports a true bellweather for mobile data access. ESPN is claiming to have 200% growth in its mobile phone product this year.

According to a study by M:Metrics, 43.8% of those who access sports information via mobile phone visit ESPN. Fox Sports is second with 19.2%, followed by NFL.com at 18.6%, and CBS Sportsline at 11.4%.

Political Text Messages Working

2008-01-05T11:23:00.000-05:00

More than a billion text messages are sent in the USA every day. And, now text messaging is becoming a major force in political campaigns, as reported by CBS News.

Analysis by CBS News shows that the cost of obtaining a vote via text message is far cheaper than through other mediums. Direct mail costs $67 per vote and door-to-door campaigning costs $30. Telemarketing costs $20 per vote. But, text messaging, as little as $1.50 per vote. (Note the CBS story did not give the financial analysis behind these numbers.)

P0litical scientists at the University of Michigan and Princeton University found in 2006 that text message reminders increased voter turnout by five percent over those who were not sent a text message. That's especially notable considering that only 25% of young adults vote. Young Americans are also not likely to have a landline phone--as many as 20% don't bother with a landline.

"The Obama campaign especially has done a great job with reaching voters via text message," said Bob Bentz, director of marketing at Advanced Telecom Services--a supplier of text messaging to political candidates. "Imagine having a walking billboard in the voter's pocket. That's a powerful influencer and makes the candidate more relevant, especially to younger voters."

Other Cool Stuff for 2008

2008-01-01T20:59:00.005-05:00

Wildcoast-USA -- Helping to preserve the oceans and coastline.
Electronics Information Electronics
Adela's Amazing Online Savings

See nude pictures of Madonna.
Singles dating in Buffalo. Meet eligible singles in Buffalo.
Get more clicks for your internet web site or blog.
iPhone Repair Instructions on how to repair your iPhone and resources to find parts and supplies if needed.
Business Cash Advance MerchantLoans.com provides business cash advances on credit card processing receivables. Apply for up to ,000,000 - no application fees.

Radnor Land for Sale

2007-12-26T14:38:00.000-05:00

Check out this over one acre of Radnor land for sale by owner. You'll be glad you checked out this Radnor land. It's the cheapest land in Radnor Township.

Santa Claus' Business Is Slipping; Text Messages Would Help

2007-12-25T10:53:00.000-05:00

By Bob Bentz

North Pole – Who’s the greatest businessman of all-time? No, it’s not Henry Ford, nor is it John D. Rockefeller. Donald Trump? Give me a break.

The greatest businessman of all time is, without a doubt, Santa Claus.

Think about it. His customers return year after year. He has a factory that churns out toys 24/7 with little overhead. He has loyal employees (of course, there aren’t a lot of jobs elsewhere for elves these days). He has a promotions department that secures prime visibility in crowded malls and gets him grand marshal positions in parades. He also has a public relations staff that writes songs, poems, and even produces television shows with him as the star. And talk about customer service. He knows what you want, often without your even telling him.

But, sometimes I think Santa Claus is slipping a bit the last few years. He hasn’t really embraced new technology very well. His workers still use basic tools from the pre-Industrial Revolution. His mode of transportation still involves livestock (and don’t tell me one animal with a light bulb on his nose is innovative). His ordering process is downright archaic. I mean, who writes letters any more?

What Santa Claus needs is text messaging. Worldwide, 350 billion text messages are sent each month, but how many of you have ever received one, or sent one, via the North Pole? Moreover, 15% of those 350 billion text messages are considered commercial text messages. Don’t you think an opt-in text message blast would be a great way for Santa to get rid of some of his closeout inventory? I hear there’s a warehouse at the North Pole that still has half a million eight-tracks in it!

Did you ever watch the late news on television on Christmas Eve? There’s usually some cheesy graphic there with a picture of Santa flying over some other country. In the eastern United States, I think he’s usually in the Czech Republic during our 11 o’clock newscast. Well, I often stay up late—even on Christmas Eve. I would love to get a text message to know when Santa’s getting close to my hometown so I can get to bed on time. Besides, I’ve heard Santa is a bit of a player and has been seen kissing Mommies under the Christmas tree. If even US Airways can notify me of its flight arrivals by text message, I would think Santa could with all those clever engineers he has on his staff.

If you’ve ever flown in the winter, you know how weather can be a problem, especially if you’re flying into O’Hare. Weather delays last year in Canada made Santa late in arriving to Alaska. Had he received text message weather reports, Santa could have re-arranged his flight plan and been on time. Fortunately, for the children of Barrows, Alaska, where it’s dark 24 hours a day this time of year, Santa was able to sneak in after deadline and still deliver the goods without being seen.

Ordering is another issue. How many of you still have envelopes and stamps in your house? Plus, there’s the issue of the postal service losing your snail mail. I sent a letter last year to the North Pole that must not have arrived because I’m still waiting for the Lamborghini I asked for. With text messages, I could have sent in my Christmas list to Santa Claus through a short code, say 72682. With a simple online an interactive text message solution, Santa could confirm receipt and tell me if I’ve been bad or good.

Maybe that’s what happened to my Lamborghini.

Bob Bentz is co-owner of Advanced Telecom Services--a leading provider of 900 numbers and text message and mobile marketing products. Bob’s daughter once sent 3867 text messages in a single month.

Mobile Messaging Projections

2007-12-23T11:14:00.000-05:00

Today's mobile marketing promotions are dominated by messaging via SMS and, soon to be, more MMS. A large advertising supported SMS market cannot be too far off given the success that advertisers have had with it. Other mediums such as radio, television, outdoor, and the internet are ideal solutions to be partnering with SMS.

According to eMarketer, the global market for advertiser supported mobile messenging will rise dramatically in the coming years.

MOBILE MESSAGING MARKET IN BILLIONS

2006 -- $1.52

2007 -- $2.56

2008 -- $4.20

2009 -- $6.44

2010 -- $9.26

2011 -- $11.96

Watch Television on your Computer

2007-12-18T13:55:00.000-05:00

Most of us have some sort of cable television and internet service and have seen rates rise rapidly in recent years. More often than not cable companies have a monopoly in the areas they serve. A quick glance at just about any cable bill will reveal vague fees and charges above and beyond the basic service provided. If you’re tired of ever increasing cable bills and have an internet connection there is a solution.

http://www.networktv.us/ is offering software that will allow users to access television stations worldwide, a massive library of movies (the site says over 80 million), and over 90 million songs in MP3 format ready for immediate, legal download. What makes this software so intriguing is the one time charge for the software and no monthly fees of charges. With the advent of big screen monitors many people already do most of their TV watching on their PC’s. The internet is the future of television and in the near future will become the primary media worldwide.
When most cable users want to watch a specific movie there is usually a charge well above what a video rental store would charge. With the software being offered by Networktv.us users may download over 80 million movies or burn them to disks legally. Users may also download songs and choose from a library of over 90 million songs.

The average cable bill nationally is $60 or more. Nationaltv.us is offering their software at an introductory price of $14.95. Even at the regular price of $79.95 users of this software could save a considerable amount of money over time. Unlike cable it’s a one time fee with no monthly bills, hidden charges, or dishes to install. Another very interesting feature of this software is the ability to watch television worldwide. The internet has made it possible for users to watch programs from just about any country in the world.

So if you’re playing at your favorite online bingo hall and find yourself in need of a little diversion this software is for you. The internet is the future of television and this is an opportunity to get in on the ground floor at a very reasonable price.

Coupon Chief Offers Big Savings

2007-12-17T12:59:00.000-05:00

I am always in pursuit of a bargain, that's for sure. I don't care how much money I make, I like getting bargains. Isn't that what lures all of us to factory outlets and ebay? Whatever you do, don't get behind me in the grocery store, because I do cut coupons.

So, when I heard about Coupon Chief, I was psyched. Here I can go to one site and get savings on lots of stuff that I need, or not.

One of my favorite stores is Brookstones. I've been known to sit on those massage chairs at Brookstones for thirty minutes until the managers start to glare at me. We'll, at Coupon Chief, I can get 5% off at Brookstones.

Then, there's Fatheads. I've seen these on TV and while I'm not a kid any more, anything that has to do with professional wrestling gets me excited. So, I'm definitely going to use these Fatheads coupons at Christmas time this year.

Now, this being the Text Message Blog and all, of course, I know you guys would be interested in anything that has to do with the iPhone phenomenon. So, if you already own an iPhone (and most readers of the blog have), then here's a great place to get discounts on iPhone accessories.

Click on the headline link above and save CouponChief in your list of favorites. You'll be glad you did, especially if you are a bargain hunter like me!

Travel to the UK Still Enticing

2007-12-15T07:12:00.000-05:00

I've been very fortunate to have owned a business in the UK since 1993. Since then, I've had a lot of fun during my travels there. Needless to say, it's not all hard work when you visit the United Kingdom. The nightlife there is great and it's always interesting to sample a bit of the British culture.

While I'm there, I am always excited about the availability and uniqueness of the hotels. Most of my time in the UK has been spent in London hotels, but I've also stayed in hotels in Glasgow and in hotels in Edinburgh.

Mobile Marketing Participation in USA

2007-12-13T22:02:00.000-05:00

The United States offers one of the world's greatest response rates to mobile marketing campaigns, yet its percentage of receiving such campaigns remains low.

In terms of response percentage, the USA led the way when compared to the response rate to text message SMS advertisements received by mobile subscribers.

USA -- 12.0%

United Kingdom -- 9.2%

Italy -- 8.0%

France -- 7.6%

Spain -- 6.1%

Germany -- 5.7%

Yet, the USA lags in terms of mobile advertisements received.

Spain -- 75.4%

France -- 62.3 %

Italy -- 56.8%

United Kingdom -- 41.4 %

Germany -- 32.5%

United States -- 17.2%

Surely, the response rate of Americans to mobile advertising has something to do with the small percentage of likely early adopters who are receiving opt-in mobile advertisements. It will be interesting to see, however, whether the US response rate continues to lead the way as more mobile subscribers start to receive advertisements.

