Improving cell phones immune system

Computer scientists at Freie Universit�t Berlin are working to improve the immune system of mobile devices. The research is being coordinated by Freie Universit�t and conducted jointly with experts in mobile systems and security in Hamburg and Bochum. The project is being funded by the German Federal Ministry of Research for two and a half years with almost one million euros.

Their aim is to protect devices from unauthorized access from outside. �Similar to our biological immune system, each device must learn from the threats and build defense strategies, while making it possible to reduce the spread of infections.� said Jochen Schiller, professor of computer science and head of the project.

Read full press release.

emily | 9:16 AM | Technology, Spam, Viruses and Hoaxes | permalink |

Need a lift? Phone your car

Following last week's news of Google's driverless car, Stuff reports on another self-driving car technology - an autonomous vehicle named "MadeInGermany" (MIG), which passengers can even call for a lift.

Computer scientist Raul Rojas and his team at Berlin's Free University (FU) have developed the experimental car which they hope will revolutionize the future of driving.

Passengers can phone their MIG using an iPad or smartphone and the Global Positioning System integrated into these devices reveals the caller's location to the car, which then works out the best route and tells the passenger how long it will take it to get there.

Read full post. Image and related article from Deutsche Welle.

emily | 8:50 AM | Technology | permalink |

Can Apps Damage a Cellular Network?

schnell writes on Slashdot:

In FCC filings earlier this year, T-Mobile described how the behavior of one Android IM app nearly brought their cellular data network to a breakdown in one city. Even more interesting, the US carrier describes how just the 300,000 unlocked iPhones on their network caused massive spikes in data usage.

T-Mobile is using these anecdotes as evidence that mobile carriers should be able to retain control over the applications and devices on their network to ensure quality of service for all users. Do they have a point?

Check out reader comments.

emily | 8:38 AM | Cell Phone Apps Related Articles | permalink |

List of countries by number of mobile phones in use

For people who like lists. A list of countries by number of mobile phones in use.

[via @emerbeamer]

emily | 8:28 AM | Random Stats | permalink |

Connecticut Murder Trial covered by Twitter

The New York Times on a murder trial in Connecticut, where dozens or reporters posted live reports on Twitter.

... After more than a decade of talk about the convergence of old and new media, it seemed to reach a new and furious level in Connecticut during the Cheshire murder trial, where Twitter reports of the trial captured audiences.

It was a perfect mix of intense local interest and a portable medium that can go where television cameras cannot. There is no doubt it is changing trial reporting and, perhaps, trials themselves by drawing people to courtroom events as they happen and pushing out unvarnished information at the speed of light.

The exact Twitter audience for the trial is difficult to measure: the journalists using the system had several thousand followers among them, but the dispatches could be forwarded and seen on some news organizations� Web sites and, during the verdict, on television.

Read full article.

emily | 8:17 AM | Twitter | permalink |

Forget touch screen, here comes mind-reading interfaces

Now that the iPhone is common fare, what comes next? Mind-reading interfaces, of course�and according to PLX Devices, the age of brain-wave controlled technology may be closer than we think. NetworkWorld reports.

PLX Devices�s XWave Headset, according to the company, lets you control certain iPhone apps with your brain. It does this through use of �eSense patented technologies� that sense the electrical impulses transmitted through your brain, converting them into digital signals. These signals can be used to control objects in a game, and further down the line, might be used to control the lighting of your living room, or the volume of your sound system.

The $100 device, which resembles a gaming headset more than it does a futuristic brain reader, is powered by a single AAA battery and plugs into your iPhone�s audio jack. Sensors on the headset rest against your temples and forehead, while an ear clip acts as a �brainwave ground�.

Read full article.

Related:

Coming Soon, mind-reading cell phones - Last month, Fast Company reported on an Intel Keynote presentation that described the next big thing: Mobile devices that are "context-aware" and able to anticipate your needs and wants.

For example, a sense system embedded in a cell phone might know whether a user is running or walking, and whether they are outside or in a well-lit indoor area. Combined with inputted information (i.e. whether a user is free at a certain time), the phone could offer suggestions on what a cell phone user might want to do next.

A "mind-reading" phone? - Nathan Eagle and Sandy Pentland at MIT were working (in 2004) on a "mind-reading" software for mobile phones that will get to know you as well as your friends.

The software logs in when you make voice and text calls or use applications like an alarm clock or phone camera. It then learns your habits by studying behaviour with pattern recognition software.

emily | 7:52 AM | Technology | permalink |

Dress up your iPhone for Halloween

Dress up your iPhone for Halloween. From Distinctive Style.

emily | 5:12 PM | Cell Phone Fashion | permalink |

American Haiti worker comes home to $35,000 cell phone bill

Kerfye Pierre had recently returned from volunteering in the aftermath of January's Haiti earthquake when she got the most outrageous mobile phone bill from T-Mobile. The tab? Nearly $35,000. CNN reports.

A T-Mobile spokeswoman said that the company granted her and other people in Haiti a temporary free voice plan. But did not include text messages.

T-Mobile has since forgiven some of Pierre's debt, but she says she still owes about $5,000.

Stories such as Pierre's are part of the reason the FCC this week plans to propose rules to prevent mobile phone "bill shock," a term that refers to bills that are higher than usual because of unanticipated fees and overage charges.

Read full article.

Related misfortunes:

-- Tweens rack up 9,700 cell phone bill on vacation at Dead Sea

-- MP hit with $10'000 iPhone bill

-- $62,000 telephone bill for downloading Prison Break

-- $950 bill for two hours of TV on cell phone

-- $22,000 bill for downloading four episodes of Friends while abroad.

emily | 4:18 PM | News, Buzz, Random Stats | permalink |

Understanding legal challenges on the mobile Web

Mobile Commerce Daily on how to plan a mobile marketing campaign without breaking any laws.

Mobile phones present marketers with unique opportunities for interacting with consumers, but they also present unique legal challenges.

Laws written for a wired world do not always translate well into the mobile world. But before figuring out how to comply with these laws, the first challenge is often figuring out exactly which laws apply.

Unfortunately, that is not always easy. In part, that is because mobile phones allow marketers to interact with consumers using different technologies and these technologies can be governed by different laws.

Read full article. [via @mobileFringe]

emily | 9:28 AM | SMS Marketing & Advertising | permalink |

Mobile Virtual Goods Generate 4X More Revenue Than Ads

Mobile virtual goods accounted for 80 percent of revenue from Apple iOS4 apps in September, far outpacing advertising, according to new data from analytics firm Flurry.

[via GigaOM]

emily | 9:24 AM | Cell Phone Apps Random Stats, Cell Phone Apps and Advertising, Random Stats | permalink |

Google Claims $1 Billion In Annualized Mobile Ad Revenues

During Google�s Q3 earnings call the company disclosed that mobile ad sales were now at a $1 billion �annualized run rate.�

[via mocoNews.net]

emily | 9:13 AM | Random Stats, SMS Marketing & Advertising | permalink |

Now, Radiation-certified Handsets

Bangalore-based United Telecoms Ltd has announced the launch of eight WIWO mobiles, radiation certified handsets offering user menus in five Indian languages

United Telecoms claims that the new phones are the first radiation-certified handsets in India to date.

[via The Hiindu Business Line]

emily | 8:55 AM | Technology | permalink |

England Police use Twitter to show their workload

As police face budget cuts, Greater Manchester officers tweet every incident for a day so the public and politicians can see what officers have to contend with.

During the past 24 hours we have made 341 arrests across Greater Manchester and 126 people are currently in custody #gmp24

During the past 24 hours we have provided 3205 tweets including details of incidents taking place in Greater Manchester #gmp24

Call 3098 2 men causing trouble outside a pub in Wigan after being thrown out. #gmp24

[via The Guardian]

emily | 8:39 AM | Twitter | permalink |

Teens Are Poised to Be the Next Power Data Users

U.S. teenagers have quadrupled their mobile data usage, according to a new report from Nielsen, a sign that the traditional power texters are now ready to become serious mobile Internet users. GigaOM reports.

Teens used an average of 62 megabytes of data each in the second quarter of this year, compared to just 14 megabytes during the same quarter last year. The increase was fueled by teens diving into applications like Facebook and Pandora, along with increasing their use of mobile Internet browsing and picture messaging.

Read full article. And Nielsen report "U.S. Teen Mobile Report: Calling Yesterday, Texting Today, Using Apps Tomorrow".

emily | 8:33 AM | Cell Phone Apps Random Stats, Random Stats | permalink |

Talk about going viral: Touch-screen devices harbor germs

According to The Seattle Times, personal touch-screen devices � iPads, BlackBerrys and Droids � are now seemingly everywhere, potentially harboring the germs and viruses that turn voices raspy and send noses running.

... "If you're sharing the device, then you're sharing your influenza with someone else who touches it," said Timothy Julian, a Stanford University doctoral student who co-authored a study on the spread of viruses.

British researchers provide some stomach-churning data: Mobile phones harbor 18 times more bacteria than a flush handle in a typical men's restroom.

According to Julian's study, published online in July by the Journal of Applied Microbiology, the risks of transmitting pathogens from glass surfaces to a person's skin are relatively high.

That cell phones carry germs, spread disease and have "more bacteria than a toilet seat" is nothing new. We've heard it all before. Read related articles.

emily | 8:21 AM | Health Issues and SMS Alerts | permalink |

Mobile phones help lift poor out of poverty: U.N. study

Mobile phones -- spreading faster than any other information technology -- can improve the livelihoods of the poorest people in developing countries, a UN report released today said. Reuters reports.

Mobile phone subscriptions will reach five billion this year -- almost one per person on the planet, UNCTAD Secretary-General Supachai Panitchpakdi told a news conference on the report.

Penetration in developed countries is over 100 percent, with many people having more than one phone or subscription.