Happy Birthday Text Message

2007-12-12T15:42:00.000-05:00

The following article was reprinted compliments of the Mobile Marketing Blog by Advanced Telecom Services. It is a great way to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the text message. Be sure to text your friends to tell them about this momentous occasion.

by Bob Bentz

The text message celebrated its fifteenth birthday on December 3, 2007.

Like most teenagers, the text message has a bright future with untapped potential. In the mere fifteen years since the first text message was sent, it has changed the way we communicate. From simple peer to peer communication to mobile advertising, the simple text message has, and will have, a continuing impact on all of our lives.

“That’s one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind.”

These immortal words were spoken by Neil Armstrong–first man on the moon.
The first text message was also sent by a Neil. It was sent by Neil Papworth, an Airwide Solutions engineer, who sent a text message to his colleague at Vodafone. While Papworth was busy working overtime, his friend at Vodafone was at his company Christmas party, perhaps with a lamp shade on his head.

The first text message? Not nearly as profound as Armstrong’s.

“Merry Christmas”

And, a Merry Christmas to you as well.

Text Shame Becomes a New Buzz Word

2007-12-11T01:20:00.000-05:00

According to the October, 2007 issue of Playboy, Samsung did a study of "text shame." Text shame is the newly-coined term that describes if a woman later regrets having sent a text message the previous night. According to the Samsung study, 39% of those American women studied have experienced text shame.

My question is: why did Samsung, which makes money off of its text-friendly cell phones, want to do a study that may reduce future female drunken texting?

Thanksgiving Day Text Messages

2007-11-22T16:59:00.000-05:00

Has there ever been a better day than Thanksgiving Day for Thanksgiving text messages. It's a great time to send a special thanks to family and friends. Of course, who can call them all? And, do you really want to call that annoying Uncle Bob? That's why Thanksgiving Day text messages make so much sense.

So, whip out your phone and start text messaging your friends and family on Thanksgiving Day. You are probably so stuffed with turkey that you can't do much of anything else anyway.

Soon, however, you may get bored and the work become tedious. It would be best if you could send bulk text messages on Thanksgiving Day, preferably from a computer and not a small screen cell phone. With 160 characters, I'm sure you can get that personal touch in there, even though the same message is being sent to 78 people.

Happy Thanksgiving Day texting from the Text Message Blog.

Czech Republic Text Market Exploding

2007-11-16T17:15:00.000-05:00

Mobile penetration in central Europe is expanding rapidly and the leader of this expansion is the Czech Republic. In the Czech Republic, mobile penetration is now at 105%! That means that there are more cell phones than people. This is usually because businesses give employees cell phones, but monitor their use much more so than American companies do and limit private calls. Hence, a person often carries more than one cell phone.

According to 2006 data, 50.6% of people access the internet in the Czech Republic. This lower than normal use of the internet definitely causes more use of the cell phone and of text messaging. Broadband internet, currently at just 19% of internet users, however, is expanding rapidly and its growth will dramatically increase internet growth.

Czech companies tend to apply new technologies quickly and that is likely the reason for the rapid growth of text messages in the Czech Republic.

British Send a Billion Text Messages per Week

2007-11-08T02:26:00.000-05:00

The trend to use one's cell phone for things beside talking is surely prevelent in the United Kingdom where Brits are now sending more than one billion text messages per week.

The huge amount of texts is actually an increase of 25% over a staggering amount from 2006. Today, the same amount of text messages are sent in a week as were sent in the entire year of 1999.

According to the Mobile Data Association, the British will send 52 billion text messages this year which surpasses the 42 - 48 billion that were projected by the organization. Amazingly, the UK ranks only sixth in the world in total text messages sent per capita.

Avalon, New Jersey Real Estate For Sale

2007-11-02T00:39:00.000-04:00

This Avalon, New Jersey beach house is for sale or rent by owner. Avalon, New Jersey real estate is a great investment and great fun for the whole family. Now is the time to make your New Jersey beach home a reality.

Web Site Awards

2007-10-28T21:23:00.000-04:00

If you have a web site and think it is cool enough to get an award, check out Web Site Awards. There is a worksheet there that lists hundreds of different companies who are giving out web site awards. I only wish there were as many college scholarships that I could apply for.

Clinton No Longer a (Text) Virgin

2007-10-26T14:34:00.000-04:00

Las Vegas -- Bill Clinton is no longer a (text) virgin. While speaking at the CTIA Show in Las Vegas, President Bill Clinton texted his first message during a speech. His message: wishing a happy 60th birthday to wife and presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton.

We keep saying that a greater percentage of middle aged and older Americans are now entering the texting era. President Clinton is one more for the upward moving statistics!

I wonder if George Bush has sent a text message?

Americans Reply to Text Ads More than Others

2007-10-07T14:23:00.000-04:00

Americans don't receive as many text message advertisements as Europeans do, but they tend to respond more often, according to a study from M:Metrics.

The study found that 17.2% of Americans received a mobile advertising message in July while in Europe over 75% received advertising messages on their cell phone.

In the USA, 12% of all those who received mobile advertising actually responded to them. The United Kingdom had the second highest response rate of 9.2%.

Of Americans who received text message ads, 73% of those ads are from their cell phone carrier. 17.5% said they received cell phone advertising from a company that they had opted-in to receive such mobile marketing messages. 21.1% of those who received advertising said that they had not given permission to receive cell phone advertising.

Who is Downloading Mobile Advertising?

2007-10-06T14:13:00.000-04:00

In a new industry such as mobile advertising, advertisers are certainly interested in knowing who is looking at their advertising. The good news for mobile marketing advertisers is that two-thirds of all advertisers on mobile phones are in the highly desired 18-34 year-old age group.

Overall Channel Audience Composition for Mobile Marketing Promotions

13-17 6.9%

18-24 28.0%

25-34 37.5%

35-44 19.4%

45-54 6.8%

55-64 1.3%

65+ 0.2%

The mobile marketing advertising study was done by M:Metrics in cooperation with AdMob.

List of Active SMS Short Codes in the USA

2007-10-01T11:00:00.000-04:00

The following is a list of active SMS short codes in the USA.