In developing countries, the subscription rate is now 58 per 100 people, and rising rapidly, with the rate in the poorest Least Developed Countries (LDCs) up at 25 from only 2 per 100 a few years ago, UNCTAD figures show.

... Mobiles have spawned a wealth of micro-enterprises, offering work to people with little education and few resources. Examples are selling airtime on the streets and refurbishing handsets.

The key to successful use of mobile is affordability. ... Governments need to monitor how poor people are using mobile phones and design policies to build on that. And they must ensure that poor people can use their phones -- at the end of 2008 almost half the rural population in Least Developed Countries (LDCs) were not covered by mobile signals.

Read full article and UN report "The Information Economy Report 2010: ICT, Enterprises and Poverty Alleviation".

Related, sort of: - Half the world has never made a phone call was a favorite and wideley spread statistic, quoted by the likes of Vice President Al Gore, Kofi Annan and Carly Fiona among many others in the late nineties and even over in the 2000s - because it so perfectly illustrated the wideness of the digital divide between the Western world and developing nations. It turns out it was true, half the world had never made a phone call, but in 1994.

Image from kiwanja.net.

emily | 8:21 PM | Mobile phone projects - Developing World | permalink |

US Teenagers send and receive 3,339 texts a month

In the US, the average 13- to 17-year-old sends and receives 3,339 texts a month�more than 100 per day, according to research firm. Adults are catching up. People from ages 45 to 54 sent and received 323 texts a month in the second quarter of 2010, up 75% from a year ago. The Wall Street Journal reports.

... A recent survey of 2,000 college students asked about their attitudes toward phone calls and text-messaging and found the students' predominant goal was to pass along information in as little time, with as little small talk, as possible. "What they like most about their mobile devices is that they can reach other people," says Naomi Baron, a professor of linguistics at American University in Washington, D.C., who conducted the survey. "What they like least is that other people can reach them."

Read full article and Nielsen press release.

emily | 4:42 PM | Random Stats | permalink |

Ghana pastor's urging a woman to repeat the word 'vagina' has gone viral as a ringtone

This is by far the strangest ringtone-gone-viral story I've heard so far. And from Ghana of all places.�[via The Accra Mail]

Kumasi-based Rev. Dr. Ebenezer Opambour Adarkwa Yiadom (Prophet-One), leader of the Ebenezer Miracle Worship Center, who made headlines this summer for having a steamy affair, is in the news again.

An audio recording in which he was heard interviewing a woman on how she received slaps on her vagina anytime she went to bed has become one of the fastest spreading cell phone ringtones in town.

The said interview, recorded in a church auditorium during a church service, captured Rev. Opambour urging the hapless woman to repeat the word 'vagina' several times and he leads her to explain what her problem was.

Read full article.

Searching Google for a link to the controversial ringtone, you will be as dismayed as I to learn that there are other "vagina ringtones". Good grief.

emily | 4:18 PM | News, Buzz | permalink |

Mobile Learning in South Africa

MobileActive.org on mobile learning in South Africa.

An m-learning project in South Africa called "Mobile Learning for Mathematics" encourages learning by combining math exercises with the free instant messaging service MXit. The program is now available in 30 schools and reaches 4000 students.

Read more.

emily | 3:56 PM | Mobile phone projects - Developing World | permalink |

UK consumers still prefer to text and talk

According to research by OpenCloud, UK consumers still prefer to text and talk as app-athy takes over.

Normal call and text services remain the most heavily used revenue generating functions on mobile phones.

In a survey of 1,000 UK consumers, 45% of all mobile users have the ability to download apps but only 39% of those who can downloads apps, regularly do so. Significantly, 38% of smartphone users only download free apps, while 50% of smartphone users downloaded no apps in the last month.

By far the most frequently used function on mobile phones is still text messaging, with 83% regularly doing so compared with the other top five features � taking pictures (47%), mobile internet (29%), storing and playing music (28%) and emailing (22%).

Read full press release.

emily | 3:50 PM | Cell Phone Apps Random Stats, Random Stats | permalink |

Africa Aid's MDNet Program: A doctor-to-doctor mobile network

This past Tuesday, the Ghana Medical Association and Africa Aid, a socially entrepreneurial organization based in San Francisco, delivered the first-ever countrywide "directory of doctors" to participating clinics and hospitals across the country. The Huffington Post reports.

Each doctor in the country will be in possession of a printed directory, which lists over 2,200 physicians by surname and specialty. Participating physicians are also allowed to make free calls and send free text messages to other doctors in the directory, eliminating the cost barrier to this communication strategy in years past.

The directory sits at the centerpiece of Africa Aid's MDNet Program, the free doctor-to-doctor communication network aiming to increase physicians' access to medical knowledge, professional advice, patient referrals and emergency response instructions.

Read full article.

emily | 8:48 AM | Mobile phone projects - Developing World | permalink |

Send an SMS to meet Obama backstage in Las Vegas

Gearing up for the November elections, president Barack Obama is traveling the country to make the case to voters. On October 22nd, he'll be meeting three supporters backstage at a rally in Las Vegas.

If you want be one of them, you can enter a contest by text message. Text the keyword "BACKSTAGE" to 62262 by 11:59 p.m. on October 15th, 2010.

[via Vote 2010]

emily | 10:32 PM | SMS and Politics | permalink |

Facebook Unveils One-Time Passwords Via SMS To Thwart Keyloggers

Users of Facebook who are nervous about using their real password on public computers can now get a one-time password sent to their mobile phones. eBrand reports.

In an attempt to ward off keyloggers, Facebook on Tuesday unveiled a new security feature that will provide users with a temporary password for use on public computers.

Those signing into Facebook from a public place like a hotel or caf� can just text "otp" to 32665 from your mobile phone, and Facebook will then answer back with a password that can be used only once and expires in 20 minutes, blogged Jake Brill, product manager for Facebook's integrity team. "In order to access this feature, users will need to add a mobile phone number in their account. We are rolling this out gradually, and it should be available to everyone in the coming weeks."

Read full article.

emily | 6:49 PM | New SMS Services | permalink |

NOVES: Non-Voice Emergency Services to be more reliable than SMS

In what is the exact opposite of what wireless operators and government have stated before, the wireless trade association 4G Americas, is claiming that text messaging is NOT reliable in case of emergency. Or at least that's the way Rethink Wireless reports it, inaccurately in my opinion with the misleading headline "SMS cannot be trusted for emergency communications".

The wireless trade association, 4G Americas, has warned of the risks of relying on SMS or instant messaging to contact emergency services, an issue it says is increasingly urgent for safety and cellular groups.

In a white paper called 'Texting to 911: examining the design and limitations of SMS', the body says there is a "perception that SMS is reliable; however SMS was never designed as a reliable means for life saving critical communications". It has similar reservations about instant messaging, MMS and other varieties of 'texting' such as Twitter.

... "Today, voice 911 communication is the best and most reliable method of reporting an emergency and summoning help quickly. The industry is working on developing a reliable, non-voice solution to contact emergency services that is not based on SMS."

This solution is called Non-Voice Emergency Services (NOVES) and is being developed by various north American safety organizations plus wireless groups like 3GPP. This could be applied to other countries too.

Here is what we've been told over and over again until this day:

Text messaging can be a fast, efficient and reliable way to communicate in the event of an emergency, it doesn't clog cellular lines lines as much as voice calls. And, if more wireless users rely on text messaging in crisis situations, the people who need to make voice calls the most - emergency responders and 911 callers - can get through more easily.

Here's a more accurate press release. The bottom line? Sending data by text could be made more efficient than the actual SMS system in emergency situations so the Wireless industry is working on a new and different text messaging system.

The industry is working on developing a reliable, non-voice solution to contact emergency services that is not based on SMS." The report notes that there are substantial limitations inherent in the design of the current Short Message Services which make it impractical to be used for emergency service.

No priority or special handling is given to SMS messages, so a potential emergency message would contend with the millions of other messages being processed at any given moment.

-- SMS is not a real-time communications service. SMS messages is "store and forward" and thus may have a delayed delivery, may be delivered in a different order than the sender intended, or may be lost or discarded.

-- SMS was not designed with security mechanisms.

Read more.

emily | 2:07 PM | | permalink |

Really? � New Windows 7 Phone Ad

Spotted on LaughingSquid, Windows 7 Phone Ad. Great!

emily | 8:56 AM | News, Buzz | permalink |

Apple files Anti-Sexting Patent

TechCrunch has dug up a patent filed by Apple, which prevents users from sending or receiving �objectionable� text messages.

The patent�s official title? �Text-based communication control for personal communication device� is meant to solve the problem that "there is currently �No way to monitor and control text communications to make them user appropriate. For example, users such as children may send or receive messages (intentionally or not) with parentally objectionable language.�

In one embodiment, the control application includes a parental control application.

Read full article.

emily | 8:16 AM | Bullying by SMS, Sexting | permalink |

Social Media Now More Popular Than E-mail on Mobile Devices

Mobile users spend 1.4 times as many hours using social networking sites than reading and responding to e-mail, according to a recent study by research company TNS. Mashable reports.

On average, users spend 3.1 hours per week on social networks, versus 2.2 hours on e-mail.

In most mature markets � such as the U.S. � the trend is reversed on PCs; consumers spend more time on e-mail (5.1 hours per week) than social networking (3.8 hours).

The study tracked the online activities and behaviors of nearly 50,000 subjects between 16 and 60 years of age in 46 countries.

Read full article.

emily | 8:13 AM | Random Stats | permalink |

Financial Times� iPad App Brings In �1 Million

The Financial Times� new iPad app has generated more than �1 ($1.59) million in advertising revenue since it was launched in May, according to the paper�s deputy chief executive. mocoNews.net reports.

Ben Hughes, who is also the paper�s global commercial director, said more than 400,000 subscribers have signed up for the app. He added that it now accounts for 10% of the paper�s new digital subscriptions.