SMS Codes
Code:Number Vanity Company
2653 COKE The Coca-Cola Company
7777
8762 UPOC Upoc Networks
10806 SportsLine.com, Inc
20369 20FOX Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment LLC
22000 Mobile Telemedia, Inc. (CSC owner)
22122 G8Wave Corporate (CSC owner)
22428 Mobile Telemedia, Inc. (CSC owner)
22565 Comedy Central
22646 Bango.net Limited (UK)
22767 22POP Pop Solutions, LLC
22922 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp.
23000 Red Fish Media, LLC
23333
23578 G8wave Corporate (CSC owner)
23888 BETTV BET (Viacom, Inc.)
23907 SJA Mobile, LLC
24286 GlobalSMS AS
24357 2HELP
24453 AGILE Agile Communications Group
24824
25000 New Motion, Inc
25252 Wind-up Entertainment
25378 Optinrealbig.com, LLC
25425 CLICK Lavalife Corp.
25669 2KNOW Reuters
25735 Agile Communications Group
26642 COMIC uclick,LLC, division of Andrews McMeel Universal
26706 ENMOB Nevis Mobile
26766 COSMO The Hearst Corporation
27411 CS411 CitiSearch (IAC/InterActiveCorp)
27538 Dobie Media
27563 ASKME Ask Me Now
27627 UPSNAP Upsnap, Inc.
27777 Blue Frog Mobile, Inc.
28255 Textrox Inc.
28683 2VOTE LSN, Inc.
30364 Cellit Marketing
30644 Rights Group LLC
31000 New Motion, Inc
31516 GoGoMobile, Inc.
32075 Prime Message Inc.
32287 Fun Facter, LLC
32332 Orlando Sentinel Communications
32484 FAITH
32655 FBOOK Facebook
32732 VeriSign
33100 Mobile Applications
33222 Zero9
33257 Katazo
33633 MTV Networks, division of Viacom International Inc.
35328 Proteus, Inc.
35350 MESSAGEbuzz Inc.
36000 Amoznet
36245 EMAIL Cingular Wireless
36263 Unwired Appeal Inc.
36346 FNDGO Fandago
36363 JAZ Communication LTD
36617 Isis, Inc.
36667 Unwired Appeal Inc.
36863 FOUND GPS Tracks, LLC
37437 FRIES Checkers Drive-In Restaurants, Inc
37890 Unwired Appeal Inc.
38383 CBS Digital Media, Inc.
38619 MDG London, Ltd.
38736 FUSEM Fuse Network (Cablevision)
39000 Funmobile Ltd.
39882 Texting Now
40100 Qtones, Inc.
40404 Obvious Corporation
40443 Hobbyist Media
41414 LIMBO Limbo, Inc.
42020 Blinck United Ltd
42222 Buongiorno, S.p.A.
42278 4CAST The Weather Channel
42349 Unwired Appeal Inc.
42637 GAMES Cingular Wireless
43333
43549 43KIX Terry Hines & Associates
43733 4FREE Vibes Media
43776 Walt Disney Internet Group
44121 Cellfish Media LLC
44123 Cellfish Media LLC
44321 SMS Wink, Inc.
44344 2bemobile
44544 R&D Company
44636 4INFO 4INFO, Inc
46245 GMAIL Google, Inc.
46284 GoBug AWS Convergence Technologies, Inc.
46397 4NEWS LSN, Inc.
46464 GoTV Networks, Inc
46604 Omnicom Group (ipsh!)
46626 Mobo Systems, Inc.
46632 Honda
46645 GOOGL Google, Inc.
46691 INNW FritoLay and HipCricket LLC
46706 GOP06 Republican National Committee
46786 IOPTN Opt It, Inc.
46872 GOUSA USA TODAY
46876 INTRO Wireless Introduction Network, Inc. (aka Zogo)
46993 GOWWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.
47467 iLoop Mobile Inc.
47624 GQMAG Cond鎥t Inc.
47647 Unwired Appeal Inc.
47669 4SONY Sony
47807 plusCONNECT Telecom
47988 Smart SMS Corp
48368 Google
48433 Directv Inc.
49330 Radio Data Group, Inc.
49384 4YETI Siemens Corp.
49759 OwnYourPhone, LLC
50010 Latino Cellular LLC
50505 Atlantic Recording Group
50555 Mobile Accord
50618 Agile Communications Group
51912 Hobbyist Media
52208 Major League Soccer, LLC
52723 KCRA3 Hearst-Argyle Television, Inc.
52844
52975 GoGo Mobile, Inc.
53030 Blinck United Ltd
53669 JENNY SMS Media Group
53733 Spark Network Services Inc.
54545 Swiftxt
55000 USCellnet Information, Inc.
55333 Txtstation
55425 Avocado Canada Productions Inc
55444 2ergo Group plc
55463 LLINE Neo Network Mobile
55777 Blue Frog Mobile, Inc.
56225 LOCAL Interchange Corporation
56658 KODIME Ltd.
56687 Local Tones, Inc.
57413 SMS.ac, Inc.
57777 Zingy, Inc
57879 5STRZ ConnectMe LLC
58163 Movo Mobile, LLC
58429 JUICY Masterfoods USA, a division of Mars, Inc
58560 Celllife!
59595 NBC
60123 123MultiMedia
61000 Lagardere Active North America, Inc.
62288 NBCTV NBC
62578 Counts Media, Inc.
62633 MCODE mUrgent Corp.
62824 MATCH
62931 Gamut, Inc.
63232 DADAmobile, Inc.
63260 Campusbooks.com
63389 dload Pty Ltd.
63411 Business and Labor Coalition of New York
64249 Merck
64482 Message Scape LLC
65000 New Motion, Inc
65246 MLBGO Major League Baseball
65253 Profilematch
65279 Dynetic Mobile Solutions, LLC
65577 WNEP-TV
65579 Omnicom Group (ipsh!)
65838 Advanced Telecom Services, Inc.
66000 Electronic Group Interactive, S.L.
66075 Hobbyist Media
66247 Mobliss
66268 MOBOT Mobot, Inc.
66300 2waytraffic
66369 ONFOX FOX
66466 GLOMOBI BV
66969 Lagardere Active North America, Inc.
67066 Voices International, Inc
67337 Wap Oneline USA, LLC
67777 Proteus, Inc.
68000 Oasys Mobile, Inc.
68076 GAWK Gawker Media LLC
68247 OTAIR OTAir LLC
69000 Voices International, Inc
69069 SpicyMint
69369 LSN, Inc.
69419 RingTone Technologies LLC
69690 69690, Ltd
69772 MYSPC Myspace
69847 THQ Inc.
69964 Phonezoo Communications, Inc.
69999 Acotel Group (Italy)
70788 Electronic Group Interactive, S.L.
70820 TextPayMe, Inc.
71000 Lagardere Active North America, Inc.
71073 Hobbyist Media
72008 Unique Advertising Strategies
72237 RACER RACER Mobile
72422 Racana L.T.D.
72579 MangoMobile, LLC
72727 Cox Newspapers, Inc.
72777 Crossroad Mobile, LLC
72963 PAYME CLX LLC
73260 Gamut, Inc.
73774 PEPSI Pepsi Promotions, Inc.
73804 Warner Bros. Records, Inc.
74347 Progressive Casualty Insurance Company
74415 PhoneFlix, Inc.
74574 Promobilize
74642 PING2 Ping Mobile LLC
74647 9 Squared, Inc
74688 SHOTV Showtime Networks Inc.
75438 SLIFT GPShopper, LLC
75464 Simon & Schuster
75555 Jamster
75629 PLBOY Playboy
76278 SMART Smart SMS Corp
76666 Fox Reality Channel, Inc
76950 RingTone Technologies LLC
77000 Blue Frog Mobile, Inc.
77007 Interlinked Media
77177 Game Show Network LLC
77297 PRAYR Hands-On Mobile
77355 Mobile Telemedia, Inc. (CSC owner)
77812 Movo Mobile, LLC
77946 PRXIN Proxito LLC
78000 G8Wave Corporate (CSC owner)
78247 QTAGS Qtags
78331 RUDE1 Bonus Mobile Entertainment
78737 SUPER Verizon Wireless
78779 NetTuner Corp.
79274 QWASI QWASI, Inc.
80160 G8Wave Corporate (CSC owner)
80837 VOTER Mobile Voter
81000 Lagardere Active North America, Inc.
81024 Agile Communications Group
81492 National Messaging Solutions, Inc.
81510 Leapwave, Inc.
82000 Voices International, Inc
82475 Bigradical Inc.
82672 TAMPA Media General Inc.
82722 TBPAC Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center
82766 TCSMM
83200 Hearst Communications, Inc
84148 VH1
84444 Advanced Telecom Services, Inc.
84848 Transact Group Ltd. (aka Cellfonefun)
85050 Blinck United Ltd.
85858 txt85858
86975 MDB London, Ltd.
87130 Luxinteract-Friendstribe.com, Inc
87232 TRAFC Traffic.com, Inc.
87233 TRADE Oxfam
87411 US411 411sms
87867 TRUMP Warner Music Group
88000 Mobile Telemedia, Inc. (CSC owner)
88188 Minick AG
88398 American Airlines
88726 Index Group
88787 Latino Cellular LLC
88999 ClearSky Mobile Media
89279 U.S. Dept. of Defense
89448 Clear Channel Broadcasting, Inc.
89623 Mobile Messenger
89761 SMS Delivery
89847 txtGroups Inc.
89887 TXTSP Time Inc.
90210 Mobliss
90342 Juice Wireless, Inc.
90430 Unwired Appeal Inc.
90459 Astrocrystal
90700 Soapbox Mobile, Inc.
91000 Lagardere Active North America, Inc.
91278 Mobile Telemedia, Inc./Interskil.com
91441 Traffix
91553 WIGGLE Wiggle Wireless
92466 YAHOO Yahoo, Inc.
92500 YAH00 Yahoo, Inc.
94373 WHERE uLocate Communications, Inc.
94444 MindMatics LLC
94649 Major League Soccer, LLC
95483 WLIVE Microsoft
95495 Mobivity, LLC
95555 Jamster!, subsidiary of VeriSign, Inc.
96000 Monstermob Group plc
96077 Opera Software ASA
96850 XM Satellite Radio, Inc.
96853 XM Satellite Radio, Inc.
96966 XM Satellite Radio, Inc.
96969 Chatnation
97373 ClearChannelBroadcasting and HipCricket LLC
97678 WPOST The Washington Post Company
97777 NTN Buzztime, Inc.
98556 Next Ideas Inc.
99134 Textopoly Inc.
99333 Buongiorno, S.p.A.
99621 Funmobile Ltd.
99888 General Electric
347437 FISHES The Florida Aquarium, Inc.
445566 Yahoo, Inc.
462788 GOCSTV CSTV Networks, Inc.
466453 GOOGLE Google, Inc.
600600 Rivals.com
632729 NEARBY NearbyNow, Inc.
697289 MYSBUX Starbucks Corporation
732589 REALTY M-Fre LLC
843488 THEHUT Yum Brands, Inc.

How To Fix A Wet Cell Phone

2007-09-25T14:04:00.000-04:00

You’re fishing at your favorite stream with your cell phone in your pocket and fall in. Or worse you hear an ominous thump coming from your dryer and discover to your horror that you left your cell phone in a pocket left unchecked. In fact accidents involving cell phones and water are more common than one would think. According to one source approximately 880,000 British have accidents involving cell phones and toilets every year. Most of us would assume that our mobile devices are damaged beyond repair but this is not necessarily the case. How do you save a wet cell phone?

There are several ways to save a wet cell phone or GPS device. Some may seem unusual but do you really want to have to purchase another expensive phone and learn a new keyboard for fast text messaging? Here are several steps and methods you can use to try and save your wet cell phone.

1. Obviously the first step is to remove the phone from whatever liquid it was immersed in. Next remove the battery as soon as possible. I can’t overstate how important this step is. The phone is an electronic device and electricity and water do not mix. Leaving the battery in will cause short circuits and damage the phone. If your phone has a SIM card remove that too. Wipe off any excess water with a towel paper or otherwise.

The bad news; it is likely that your battery has been damaged. The good news; most batteries can be replaced for a reasonable price and are certainly cheaper than a new phone. Do not heat the battery under any circumstances; they can explode!

2. Try putting the phone in the refrigerator. This may sound strange because most of us associate heat with the drying process. Actually the refrigerator cools things by drawing moisture out of things. Do not put the phone in the freezer as this can damage the LCD (Liquid crystal display) After 30 minutes or so, take it out for about 10 minutes, and repeat until the phone is dry.

3. One of the simplest methods is to place the phone on top of a TV, or vent from a cable box or a device which emits a low heat. This can take up to 3 days but it’s better than having to shell out the bucks for a new phone.

4. If your accident happens outdoors miles away from home the simplest way to dry a phone is to place the phone on the dashboard. The car should be parked in a place that gets plenty of sun. After about 2 hours check to see if the screen is fogged. If its still foggy put it back on the dash, if not try putting in the battery and boot up the phone.

5. Another common method used to save a wet cell phone is to place the phone in a container of rice. Remember how Grandma put grains of rice in the salt shaker to keep the salt dry. Rice can absorb an incredible amount of moisture.

6. Other methods along this line involve putting the phone in a sock or pantyhose and placing in a container with silica sand or the new crystal kind of cat litter. On the average these methods take about 3 days to be effective.

7. Try using a compressed air can like the ones sold at computer stores. Hold the can STRAIGHT (holding the can sideways, upside down, or at an angle, will discharge a freezing liquid damaging your phone further) Shoot the air into speaker, mic, keypad, and hard to reach crevices.

8. One of the easiest methods to save a wet cell phone is to use a plain old hair dryer. This method is somewhat controversial. Some sources say that the heat from a hair dryer is too hot. Most hair dryers have a low heat setting and this is the one that should always be used. If the low heat setting on your hair dryer is too hot it is better to use another method.

If your phone was dropped in salt water or water containing an excessive amount of minerals you will have to take some special steps. Salt water will crystallize causing its own set of problems.

9. You may use alcohol or distilled water to flush out contaminants. If you use alcohol it must be at least 95% denatured alcohol. Rubbing alcohol is only 70% and not effective. Be sure to check what the alcohol is denatured with. Do not use anything other than methanol. Any other kind of alcohol can damage your phone. Rinse the phone with alcohol and dry. Alcohol is flammable so this should be done outside or in a well ventilated area.