Read full article.

emily | 3:36 PM | iPad | permalink |

Kenzo creates a luxurious line of cell phone accessories

Fashion designer Kenzo is the latest high-end retailer to launch a line of stylish phone accessories, following in the footsteps of Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Gucci and Herm�s. [via Fashion.bg]

ModeLabs, a French manufacturer and distributor of mobile phones and related accessories with operations in France, China, Hong Kong, Italy, the UK and US, is partnering with Kenzo to manufacture a line of chic yet affordable phone cases that will debut this December.

Read full article.

emily | 3:23 PM | Cell Phone Fashion | permalink |

50% of second-hand mobile phones contain personal data

Analysis of 50 handsets bought from second-hand resellers on eBay found that more than half contained personal messages or photos, according to exclusive research from the mobile and forensics experts Disklabs. More than 60% still contained phone numbers left on a call log.

[via The Guardian]

emily | 3:20 PM | News, Buzz | permalink |

SMS messaging restricted in bid to preempt pre-election activism

Egypt's National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA) has imposed new restrictions aimed at tightening control over the SMS messaging services provided by mobile phone companies and media institutions in an apparent effort to preempt possible anti-regime activism in the run-up to next month's parliamentary elections. Almasryalyoum reports.

On Monday, a number of private media institutions--including Al-Masry Al-Youm--were notified by SMS news providers that they must now obtain approval from the Ministry of Information and the Supreme Press Council before sending news alerts out to subscribers.

Read full article and related post from News 24 Egypt media needs permit for SMS news

[via @kiwanja]

emily | 2:37 PM | SMS and Politics | permalink |

Innovation: The smartphone's shape-shifting future

The smartphone of the future might lose its sleek, solid shell to become soft and squeezable, able to alter its appearance to signal an alert. New Scientist reports.

Shwetak Patel, a computer science and engineering researcher at the University of Washington in Seattle, and colleagues have developed a squeezable cellphone � SqueezeBlock � using tiny motors built into the casing to mimic the behaviour of a spring.

... Shwetak's team isn't alone in exploring how a handset's physical attributes could communicate something about its state. Back in 2008, Fabian Hemmert, a researcher at Deutsche Telekom Laboratories in Berlin, Germany, breathed virtual life into a cellphone. His phone "inhales" and "exhales" at a steady rate, which can increase suddenly to indicate an incoming call, or ebb away as the battery dies.

Read full article.

Other squeezable cell phone concepts: -The soft phone concept by Qian

emily | 8:52 AM | Cell Phone Designs and Concepts | permalink |

Apple files trademar for catchphrase "there's an app for that"

Apple filed a trademark application back in December 2009 for the company's now ubiquitous catchphrase.

[via stuff]

emily | 8:48 AM | Cell Phone Apps Related Articles | permalink |

Tweetathon to raise money for UK National Autistic Society

Gray Collins is spending 60 hours on Twitter to raise money for the UK National Autistic Society.

His "tweetathon" began at midday Monday and he will tweet at least once every 10 minutes for 60 hours until midnight on Wednesday 13 October.

[via The Guardian]

emily | 8:37 AM | Twitter | permalink |

Windows Phone 7 Revealed: What You Need to Know

Microsoft officially unveiled its new mobile operating system, Windows Phone 7, at a press event yesterday in New York City. CEO Steve Ballmer described the new line of Windows Phones as "different" and more modern, in both design and principles. With Windows Phone 7, the focus is on how "real people want to use their phones," he said.

Read full article in The New York Times.

emily | 8:32 AM | | permalink |

Manage Your WordPress.com Blog via SMS

Popular blogging service WordPress.com has just added a new feature that lets users interact with their blogs via SMS text messaging. Only available to users in the U.S. so far.

[via Mashable]

emily | 8:24 AM | News, Buzz | permalink |

iPhone apps now more popular than major TV shows and sports broadcasts

Is Venture Beat comparing apples and oranges?

According to this blog post, the daily audience for apps that run on Apple?s iOS operating system (for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad) has now surpassed 19 million users, who spend an average of 22 minutes per day using these apps, according to one measure.

That means the audience for the iOS devices is now bigger than NBC?s Sunday Night Football and is just shy of the audience for ABC?s Dancing with the Stars.

...Some apps such as Angry Birds, which has sold more than 7 million paid copies, are similar to TV shows, with regular updates coming out just as TV shows air new episodes.

Read full article.

emily | 8:10 AM | Cell Phone Apps Random Stats | permalink |

INQ working on Spotify and Facebook phones

British cell-phone maker INQ is developing phones that make it easy for owners to use Spotify, an online music service that�s amassed millions of users in Europe. Business Week reports.

INQ�s phones are currently available in seven countries. Two of INQ�s planned smartphones will become available through AT&T; in the U.S. mid-next year, three people told Bloomberg in September. The phones, which will land on store shelves in Europe next spring, will make it easier to access services from social network Facebook, as well as several other Web sites, one of the people said.

Read full article.

emily | 6:21 PM | News, Buzz | permalink |

Foster Care on the up due to Text Messaging

Here's an area where we haven't seen text messaging playing a role before: Foster care.