10. Another way to remove salts and minerals from a wet cell phone is to use distilled water. While not as effective as alcohol, distilled water will dilute minerals and salts. The idea is to get the salts and minerals off the copper parts in the phone before they corrode.

A wet cell phone need not be an expensive tragedy that causes you to sell your old cell phone. All the above steps have been tested and found successful most of the time. The key to saving a wet cell phone is patience. None of the listed methods are quick fixes but they can save you a lot of aggravation and money. While the best case scenario is a dry functional phone accidents do happen. Don’t panic, have patience, and everything should turn out just fine.

Cheapest Hotels on the Web

2007-09-24T18:17:00.000-04:00

I am actually sitting in my room in London right now and writing this blog message. Boy, I wish I had found this web site for cheap hotel rooms before I came here, because I'm paying 155 pounds plus VAT per month!

There are Paris hotels and cheap Sydney hotels on CheaperThanHotels.com.au. There are 2 star hotels all the way up to 5 star hotels. Really, any level of internet hotels for rent.

I liked the way the site is set up and easy to navigate. You will find the best deal on a hotel room very quickly.

No More Search Engine Problems with Dynamic Pages

2007-09-17T11:16:00.000-04:00

Google reports that it has problems reading dynamic pages on your web site so what can you do about it? Dynamic pages are critical to your web site in interacting with your audience so what can you do about the losses those dynamic pages may be cuasing in search engine optimization?

Now, there's a SEO software tool that can help you; it's called Static Page Builder. It's a product of five years worth of development and it's easy to install and use. It takes all of your dynamic pages and creates a second static page that makes sem a snap.

So You HAD To Have That New Phone?

2007-09-07T11:43:00.000-04:00

So many of you had to have the brand new iPhone. Even at a staggering $600 to $800 dollars. You had to be the first to have the latest and greatest (?) in mobile phone technology.

All I can say is ha ha ha ha ha.

Steve Jobs announced yesterday that the price of the 8GB iPhone model would be slashed by 33 percent. That's about 200 bucks.

And then all the whiny techno-geek wanna-be's screamed, "It's not fair!".

Please, give me a break. If you're naive enough to buy the first edition of anything, and it costs as much as most peoples mortgage payments, then you get what you deserve.

Everyone knows you should never buy the "first" version of anything in technology; it most always has kinks that have not been worked out yet. People who do buy the first, are essentially guinea pigs for the company, so they can improve the next version for the rest of us.

And everyone also knows that prices in technology fall drastically after the initial "wow" factor has waned (remember VCR's? DVD players?).

But Steve Jobs did what most parents are forced to do when their whiny child won't quit, he gave in. He is giving all you whiny brats a refund of $100 dollars.

Now clean up your room or you won't get to watch Star Treck!

Mobile Ad Rush Coming to the USA

2007-08-29T17:11:00.000-04:00

Research firm SNL Kagan released a 10 year wireless projection last week that predicts that by 2013, there will be more cell phones in the USA than there are people. This is has been the case for several years already in the UK, but the USA has been slower than Europe in the adoption of cell phone technology.

The current cell phone to population penetration in the USA is 84%, or 233 million units.

Data revenue, that includes text messaging services, will rise to 22% of overall cellular revenue by 2013.

Mobile advertising, which currently brings in only $500 million in the USA will top $11 billion by 2011. That amounts to 1/3 of the overall internet advertising market.

Replace Your Toner Cartridge at Cheap Prices

2007-08-28T09:48:00.000-04:00

When it comes to printers, there's nothing very exciting about them. You just hope that when you go to print something, something actually prints without smudges and gross blotches on the page.

And, then there's the maintenance of the printer. They often need cleaned and you have to keep replacing the toner cartridges. When it comes to toner cartridges, we just want it to work and we want the best price on toner cartridges.

That's why when you shop for toner, you need to find a web site that offers a wide variety of toner cartridges and factory direct prices for toner.

Now, if only we can find somebody to come out and do the messy job of changing the toner inkjet cartridge.

Sprint Raises Text Message Fee, But Does it Matter?

2007-08-24T10:37:00.000-04:00

Sprint has announced that it is raising it's cost per text message from .15 to .20 per text, effective October 1.

This will probably be big news and will be picked up by many media. But, does it really matter? Text messaging is cheap if you get a bucket plan, often less than .01 per text; for heavy text message users, there are unlimited text plans. I'm sure Sprint is increasing the price to drive more users into using large volume text plans which are clearly the future of the industry.

Unfortunately, however, many uninformed non-texters see stories like this and are more scared away from texting. Why would they pay .20 for a single 160-character message when they can get a phone call for essentially free?

It reminds me of the old 900 number days. Adult programs have not been permitted on 900 numbers since 1991, but still many people correlate the 900 number industry with heavy breathing. Will Sprint's increase cause non-texters to say text messaging is expensive?

Americans Still Love to Talk on Mobile Phones

2007-08-23T10:48:00.000-04:00

Americans continue to use cell phones primarily for phone calls rather than text messaging. In the United States, 65% of all mobile phone use is done to make phone calls. This statistics may seem strange to those Americans who don't text, but it is the highest percentage in the world.

The June study also stated that the average US user goes on the mobile web 12 times per month compared to Japan where the mobile web is used 40 times per month.

Americans also lag in picture taking with their mobile phones. Only 52% of Americans have used their cell phone as a camera compared to 80% internationally. 22% have recorded a video compared to 62% globally.

This doesn't mean that Americans don't love technology, however. 67% now own a digital camera, 36% own a laptop, and 42% own a portable media player such as an ipod.

At least we are honest. The USA and South Korea are the only countries where more people have downloaded paid music content than stolen the music for free from the internet.

Internet Marketing Services Available Online

2007-08-20T17:58:00.000-04:00

So you have a web site. But, does anybody know about it?

Advertising is expensive. Do you have the budget for it?

Well, there's a lot of inexpensive ways to get the word out on your web site. Getting higher rankings in the search engines is one way. You can obtain search engine consulting services to climb the ladder in the search engines. One of the best ways to increase your search engine rankings is to get a lot of links thorugh link building tools available from online marketing services experts like Discount Click.

Sell Your Used Cell Phone

2007-08-17T15:55:00.000-04:00

If you have a used cell phone in your drawer, you should sell your used cell phone and get money for it. It's not like you're ever going to use it. So, sell that old cell phone and make some cash for it. You should sell the used cell phone now, because you know in another year, you won't get nearly as much money for your old cell phone.

I've never known an easier way to make money than to simply sell your old cell phone. It's easier than picking up coins on the sidewalk.

Hidden Meanings Behind Text Messages

2007-08-15T12:50:00.000-04:00

It’s Friday afternoon. The weather is gorgeous, and all Terry can think about is getting finished with work, and spending a hot night with her husband. Between the kids, and the dog and keeping the house, his job and her working part time, she really has only seen him in passing all week on the way in to take a shower. She is feeling frisky as she watches the clock tick towards 5 o’clock. She can’t call him, her co-workers would over hear and she would be mortified. She can’t e-mail him; the company has access to her mailbox! The most private way to convey her idea for a post-work romp is a sexy text message. She grabs her cell phone, and texts to his number, @wrk, feelin 6Y. She waits anxiously for a response, and lets out a delighted squeal when she reads it. ALIwanisu, he writes back. And now the clock is moving even more slowly, as she anticipates the activities in her bedroom when she gets home.

Terry and her husband are eager participants in a growing trend among text messagers. According to an on-line poll conducted by About.com, 17% of respondents use text messaging mostly to arrange sex encounters. What was once a pebble thrown at a window late at night, has been replaced electronically with, GYPO or, translated. “Get Your Pants Off” on a 1”x 2” screen. Romantic or tacky? Who cares! Certainly not the people that are participating! Sexy text messages are the 2007 version of a booty call. And it really is ideal. If you are unavailable, or just not in the mood, you can ignore the text, and avoid any embarrassing excuse making. If you are at a party, and want to get busy fast, just text your mate/friend/toy, “let’s get outta here” and no one at the party will be the wiser. Then of course, there is the “forbidden” hook-up with the hot and sexy ex-boyfriend that you promised yourself, and your best girlfriends that you swear you would NOT drunk dial! Promise! Just text that little hottie for a rendez vous, and you can keep your dignity. It’s a win for everybody!

How can a seemingly impersonal exchange become such a popular method for conveying one’s erotic desires? For one, there is the privacy factor: no one else but you and the recipient of the message will know. That is unless you text your Aunt Bernice by accident. Therefore, it is highly recommend you double check the “send to” number before you press “send message”. Sexy text messages cannot be taken back. Second is the fact that people’s inhibitions may be somewhat more relaxed when they don’t have to come up with flowery adjectives to get the message across. “Wanna meet?” on a text message has an entirely different implied meaning as a text message, than if conveyed by voice or e-mail. And that may be all that little hottie could read anyway. Last may be of course, the convenience. You could be in an elevator, in a cab, on the way home or watching your kids at the playground. These are times when stealth and convenience are of the utmost importance. Whenever and wherever the mood strikes you, your erotic desire can be conveyed.

Some couples even have a “code” for their mate when the mood strikes. One woman in particular texts, “Jenna Jameson is in town” to her husband and he instantly knows EXACTLY what she wants.

A Great New Site for Internet Advertising

2007-08-11T01:56:00.000-04:00

There's a great new site that I recently heard of called DClickAds. It matches internet advertisers and publishers to sell text link ads, banner ads, or premium embedded links on the sites. You can sign up as either an advertiser or make money as a publisher.

Everybody knows that the best way to climb up the search engine ranking system is with text link ads. DClickAds facilitates that climb to the top of the search engine rankings by offering an easy way to by internet advertising.

And, it isn't just about SEO. If you buy links on related sites to yours, you will get added traffic clicking through to your site. It's really that simple.

Advertising on the internet is one of the most exciting ways to get more traffic to your site. Try DClickAds and see what it has to offer.

Text Messaging Goes Country!

2007-08-06T13:48:00.000-04:00

WYCD, the hottest country station in Detroit has found a new way to interact with listeners: Text Messaging!

WYCD’s latest success story took place at a 3 day weekend Country Hoedown where over 2000 entries were received.

Festival goers were asked to text “ATT” to WYCD1 to enter to win a “Meet & Greet” with country artists behind stage.

They utilized PromoTXT to reach out and allow everyone to take part in the text campaign. Calling in to a radio station only allows so many people to participate; however, with texting – everyone gets through! Not to mention, everyone receives the advertiser sponsored message – which makes the station’s relationship with the advertiser even more valuable.
The sales department was able to package the text message sponsorship and generate additional NTR that paid well above the fees they pay for the PromoTXT monthly fee.

Debbie Kenyon, GM of WYCD & WVMV in Detroit realized the need to start integrating text messaging into the WYCD’s sales and promotional efforts. “As technology advances, so must we. With interactive text message promotions, we can build a database of listeners and continue to interact, inform and enhance the delivery of station content in a timely fashion. It’s simple with PromoTXT to do just this,” Kenyon said.

Currently, WYCD accepts text messages from listeners requesting to hear their favorite country hits. The WYCD sales force is active in integrating text campaigns into their sales calls with advertisers.

WYCD has set the bar in the radio industry and the Detroit Market – proving that text campaigns are hotter right now than Kenny Chesney’s bare chest!

Cheapest Broadband Provider in the UK

2007-07-31T14:13:00.000-04:00

Everybody is looking for a cheap broadband provider, arent' they? Of course, you want reliability and limited outages, but at the end of the day, inexpensive broadband internet access is what it's all about.

BroadbandSuppliers.co.uk offers a broadband UK supplier comparison table that enables you to compare the most popular broadband deals in the UK. It's really easy to choose the best broadband provider for your company when you can compare the deals side by side.

Why should you get broadband internet access? Most important is the speed. At 512 kbps, broadband is 10 times faster than normal dial up at 56 kbps. And, who wants to be staring at a screen on your dial up internet access when you can be zooming to the next page?

Cell Phone Users Who Browse for News

2007-07-29T14:35:00.000-04:00

The United States trails most European countries when it comes to anything that has to do with the cell phone. But, newspapers should take notice of the fact that while Americans may not be as text-savvy as our European brothers and sisters, we are more likely to browse our mobile phones for news content than all of Europe except for the United Kingdom, according to a study by M:Metrics.

This poses a great opportunity for mobile marketing plans for newspapers that are forward-thinking enough to take advantage of the way that Generation Y likes to find its news and information.

PERCENTAGE OF CELL PHONE USERS WHO BROWSE FOR NEWS

United Kingdom 13.7%

United States 9.9%

France 7.4%

Italy 5.8%

Spain 5.7%

Germany 3.3%

Text Messaging by Country

2007-07-28T14:48:00.000-04:00

The British sure do love texting. Texting is still most popular in the United Kingdom while the United States continues to trail Europe in the use of text messaging.

Percent Having Sent a Text Message

United Kingdom 85.6%

Spain 85.3%

Italy 84.8%

Germany 81.6%

France 73.7%

United States 39.2%

Source: M:Metrics

Verizon Customers Sent 10 Billion Texts in June.

2007-07-25T16:04:00.000-04:00

BASKING RIDGE, N.J., July 24 -- Verizon Wireless customers sent and received more than 10 billion text messages (or SMS messages) in June 2007, a company record and the highest reported total of any wireless service provider in the nation. Also in June, Verizon Wireless customers sent and received more than 200 million multimedia messages (MMS), which include picture and video messages. Both monthly figures represent an increase of more than 100 percent from September 2006, when the company broke the five billion monthly text message threshold for the first time.

"We've delivered exponential growth in our messaging services for two primary reasons: our innovative devices, such as the enV, that make it easy to text, and our innovative messaging capabilities that allow customers to communicate how they want," said Mike Lanman, vice president and chief marketing officer for Verizon Wireless.

"And we always look for ways to make messaging more fun, social and interactive. In fact, we just became the first -- and only -- wireless company to offer customers the ability to directly post pictures and videos to places such as Facebook using messaging."

Verizon Wireless currently offers more than two dozen phones that can send and receive text messages and a, picture and video messages. If a person were to send a single text message every 15 seconds, it would take more than 4,750 years of continuous texting to send 10 billion text messages and more than 95 years to send 200 million multimedia messages.

How Does The Color of Your Shirt Matter on A Date?

2007-07-24T13:28:00.000-04:00

Before online dating and mobile dating, people met the old fashioned way; at a bar, or a party or even the gym. Someone just might catch your eye, across the room. Maybe it was their smile, maybe a great outfit or an athletic build. Whatever it was, it was something that you saw.

Today, first impressions are not about what you first see, but what you learn about a person by reading their profile on line, or by chatting through text. How do they spend their free time? What kind of career do they have? Do they have kids? Are they from the area originally? Do they like to play or watch sports? Do they go out and dance every Saturday night, or prefer to stay in and cook?

Actually seeing the person that has captured your interest through text or on-line is the last thing that happens when people connect nowadays, not the first! It is the polar opposite of what dating used to be. Therefore, if you really think about it, modern technology has provided potential daters with the ever-elusive second chance at a first impression! It’s the first time you actually meet face to face, in the flesh. It’s the Second First Impression.

Relating to this are the color preferences between the sexes. Why? Well, because what’s the first question everyone asks themselves and any friend who will listen when they are looking forward to that first in-the-flesh meeting? What should I wear?

Studies suggest that everyone likes blue. It is the color that receives the most votes across the board, regardless of age or gender. Purple however, is the second most favorite among women, whereas it is the overall least favorite of men. Green gets 14% of the votes for both men and women. Orange is equally low among both sexes, as is brown, yellow and white.

These are important statistics to know in this mobile dating, and online dating world for several reasons, beyond knowing what to wear on the Second First Impression date.

For example, what does your social networking page look like? If you are a woman, trying to attract men, by all means, do not make purple your dominant design color. Remember, men do not like it, and may click right past your page.

Then there’s your font color. Are you a girl who likes to send text messages in Dark Cyan or Bright Magenta? A Dark Blue or Dark Green will be much better received!

Third, and most obvious, is The Outfit. Among both sexes, orange is the color that people tend to associate with being cheap and inexpensive. Blue is appealing to most, and seems to have a calming and relaxing affect. With black getting only a 1% vote for least favorite among men and white getting 3% for least favorite color among women, you can use these color preferences to put together an appealing, Second First Impression outfit with no problem at all!

Source: Color Assignment by Joe Hallock, @ www.joehallock.com/edu

Something for Free

2007-07-20T15:30:00.005-04:00

Free Device Improves Cell Phone Reception

Free Cell Phone Signal Booster

2007-07-18T16:55:00.000-04:00

By Anthony Wayne
Editor – Text Message Blog

Wayne, PA -- Tired of losing cell phone signals on important phone calls?

Advanced Telecom Services announces that it is giving away free cell phone signal boosters to anyone who wants one. There's no cost at all to the consumer, not even a shipping cost, and you'll be less likely to lose your cell phone connection when in a tall building, elevator, tunnel, or rural area.

Once you install the cell phone antenna booster, users no longer need to worry about scratchy background noise or lost calls. Users will find improved, crisp, clear reception in elevators, tunnels, even office buildings. This antenna is discreet and easy to install. Plus, it fits onto any model of cell phone.

This clever device is like having a four foot long antenna on your phone. As seen on TV, the cell phone antenna booster originally had a retail price of $19.99. Advanced Telecom Services, however, was able to purchase the cell antennas in bulk from a South Korean distributor for a fraction of the original cost.

"The distributor made us a great offer on the devices," said Bob Bentz, director of marketing and sales at Advanced Telecom Services. "So we decided to do something that we've never done in our 18 years of business--give away something for free to the public with no obligation. We are asking webmasters to spread the word of this offer by linking to our offer page."

The cell phone antenna booster is a passive device designed to capture stray radiation in the body of the phone. It then re-radiates the signal to improve the performance of the phone. The device will improve cell phone signal quality best when you avoid placing your hand over the area where the internal antenna is installed.

Cell phone antenna boosters will be sent absolutely free, with no shipping and no handling charges while supplies last. Advanced Telecom Services will even pay for the postage (limited time offer).

And, businesses can encourage their valuable readers’ customers to get one too. All they have to do is link to the Free Cell Phone Signal Booster web page.

Advanced Telecom Services and its subsidiary, Spark Network Services, offers a complete array of text message solutions for advertisers, media, and emergency text message alert services. Its text message solutions include: interactive text message services; text message alerts; text message services for radio stations; text message solutions for newspapers.

Text Message Dictionary

2007-07-17T13:18:00.000-04:00

Text message abbreviations have resulted from the constant daily use of communication through cell phones, instant messaging and e-mail. We have compiled a list of the most used phrases for our Text Message Dictionary. These text message shortcuts can make it so much quicker and easier to send a text message!!

FREE CELL PHONE SIGNAL BOOSTER!

2007-07-16T13:51:00.000-04:00

TOTALLY FREE CELL PHONE ANTENNA!!!! AMAZING SIGNAL BOOSTER!

No more worries about dropping calls or losing your signal! You can now make calls from elevators, tunnels and office buildings all with NO ANNOYING STATIC!

No Shipping!

No Handling!

Totally Free!

Text Message Promotion on Broadway

2007-07-13T11:58:00.000-04:00

Currently, on Broadway, there is a magnificent show, “Spring Awakening” that has won 8 Tony Awards, and praise from all critics and theatergoers. But the really big story is about the text message promotion that is listed in the Playbill.

The flier says, “Win Your Chance to Come Backstage!” and instructs theatergoers to send the text message “bdway spring” to a five digit short code during intermission. The winner, selected at random, is sent a message in return after the show. The winner not only gets to go backstage to meet the cast, but carries with them free PR for the life of their cell phone.

Upon registering, texters receive a ring tone from a popular song in the show, and a picture from the show to use as wallpaper on their phones. Both of these, producers think, are unique conversation starters, that will serve as self-perpetuating promotion and ultimately, ticket sales.