According to PRFire, The amount of people showing interest in foster care in the UK has risen by 40% this year - according to leading independent fostering agency, Fostering Solutions - following a national advertising campaign using SMS to provide instant leads and to measure campaign results.

In May 2010 Clock Creative began work with txtlocal.co.uk to coincide with a new national advertising campaign that encourages people to text the word CARE to 60777 for further information.

The slogan of the advert, Who Cares? invites a response, and texting allows people who are affected by such an emotive campaign to get in touch simply, and instantly. They are then called back by the team at Fostering Solutions who can then provide more information and advice.

Press release.

emily | 3:23 PM | New SMS Services | permalink |

Buyer Beware: Short code shutdowns

Street Savings, a leading innovator in mobile marketing, has released a white paper addressing a headline issue: short code shutdowns.

Recently, several companies� short code services have been terminated for non-compliance. These service terminations and the resulting legal proceedings illustrate the risks for many small to medium sized businesses (SMBs) if they do not understand industry rules surrounding text message mobile marketing programs or the consequences of non-compliance.

The white paper, �Text Message Mobile Marketing: Risks for Independent Sales Organizations (ISOs), Agents, and SMBs Involved with Non-Compliant Programs� is available at www.streetsavings.com/news.asp.

[The Green Sheet via @ChasRamer]

emily | 9:04 AM | SMS Marketing & Advertising | permalink |

Opinion: Text messaging as a weapon in Nigeria

While organizations like PeaceNet Kenya have demonstrated the positive power of mobile technology for conflict resolution, the role text messaging played in instigating this year�s sectarian violence in northern Nigeria serves as a grim reminder of how technology can also be used in destructive ways. The Global Post reports. [via @MobileCulture]

... While religious and sectarian violence is not, unfortunately, uncommon in parts of Nigeria, this might be the first time in Nigeria�s history that text messages played a significant role both in escalating tension between the two groups as well as directly inciting violence..

Read full article.

Related: - Text messaging is igniting flare-ups in some of the Africa's most combustible conflicts

emily | 8:47 AM | SMS and Politics | permalink |

Africa is saving lives by turning mobile phones into hospitals

Mobile phone manufacturers, networks and software developers have joined forces with the United Nations to place the mobile at the heart of a multi-million pound drive to tackle HIV/AIDS, malaria and deaths during childbirth. The Telegraph reports.

The UN, which has teamed up with the Vodafone Foundation and the Rockerfeller Foundation, is planning to exploit the vast technological capabilities of the latest generation of smartphones, such as the iPhone and Google Android-powered devices, to monitor and deliver healthcare in the field without doctors or even nurses.

Kathy Calvin, chief executive of the United Nations Foundation, said mobiles have the potential to have as big an impact on global healthcare as Sir Alexander Fleming's 1928 discovery of penicillin.

Read full article.

emily | 8:36 AM | Mobile phone projects - Developing World | permalink |

Too Many Magazine Apps Are Still Walled Gardens

GigaOM on magazine apps and how they are a throwback to the early Internet when AOL, Prodigy and Compuserve offered you content that was walled in.

The app economy marks � for now at least � a return to the good old days when the walled-garden approach to publishing was the norm, and the Internet was just some pesky chat room for nerds.

Wired�s app provides a slick interface to the magazine, but no way of actually sharing it, or of linking it to related content somewhere else � not even to Wired�s own website. It�s like an interactive CD-ROM from the 1990s.

Read full article.

emily | 8:16 AM | iPad | permalink |

Mobile Active.org: New Case Study on a pilot mobile layaway service in Kenya for small-scale farmers

Check out the newest MobileActive.org case study on a pilot mobile layaway service in Kenya for small-scale farmers.

The service is referred to as Tone Kwa Tone Pata Pump, which is Swahili for Drop by Drop Gets the Pump.

The mobile layaway service allows farmers to make incremental payments over a mobile phone by leveraging M-PESA, a mobile banking platform that is popular in Kenya and elsewhere. Farmers work toward the purchase of KickStart irrigation pumps, which allow farmers to irrigate up to two acres of land.

Read full article.

emily | 10:46 AM | Mobile phone projects - Developing World | permalink |

iMama. Toddler mistakes iPhone for his mother

A thought provoking piece in Slate on a toddler mistaking an iPhone for his mother.

Around my son's first birthday, I started holding my iPhone up to his ear when my wife called and saying, "It's your mama, Luka. It's your mama." Our boy often made cooing sounds in response to her voice.

... And then one day, months later, my iPhone rang. My wife's name appeared on the screen. Before I responded, Luka called out, "Mama!" I was so surprised�and proud. Evidence of their special bond, right? Soon after, Luka blurted out "Mama" again, while we were all in the living room. But he wasn't facing his mother. He was facing the phone.

Read full article. [via Techdirt]

emily | 10:38 AM | News, Buzz | permalink |

Twitter Phone Booth

Spotted on Trendhunter, the Public Twitter Booth in Skolkova, Russia - in case you misplace your phone.