In December 2006, there were 18.7 billion text messages sent in the US. This is nearly double the rate of 9.7 billion from the same time the previous year. This is persuasive data, but theater promoters have been wary, taking into account the horribly disruptive sound of a ringing cell phone during a performance.

“Spring Awakening” however, has the age-appropriate audience for such a promotion. The show itself is about the struggles of adolescent life and the ambiguous messages that this generation is sent by parents and by society.

Thus far, participation in the promotion has resulted in about 8.5 percent of audiences who have sent text messages in the 14 times the promotion has run. Taking into account the astounding number of text messages sent in the US, promoters see this number increasingly steadily.

Ringing during performances has not been a problem at this point, but it is definitely something that producers are keeping in mind. However from a marketing standpoint, the risk, they think, is worth taking.

Cell Phone Dating: The Newest Way to Search For A Date

2007-07-12T11:39:00.000-04:00

For those of you who are still coming to grips with online dating, it’s too late. Mobile dating is the newest wave in online socializing.

Millions of singles have begun searching for a date using their cell phone thanks to new location-based mobile dating services that let users connect on-the-spot with people they pick out. These are like instant versions of Internet dating, but with even more features. They have additional capabilities that online dating services can’t offer, like enabling you to search for a date based on your location and allow you to update that location as you move around.

People who use the service like the immediacy of location-based mobile dating. Instead of a stream of back and forth e-mail messages, potential dates can chat via text messaging in “real-time” making the experience even more satisfying to some. For those who still prefer to flirt from afar, Internet dating may remain their preferred method to online socializing and dating.

With location-based mobile dating, potential dates could be at a club, at a coffee house, at work in the building next to yours- wherever you want to search. You can find who is in the area and view their profile. The information is sent to your mobile phone, without revealing your identity, exact location or mobile phone number. That is up to the individual to reveal when the time is right.

“When we first stated the service two years ago, almost all of our users were 18-24 years old,” said Bob Bentz, Director of Marketing at Advanced Telecom Services which provides the cell phone dating product MatchlinkMobile. “Now we are seeing the median age moving closer to 30 years old as more adults become regular text message users”.

While each of the mobile dating services operates a little differently, they are all quite simple to use. Usually, all you need to subscribe is an email address and a picture of yourself. Once you have successfully subscribed, you create a profile that tells others about who you are and what you are looking for in a partner (as you would if you were involved with online dating). You then sit back and wait for the mobile dating service to find suitable matches. As matches are found, you are notified via a text message.

From there, you begin correspondence using all of the mobile device's text messaging features. Once you send a text message, replies to your messages appear in your Inbox. Sending photos or live videos of yourself is a simple matter of using the capabilities that are built right into your device such as digital cameras.
Perhaps the biggest benefit of mobile phone dating over online dating is the convenience. You can date anytime that you feel like. All you have to do is grab your mobile phone, login and start flirting with your matches until your fingers get tired! It does not matter where you are as long as you are connected to your mobile service.

Text Message Voting For Minor League Baseball

2007-07-06T13:33:00.000-04:00

Norwich, CT, July 6, 2007 – Advanced Telecom chosen to support text message voting for Minor League Baseball’s Eastern League All Star Game

Advanced Telecom Services of Wayne, PA, has been retained by Fan Text Mobile to support its text message voting format for the Minor League Baseball Eastern League All Star game in Norwich, CT on July 11, 2007.

The selection process included picking one position player and one pitcher from each team through fan balloting. The balloting was done via text messaging and by online voting on the Eastern League website. For text votes, fans entered the team nickname followed by the player’s number to vote him into the game.

Minor League baseball is largely known as the supermarket for great players when major league spots are open due to player injury or suspensions. Fan support is very strong and there are several fierce rivalries that make Minor League baseball one of the country’s most watched and most attended sports.

Advanced Telecom Services has been supporting text voting platforms since the company was founded in 1989. Examples include TV text voting, radio text voting and stadium screen text voting systems to name a few.

Clinton, Edwards and Obama Using SMS in Primary Campaign

2007-07-03T10:10:00.000-04:00

Seems text messaging has caught on in the Campaign for Presidential Nominee.

Hilary Rodham Clinton announced in May that she would use SMS to gain support for her campaign. The mobile-to-mobile text-messaging push targets the 230 million Americans who use cell phones. Supporters send the word “JOIN” to short code 77007 and will in return receive updates and news, as well as personal messages and photos focused on the area they live in. Clinton wants to use the technology to provide more personalized updates to supporters nationwide.

Within the last week, Barack Obama launched an SMS service for his presidential campaign. Supporters send the word “GO” to the short code “OBAMA” (62262). Users can request information from the campaign, get speeches sent via text and submit their opinions and advise. The campaign will also provide ringtones and wallpaper with an “Obama theme”.

It was John Edwards however, who was the first in this Presidential campaign to use SMS technology. Last year Edwards launched a site dedicated exclusively to tracking and posting his text messages while he travels around the country looking for support. The site is updated constantly and logs both the time and date that the text was sent from Edwards’ phone. The site also includes daily short codes that users can use to receive updated information on his campaign.

Other Cool Stuff

2007-07-01T01:37:00.000-04:00

Malta Travel Information
Meet on Camera
http://www.wuzup.net/wuzup/
cool source for entertainment news.
Hot Phone Sex
online bingo news

Cell Phone Statistics

2007-06-29T11:27:00.000-04:00

Nearly 50% of employees spend more than 20% of their time away from their desks creating an even more mobile workforce.

In February 2007, 3.9 billion text messages were sent. That figure increased to 4.4 billion in March, 2007 according to the Mobile Data Association (MDA).

The idea for text messaging began in the 1980's. No one person can be credited with inventing it.

The first commercial text message was sent over the Vodaphone GSM network in the Untied Kingdom on December 3, 1992.

The Philippines alone sends on the average 400 million text messages a day, more than the annual average SMS volume of the countries in Europe, and even China and India.

In January 2001, Joseph Estrada was forced to resign from the post of president of the Philippines. The popular campaign against him was widely reported to have been coordinated with SMS chain letters.

In the Netherlands, police use text messaging to receive crime tips and send alerts of missing children.

In 2003 a Malaysian court ruled that, under Sharia law, a man may divorce his wife via text messaging as long as the message was clear and unequivocal.

The amount of text messages per month has grown 250% each year for the last two years.

US Mobile content market = 68.7 million text users.

Median age of a text message user is 38 years old. 51% are women, 49% are men.

In Australia, about 14 million people are spending over $8 billion annually on their mobile phones.

One in three college students now send mobile messages from their cell phones.

Right after the Oct. 8 2005 earthquake in Kashmir, Pakistan, the goverment granted free mobile cell phone use so that separated families could find one another.

Mobile phone owners were able to pledge a donation to disaster relief after the Asian Tsunami by texting "donate" to short code.

Since November, 700 students, or 44 percent of those admitted to Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska, have been notified through a text message on their cell phones.

Cell phones are so common in China that authorities used text messages to warn millions of residents of the impending landfall of Typhoon Kaemi.

An asthma management program at San Mateo Medical Center in California uses text messaging to monitor patients' compliance with treatment regimens. The program has reduced emergency-room visits and is considered a cost-saving strategy for the hospital.

Ever Try Playing Poker on a Mac?

2007-06-27T15:53:00.001-04:00

If you've ever tried playing poker on a Mac, you know what a hassle it can be. It seems like all the poker sites out there are set up for Windows based systems and not for Macs. So, where can you play online poker on a Mac?

One of the poker sites that MacPokerOnline recommends is FullTilt Poker. Another one high on the list of Mac-friendly poker sites is BugsysClub. These sites have been reviewed as honest, financially stable, and easy to play on Macs. They are also continuing to accept US poker players while the US government decides on what the precise rules are in regards to online gambling. Personally, it makes no sense to me that this fun online activity should be outlawed; why not just regulate and tax it?

There is also an online newsletter that you can sign up for at MacPokerOnline. When you sign up for the newsletter, you'll continue to get updated information on other cool sites where you can easily play poker online on your Mac.

Text Messaging: R U In2 it?

2007-06-22T13:11:00.000-04:00

By Sandra Nathanson

I am an avid text-messager. Detractors say it’s impersonal, it’s cold. I say, get with the times people! It’s efficient. It’s easy. It’s private, and it’s pretty much free when I bundle it with the other cool stuff on my phone.

And I sleep with my phone. It wakes me every morning. It vibrates on my mattress, and gently lulls me awake better than any alarm clock on the planet. I wake up happy to see my shiny little plastic friend lying next to me. He is so considerate and unobtrusive.

But back to text messaging. It is the bomb diggity. I can text my kids while they are in class (even though the school told me I am not allowed to) to find out how their day is. Cut the cord you say? Nah, not yet. They love it. And I am the “Cool Mom” that everybody loves. That’s why all my kids’ friends love to come over to my house. See where this is going? Yup, I am that smart. Keep an eye on the little cherubs and troublemakers 24/7 because they love being around me. See how effective text messaging can be in the parenting department?

I text message my boyfriend He is a moody, young-blood who can surprise me with his testosterone fueled anger some days. Solution? Text him in the morning. “Good morning!” I send. If I get a “:))” back, then I know the coast is clear. If there is no response, his calls go into VM the rest of the day. Text messaging is like my own personal emotional bodyguard.

Then there's my ex-husband. Dear Lord! What did women DO before text messaging?? Like many, I have had the unfortunate 4-year I-am-trying-to-get-divorced-without-going-broke experience. We are on cautiously civil terms right now (today) and I credit text messaging.

E-mail could never have blocked the anger and poison that would ooze from every one of our communications in the last four years. But texting does. “C U @ Marriot @ 5pm” is the extent of it these days when we are scheduling an exchange of our kids. “Runng l8. B there in 15” is a common text I’ll get from Mr. Reliable...Even as I work my thumb through a dreadful cramp while I punch out “HURRY UP!” I am thankful that I have this tool. Without it, my kids might be minus one dad.

If only my divorce attorney accepted text. SHE charges $26.50 per e-mail!!

So for me, and perhaps for many moms like me, text messaging is the communication tool of the future. Without it I might be the mother of some trouble-making, gang member, wild-child, be without my very hot boyfriend and could be in jail for leading my kids’ father to the crocodile pond at the zoo after they’ve been fasting for 3 weeks. Now that is a truly amazing feat!

Great Way to Earn Extra $ From Your Web Site

2007-06-20T21:25:00.000-04:00

If you want to earn more money from your web site, you should consider becoming an affiliate of AsSeenonPCNetwork.com. This site does all the work and all you have to do is promote the site.

Items available for sale include health and beauty products, toys and novelties, sports and fitness products, kitchen gadgets, unique gifts and many other products.

The web site service provides everything you need to get started immediately including banners, and text links. The best thing is that there is no sign up fee and you start making commissions from your first sale. The thing I liked most about it was that there are no minimums so whether your site is big or small, AsSeenonPCNetwork is a great affiliate site to work with.

Deal or No Deal Drives USA Premium SMS Market

2007-06-19T12:03:00.000-04:00

Premium SMS revenues in the United States were $273 million in 2006, according to a report by Telephia. Most of this revenue (79 percent or $215 million) was as payment for mobile content, while voting/sweepstakes entries generated 13 percent of total revenues with $35 million—although this represented 47 percent of premium SMS volume, reports MediaPost.

“NBC’s Deal or No Deal has translated into a premium SMS hit, generating nearly half of the volume and revenue of voting/sweepstakes entries in the first quarter of 2007,” said Telephia. According to the report in the US 29,544 pieces of mobile content were bought off-portal with premium SMS in the first quarter.

How Retailers Are Using the Marketing Power of Text Message Advertising

2007-06-18T13:25:00.000-04:00

Retailers are “capturing” their elusive, on-the-go customers with Mobile Marketing programs designed to deliver real time advertising in consumers’ pockets

Today, the marketing budget of retailers has to be much more diversified than it was a decade ago. Traditional media has fallen fast in its position of effectiveness and this has forced retailers to accept that the consumer is in greater control than ever before.

Consumers today are on the move. And they rely on their cell phones to keep them informed and organized. Presently in the United States, 76% of the population uses a mobile phone, and over one half of those mobile subscribers regularly use text messaging. In fact, text messaging is the number one feature that people use on their cell phones outranking picture taking and playing music. (Pew Internet & American Life Project Associated Press and AOL). In many opinions, it may be “the most powerful advertising medium of all time” (NY Times).

Contrary to popular belief, the profile of frequent text messagers is not limited to teenagers. More and more, text messagers mirror the typical high-value retail customer. They are mostly adults 35 and over, with an annual income at or above $75,000. (American Consumer Institute).

All of the above have made text messaging the obvious choice for the next medium which retailers must manipulate if they want to keep in touch with their target consumers. Text message advertising can reach these consumers right in their pocket.

Several retailers have already jumped on the idea of text message advertising and text message coupons. The results have been very positive.

Target Corp. has been sending text message advertising to its customers since 2005. Customers opt-in to the service from the company’s website and subsequently receive messages to alert them when a new fashion designer is going to have product in their stores. This has been shown to increase in-store traffic, and provide a valuable database for the company.

Uncle Ed’s Oil Shoppe, out of Battle Creek Michigan uses text message advertising to send out mobile coupons. Customers send the word, “Uncleeds” to the short code WYCD1 and receive a message back telling them “This is your $5 off coupon. Show this text message at checkout”. Customers love the fact that they don’t have to cut anything out or remember to bring it along, because they always have their cell phone with them!

Restaurants have taken advantage of the immediacy of text messaging. For example, upon opt-in, customers can receive alerts about lunch specials right before the lunch hour. Some will even text a mobile coupon which the customer shows to their server to receive the discount or promotion.

While mobile coupons and sale alerts are among the most popular text messaging campaigns with retailers, some chains are taking to the next level. Meijer, a supercenter/grocery store chain based out of Grand Rapids, Michigan, launched a campaign to alert its customers when gas prices were about to increase. Text message advertisements are sent to customers who have registered their cell number, when gas prices are about to increase by 5 cents a gallon or more. Customers receive the messages a few hours before the increase will take place, so that they have time to fill up their tanks at the lower price.

A marketing campaign which includes text message advertising and mobile coupons can be implemented so quickly and efficiently that it can help companies be the first to market, and is less intrusive than other methods. It also makes them stand out from their competitors. Because it is an opt-in program, customers are expecting the message which improves the response. Text message advertising is truly the next wave in retail promotion.

Sexy Text Encounters

2007-06-12T10:14:00.000-04:00

by Sandra Nathanson

It’s Friday afternoon. The weather is gorgeous, and all Terry can think about is getting finished with work, and spending a hot night with her husband. Between the kids, and the dog and keeping the house, his job and her working part time, she really has only seen him in passing all week on the way in to take a shower.

She is feeling frisky as she watches the clock tick towards 5 o’clock. She can’t call him, her co-workers would over hear and she would be mortified! She can’t e-mail him; the company has access to her mailbox! The most private way to convey her idea for a post-work romp is a sexy text message.

She grabs her cell phone, and texts to his number, “@wrk, feelin 6Y. U?” She waits anxiously for a response, and lets out a delighted squeal when she reads it. “ALIwanisu”, he writes back. And now the clock is moving even more slowly, as she anticipates the activities in her bedroom when she gets home.

Terry and her husband are eager participants in a growing trend among text messagers. According to an on-line poll conducted by About.com, 17% of respondents use text messaging mostly to arrange sex encounters. What was once a pebble thrown at a window late at night, has been replaced electronically with, “GYPO” or, translated. “Get Your Pants Off” on a 1”x 2” screen.

Romantic or tacky? Who cares! Certainly not the people that are participating! Sexy text messages are the 2007 version of a booty call. And it really is ideal. If you are unavailable, or just not in the mood, you can ignore the text, and avoid any embarrassing excuse making. If you are at a party, and want to get busy fast, just text your mate/friend/toy, “let’s get outta here” and no one at the party will be the wiser.

Then of course, there is the “forbidden” hook-up with the hot and sexy ex-boyfriend that you promised yourself, and your best girlfriends that you swear you would NOT drunk dial! Promise! Just text that little hottie for a rendez vous, and you can keep your dignity. It’s a win for everybody!

How can a seemingly impersonal exchange become such a popular method for conveying one’s erotic desires? For one, there is the privacy factor: no one else but you and the recipient of the message will know. That is unless you text your Aunt Bernice by accident. Therefore, it is highly recommend you double check the “send to” number before you press “send message”. Sexy text messages cannot be taken back.

Second is the fact that people’s inhibitions may be somewhat more relaxed when they don’t have to come up with flowery adjectives to get the message across. “Wanna meet?” on a text message has an entirely different implied meaning as a text message, than if conveyed by voice or e-mail. And that may be all that little hottie could read anyway.

Last may be of course, the convenience. You could be in an elevator, in a cab, on the way home from work or watching your kids at the playground. These are times when stealth and convenience are of the utmost importance. Whenever and wherever the mood strikes you, your erotic desire can be conveyed.

Some couples even have a “code” for their mate when the mood strikes. One woman in particular texts, “Jenna Jameson is in town” to her husband and he instantly knows EXACTLY what she wants.

Calling all Bloggers

2007-06-07T15:48:00.000-04:00

Bloggers, you should consider using Blogsvertise. It's a great way to get inbound links from other bloggers that will increase your traffic or increase your SEO ranking. You can also make money by writing articles about other companies, products, or blogs.

Great Color Picker

2007-06-06T17:20:00.000-04:00

Are you tired of using PhotoShop or a similar service as your color picker? Well, quit using it, because it simply wasn't designed to do the job you are asking it to do. You should be using AdesClrPicker instead.

With AdesClrPicker, you can simply drag your mouse over any color and it will save it for you. There's no need to bring up PhotoShop or a similar service because this read Ades' Blog which has lots of great tips for webmasters and anybody who does work on the internet.

The Houston Chronicle Selects Advanced Mobile Solutions For Mobile Classifieds

2007-06-05T12:24:00.000-04:00

The Houston Chronicle/Chron.com selects AMS’ MyClassifieds2Go, the industry’s first ConTEXTually Searchable Mobile Classifieds.

The Houston Chronicle and Chron.com have partnered with Advanced Mobile Solutions of Wayne, PA to mobilize local print and web based classified data using a powerful combination of text/SMS messaging and mobile web.

The Houston Chronicle and their associated web property, Chron.com are ranked 9th and 11th in daily newspaper circulation and daily newspaper web site traffic respectively. The Houston Chronicle has long been a digital technology leader in the newspaper industry so it is only logical that they would be one of the first to “mobilize” their classifieds.

The Chronicle’s MyClassifieds2Go service is the first mobile classified service to use AMS’s patent pending ConTEXTual Search technology. ConTEXTual Search allows readers to quickly search and browse classified listings by texting descriptive key words to The Houston Chronicle’s short code 24766 (CHRON). For example, users can text the words SEARCH HOMES KATY to 24766 and receive a return SMS message with an embedded mobile web (WAP) link taking users to the search result in the WAP site where complete details, descriptions and photos are available for review. Critical performance generating features in the WAP site include: Email Listing and Click2Call in addition to tracking all mobile web traffic stats and text message requests.

“In keeping with the Chronicles’ reputation for being an early adopter, we were very excited they selected AMS and again demonstrating leadership in the digital media space, this time with mobile,” said David Sawyer, Executive V.P. of Business Development for Advanced Mobile Solutions, in Wayne, PA. “Mobile provides a powerful new distribution channel, attracting important new audiences, generating demonstrable performance for advertisers and generating significant revenue streams for our partners. Mobile is an ideal progression for newspapers and will soon represent the third distribution channel for their advertising content, following print and web.”