[via BuzzFeed]

emily | 10:14 AM | Twitter | permalink |

Obama signs bill expanding tech access for disabled

President Obama signed legislation Friday designed to expand access to television, the internet and various other telecommunications technologies for Americans with disabilities.

The 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act is designed, among other things, to update closed captioning and video description services. It is also meant to improve the dissemination of emergency information to people with disabilities in the event of a crisis.

[via CNN]

emily | 10:05 AM | New SMS Services | permalink |

United Arab Emirates will not ban Blackberries

The United Arab Emirates has said it will not go ahead with plans to ban Blackberry services, following talks with maker Research in Motion. It had threatened to suspend all services from 11 October.

[via the BBC. Image from The Christina Science Monitor.]

Related:A list of Countries that have blackberry bans over security issues.

emily | 9:50 AM | News, Buzz | permalink |

FCC seeks to remedy cellphone users' 'bill shock'

According to The Washington Post, The Federal Communications Commission wants cellphone customers to know: It can hear you now.

Next week, the agency will unveil a proposal to address "bill shock" by requiring that carriers notify users of overcharges and sudden increases in their bills.

Read full article.

emily | 10:42 AM | European/ZA/USA SMS pricing issues | permalink |

Japanese prefer mobile e-mail over text messaging

According to a survey by research group comScore�s MobiLens, only 40% of Japanese send text messages, while two-thirds of Americans and 82% of Europeans engage in short message service, or SMS. Why is this?

The Japanese just prefer to send emails. The report says 54% of Japanese send emails from their phones, compared with 28% of Americans and 19% of Europeans.

Read full article in The Wall Street Journal.

emily | 10:00 AM | Random Stats, SMS Studies & Research | permalink |

Body organs can send status updates to your cellphone

Dutch research organisation IMEC this week demonstrated a new type of wireless body area network (BAN). New Scientist reports.

Dubbed the Human++ BAN platform, the system converts IMEC's ultra-low-power electrocardiogram sensors into wireless nodes in a short-range network, transmitting physiological data to a hub � the patient's cellphone.

From there, the readings can be forwarded to doctors via a Wi-Fi or 3G connection. They can also be displayed on the phone or sound an alarm when things are about to go wrong, giving patients like me a chance to try to slow our heart rates and avoid an unnecessary shock.

Besides helping those already diagnosed with chronic conditions, BANs could be used by people at risk of developing medical problems.

Read full article.

emily | 9:55 AM | Health Issues and SMS Alerts, Technology | permalink |

Hillary Clinton launches mWomen

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announces the launch of mWomen (video link).

mWomen is about bringing together women and mobile technology to advance gender equality and global development, and as a result of that marriage, a better world for all of us.

... We are developing an innovative program that addresses the particular needs of women. For example, we are in the early stages of developing an idea we are calling Mobile Justice to help women in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where sexual violence against women occurs at a horrific rate. In many parts of that country the police and court systems have disintegrated, so women who are attacked have no way to get justice. They can�t even realistically travel to the urban centers where courts have been reestablished. But these cell phones give women the ability to collect evidence and record and transmit their testimony, so women in rural areas may be able to bring justice to them.

Read full transcript of Clinton's speech. Image from Cherie Blair Foundation.

Previously: - Tomorrow's Youth Organization (TYO) has partnered with The Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women and Souktel in a project that aims to empower women entrepreneurs by supplying them with the latest mobile technologies. Link

emily | 10:36 PM | Mobile phone projects - Developing World | permalink |

Nokia New Concept Phone Lets You Re-Charge in Your Pocket

I've gotten bored with concept phones, but this one caught my eye. The Nokia E-Cu by Patrick Hyland let's you recharge in your pocket.

[via Inhabitat]

emily | 10:29 PM | Cell Phone Designs and Concepts | permalink |

World Bank Opens First Global 'Apps for Development' Competition

The World Bank Group today kicked off the "Apps for Development" competition, the first global contest of its kind.

The competition challenges developers to create software applications, tools, data visualizations or "mash-ups"- whether web-based, mobile, through SMS, smart phone, desktop, or tablet. There are only two requirements for entries: use the World Bank Data Catalog and address one of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The eight MDGs are:

1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

2. Achieve universal primary education

3. Promote gender equality and empower women

4. Reduce child mortality

5. Improve maternal health

6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases

7. Ensure environmental sustainability

8. Develop a global partnership for development

Read full press release.

emily | 10:19 PM | Cell Phone Apps Related Articles | permalink |

Mobile marketing

Around the world, people are increasingly conversing using SMS, and making fewer and fewer voice calls, particularly in the youth market. A recent Washington Post article looks at how the �texting generation doesn�t share boomers� taste for talk�. Increasingly consumers are having interactive and effective asynchronous conversations, even though they are not in real time, via SMS. By: Dr Pieter Streicher, MD at BulkSMS.com.

So why, wonders Dr. Pieter Streicher, managing director of BulkSMS.com, are so few companies really engaging with their customers via this channel.

Read full article.

emily | 3:31 PM | SMS Marketing & Advertising | permalink |

Refugees to Reunite with Their Families Through Mobile Platform

Omidyar Network Monday announced a grant of up to $2.6M over three years to Refugees United, a nonprofit organization that uses an online forum and mobile phones to help refugees reunite with family.

The United Nations estimates there are 43M refugees around the world and millions are seeking missing loved ones.

Refugees United maintains a secure missing persons database and tracing tool that can be accessed via online and mobile platforms. The free service is available in 19 languages and contains searchable information on refugees of 82 nationalities.

The profiles of the missing are completely anonymous but identifiable to family members through information only they would recognize, such as nicknames. To help register refugees onto the platform, Refugees United works with organizations �on the ground,� such as the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees.

Read full press release. Via @Mikael Jensen

Related:

-- Mobile application reconnects refugees with loved ones

-- Refugees in Uganda use mobile phones to trace family

emily | 11:31 AM | Mobile phone projects - Developing World | permalink |

Cash-for-work scheme for typhoon victims in the Philippines goes mobile

Workers on rehabilitation programmes in typhoon-afflicted areas of the northern Philippines are to be paid via text message. The Guardian reports.

A humanitarian relief agency will soon begin using mobile phones to send cash to employees of rehabilitation projects in typhoon-hit areas in the northern Philippines.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP), with the Department of Social Welfare, is issuing SIM cards to 2,000 people participating in a cash-for-work programme in the national capital region and neighbouring provinces.

"Cash is � better because, unlike rice, the beneficiary can use it to address other needs of their family," said Stephen Anderson, country director of WFP.

Read full article.

Related:

-- Mercy Corps Mobile money turns phones into wallets for 100,00-plus Haitians

-- Syria: WFP rolls out SMS food vochers for refugees

-- Food Vouchers on Cell phone for Iraqi refugees

emily | 11:16 AM | Mobile phone projects - Developing World, SMS and Banking | permalink |

Yoko Ono. For John Lennon's Birthday, Let's tweet 1 million Wishes

For John Lennon's birthday, October 9th, Yoko Ono is asking Twitter users to make a peace-wish and tweet it to @IPTower.

@IPTower is the Twitter profile of The Imagine Peace Tower, which is a light sculpture located in Iceland. The tower consists of strong lights that are beamed vertically into the sky from a 10-meter wide wishing well. It was conceived by Yoko Ono in 2007 and dedicated to John Lennon.

[via Guerrilla Innovation]

emily | 10:54 AM | Twitter | permalink |

What does Facebook do with all your mobile phone contacts?

The social network will try to match numbers it gets against any and everyone. And its Graph API means random peoples' numbers are visible too.

[via The Guardian]

emily | 10:31 AM | News, Buzz | permalink |

Can Cellphones Bring Justice in Afghanistan?

Fascinating from Wired's Danger Room, on cellphones and justice in Afganistan.

Afghanistan researcher Antonio Giustozzi recently found that the insurgents run an entire �separate judiciary,� outpacing the corrupt Karzai administration at resolving Afghans� legal disputes. But a group of American lawyers thinks it�s possible to roll back the Taliban�s legal advances � all from Afghan cell phones.

Those lawyers have launched something called the Internet Silk Road Initiative, an effort to use urban Afghans� heavy cell phone usage to bolster the country�s shaky rule of law. The big idea: a conference call.

The lawyers behind the Silk Road project, known as the Internet Bar Organization, want to pair traditional structures for adjudicating disputes that Afghans consider legitimate and match them with formal legal institutions.

The effort is just taking shape and there are a lot of obstacles to it. But the basic idea is simple. �People would dial in their disputes, a jirga would gather, the disputes would be resolved,� Jeff Aresty, the Internet Bar Organization�s president, tells Danger Room at STAR-TIDES, a demonstration of next-gen tools for nation building and disaster recovery. His central question: �How can we add some justice structure to the communications that people are already using?�

Aresty calls the idea the M-Jirga, for Mobile Jirga. It�ll be composed of �informal� leaders � local or provincial bigwigs, for instance � linked on the calls to government agencies who�ll enforce the decisions. He�s working with Afghan lawyers and the Justice Ministry to design the project and gauge interest in it. He�s also talking with a partner organization, FrontlineSMS:Legal, to design an SMS program where Afghans could text their grievances to the M-Jirga down the road.

Read full article.

Link: FrontLineSMS - What We do... Really

emily | 10:11 AM | SMS and Politics | permalink |

ReplyBuy to launch a text message daily deal service

Beginning later this month, ReplyBuy Inc. will offer services for retailers and consumers that create access to limited daily deals via text messages, which can be used to instantly make a purchase. Internet Retailer reports.

Deals on Demand, will enable retailers to run limited daily deals for an individual product via text message. The deal is good for 24 hours or until the product sells out.

Retailer customers that have opted in to ReplyBuy and set up an account with default shipping and payment information need only send one text message in reply to the texted offer.

Read more.

emily | 7:57 AM | SMS and Business | permalink |