To find out more about MyClassifieds2Go and how they can assist your business in increasing market share and revenue, please contact David Sawyer of Advanced Mobile Solutions 512-663-9123 or e-mail him at: davids@advancedmobile.us

Deal Or No Deal Bumps Up Premium SMS Revenue, Volume

2007-06-04T11:41:00.000-04:00

By Robert Andrews

US mobile carriers clocked $273 million in premium SMS revenue during the first quarter of the year, according to data from market research firm Telephia. The majority of messages came via voting/sweepstakes (47 percent), followed by purchases for downloadable content (40 percent) and chat or community (seven percent). But the purchases made up the bulk of revenue ($214.9 million), ahead of voting/sweepstakes ($35.4 million), uncategorized messages to premium SMS short codes ($17.4 million) and chat or community ($5.7 million).
The figures show that, whilst almost half of premium SMS customers participate in mobile votes (ie. TV game shows and other contests), using the medium as a payment channel for the likes of ringtones and horoscopes is a far bigger revenue opportunity, community even less so. Telephia’s mobile media VP Kanishka Agarwal: “Marketers are experimenting beyond the standard-rate SMS voting pioneered by American Idol and tapping into premium SMS with voting/sweepstakes campaigns. NBC’s Deal or No Deal has translated into a premium SMS hit, generating nearly half of the volume and revenue of voting/sweepstakes entries in the first quarter of 2007.”

Text Messaging -- The American Dinosaur

2007-05-22T14:32:00.000-04:00

by Sandra Nathanson

Globally, SMS text messaging is the most preferred method of communication between business executives. Ranking last in this group are American business execs. Why? Hard to explain considering SMS is the fastest form of communication ever invented, and also the most discrete form of electronic communication in existence. One would think these executives would embrace the convenience and immediacy of text messaging especially after being badly served by the cellular telecom industry for years. Poor handsets, poor coverage, poor services, bad pricing and inferior interconnectivity have been standard for the cellular industry since its inception. With this revenue powerhouse continuing to build, the success of SMS text messaging is hard to ignore. In 2006 this service generated 80 billion dollars of revenue worldwide – that’s as much as total Hollywood box office, plus total music industry plus total video gaming, combined.

Certainly these execs do not need to add text messaging to the long list of “Things My Teenager Can Do That I Can’t”. All teenagers in all countries can send text messages without even looking at their phone. They do it like a gymnast does a forward roll: easy. 48% of British teenagers admit to sending text messages while they talk to another person. One third of South Korean teenagers average 100 txt messages per day! The Belgian study at Catholic University of Leuwen found that over half of teenagers regularly wake up to incoming text messages from their friends.

Now for a reality check: the average e-mail is opened within 48 HOURS.

Hours.

A text message is immediate. Instant. Bam! It’s there, on your phone, undeniable.

In 2002 the majority of UK executives used SMS in work related communications. Keep in mind; London business execs are even more conservative than New York lawyers and investment bankers. What are we missing?

By 2004 SMS text messaging had become the most preferred business communication method. Ahead of e-mail, voice-mail and voice calls. SMS text messaging among business users is the preferred means to communicate in uber conservative England! Even the Estonian government sends out the agenda for the meetings via SMS. The Finnish Prime Minister’s voicemail greeting says, “don’t leave me voicemail; send me a text message instead”. The Singapore government has decided all e-government will be SMS-enabled.

Voice calls are barely a choice anymore. Consider the time it takes to actually connect with the person you are calling. More than half the time you call someone, you end up in voicemail jail. That person may allow your call to go into voicemail on purpose with the full intent on planning to call you back. But then meetings, a bathroom break, a bad signal, another call, their hands full all prevent that from actually happening. The actual case of getting straight through and being able to talk to your counterpart is certainly less than 25% and could easily be under 10% of all calls.

In any case, you can send a text message and it arrives immediately. Immediately into the meeting where phones are on silent. Immediately while he is talking to your competitor on the other line. He can read your message while he is carrying on the other conversation. Even if that person’s phone is turned off, the moment it comes on again, your text message arrives. No need to check voicemail. Just read a quick note.

There are 2.7 BILLION cell phone users. There are 1.8 billion ACTIVE users of SMS text messaging. In Europe SMS usage is over 80% per capita and in Britain it is 85%.

To be fair, there is much we cannot do in SMS that we can use e-mail for. But for the fastest form of messaging and for the most urgent business communications, you can’t beat SMS text messaging.

On another note, there is the discretion of texting. You can say things on SMS you cannot say in public. SMS is private, covert, and efficient. You can convey lots of data that is not easy on voice calls. Get a phone number, an address, a reservation code. Any time you need a pencil and paper, it’s actually a lot easier to transmit that data via SMS.

SMS text messaging is like the communication of the elite. You get to the front of the line; the top of the heap, your SMS message arrives before any voicemails can be retrieved. SMS is like a VIP card, the right to go ahead of the line, to cut lines ahead of the queue. What a privilege to have your communication treated as the most important!

Then there is the other item that we all need more of but no one can buy: TIME. The UK survey by the MDA reveals that the most valued use of SMS by IK business executives is to manage their time. The most valuable tool to manage their time is SMS text messaging.

Norwegians’ and the Irish in Europe average 2 messages per day. Malaysians, 4 messages per day. Koreans 10, Singaporeans 12 and Philippines 15 per day.

Then there is the American Dinosaur. Out of Americans today, according to the latest data by the CTIA, 42% of Americans send text messages, and they average 0.6 text messages per phone user across the whole country. This is totally in line with the UK five years ago or Finland 8 years ago. Americans must see texting as a corporate efficiency communication tool, and not just the next teenager cool thing.

The Medium is the Message

2007-05-16T16:40:00.000-04:00

Spark Network Services' Bob Bentz was recently interviewed by Inside Radio concerning the use of text messaging for radio stations. The article was written by feature writer Mike Kinosian and is the May 10, 2007 feature article. Click on the headline link above to read this fascinating article.

Coupon Chief Offers Big Discounts

2007-05-10T17:41:00.000-04:00

It seems like today, everybody is looking for discounted merchandise on the internet. Well, you should discover CouponChief.com.

CouponChief.com offers discounts on stores like Target. If you're like me, you can get lost in a Target store. They have everything and it's all discounted. Cheap, but not cheesy. Target has a $5 off coupon on orders of $50 or more.

Then, there's also internet specialty stores like Pet Food Direct. If you have a big dog like I do, you know what a hassle it is to go to the pet shop to buy those heavy bags of food. Plus, I always forget and the dog ends up eating SuperCrisp for two days until I go get him some real dog food. Pet Food Direct coupons are $5 off on a $40 order.

Finally, there's no better place to find hard to find items like specialty stores on the internet. Entrepreneurs have made a great living on selling hard to find items like extra large size bras. Bigger Bras discounts offer you 10% off on the prices even though their bras might be 50% bigger than average! That's a whopper of a deal to those big breasted women out there.

National Texting Champion Crowned

2007-05-03T17:28:00.000-04:00

The LG national texting champion is (no surprise) a 13-year-old girl. Morgan Pozgar, from Pennsylvania, won when she typed "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" in less than 15 seconds!

Morgan says she sends more than 8000 text messages a month to her friends.

When asked what she was going to do with the $25,000 grand prize, Morgan replied in typical 13-year-old girl fashion: "I'm going to go shopping and buy lots of clothes."

Emergency Text Message Alerts for Colleges

2007-05-02T12:32:00.000-04:00

Philadelphia (PR Web) – Advanced Telecom Services has announced its mobile marketing products are now available for bulk SMS emergency text message alerts.

During times of emergency, text message alerts are the best means for reaching the mobile population since 84% of all Americans keep their cell phones on and with them 24 hours per day. Moreover, 94% of all text messages are opened and read immediately. This is simply not the case with email.

Clearly, text messaging is also the preferred medium for reaching teens and young adults. In fact, 49% of those aged 15-24 say that text messaging is the most important feature in determining the choice of a cell phone. Today, 48% of all written communication by this age group is done via text messaging. Clearly, the cell phone is ubiquitous on college campuses.

As always seems to be the case in unprecedented situations, criticism has been directed at public safety entities and the administrative leaders in what could have been done differently to prevent the horrors of Virginia Tech. Several reports were critical of the difficulty in notifying students and teachers who were commuting to the campus. Certainly, email was not going to help this group as they drove right into the disaster.

“The tragedy at Virginia Tech has many academic institutions looking for the best method to inform students and staff should the unthinkable happen at their school,” said Bob Bentz, director of marketing at Wayne, Pennsylvania-based Advanced Telecom Services. “Emergency text message alerts may be the quickest and most reliable way to reach their constituents.”

Advanced Telecom Services’ emergency text message alerts service gives colleges and schools an online system that enables schools to send bulk SMS emergency text message alerts in less than a minute. There is no equipment to purchase and maintain and no software to download.

“We can literally train you on how to use the TXTLaunchPad system in less than five minutes,” said Bentz. “It’s really that easy to use.”

The school needs to maintain an opt-in database of its students and staff cell phone numbers and carriers. When an emergency situation occurs, the web based system can quickly send thousands of simultaneous emergency text message alerts to the database.

Bentz added that he has been cautious about promoting the product so soon after the tragedy that struck Virginia Tech campus. “Obviously, we didn’t want to be seen as trying to profit from the tragedy in Blacksburg,” said Bentz. “But, after much debate, it was decided that if our product can one day save a life, then we’ll gladly accept any criticism in this regard.”

Advanced Telecom Services, and its subsidiary, Spark Network Services, have been providing mobile data content services for over a decade.

NCAA Bans Text Messages to Recruits

2007-04-27T10:58:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, the NCAA's board of directors approved a ban on all text messages from coaches to recruits beginning in in August.

The board approved the ban by a 13-3 vote. The ban doesn't just stop with text message alerts. It also includes video phones, video conferencing, and message boards on social networking sites like Facebook.

Emails and faxes are still permissable and subject to current NCAA guidelines, but what high school student looks at his emails any more? Clearly, text messaging was the superior way to reach top high school athletes and the savvy coaches chose to speak to their recruits through the means where students are most comfortable--text messages.

Easy Credit Card Processing

2007-04-20T14:41:00.000-04:00

If you've ever had a retail business or especially an online business, you know how important it is to have an established and reputable credit card processor in place. If you don't have it, your business comes to a standstill.

Advantage Processors has been supplying credit card processing to retailers and online c-commerce merchants for many years now. They even do high risk credit card processing for things like online dating sites.

It is very important that you obtain a bonafide merchant account prior to your entry into any business that accepts credit cards. Advantage Processors is a credit card processing company that you can count on.