sms

Phones

Katie Couric Explains How Texting Works in Relationships

Posted by Mark Wilson at 9:40 AM on December 3, 2008


Let it be known, Katie Couric is OK with saying you love someone over text message. Just don't dump somebody that way. Text messaging: Adequate for love, not quite seething enough for hate. [via textually]

Software

SMS Touch: Send Free Text Messages Through Email

Posted by Mark Wilson at 10:00 AM on December 2, 2008

From the maker of handy iPhone landscape typing program TouchType, SMS Touch is an iPhone app that allows users to send unlimited text messages without paying for an SMS plan.

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Deals

Buy Two Peek Handhelds and They'll Pay Your Phone Bill

Posted by Elaine Chow at 4:00 PM on November 27, 2008

Wow, it's like the longer you wait, the better the deals for the Peek email-on-the-go handheld get. First, there was the price drop to $80; then, unlimited texting. Now the company is offering to pay you entire November iPhone or G1 bill (up to $US150), if you buy two peeks (one for you, and one for a friend) at getpeek.com before Monday, December 1. That means those of you with astronomically high phone bills could technically get two of them for a Hamilton. (AU: Obviously US only, but a novel marketing idea that I thought you guys might like to know about...)[Peek]


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Computers

Lenovo Lets You Disable Your Stolen Laptop With a Stern Text Message

Posted by John Herrman at 8:40 PM on November 25, 2008

In the next couple months Lenovo will be rolling out a BIOS update for its Montevina laptop users which enables remote shutdown and subsequent encryption via text message. The tech relies on the laptop having a WWAN connection and activates when a custom string, defined by the user and sent from a single, paired phone, is received. In other words, you can choose whatever you want as the shutdown signal, from a cool "Kill" or "Self-Destruct" to a long, patronising multi-part message about the thieving youth of today.


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Phones

Giz Tip: Don't Hire A Hit Man via Text Message

Posted by Gizmodo US Edition at 3:00 AM on November 23, 2008

Oklahoma native and rebellious speller Tonia Mullins, in a spectacular act of self-incrimination, used text messages to contact a hit man to "take care" of her lover's wife. Mullins conspired with her beau, Army soldier Michael Andrew Crawford, to have the poor Mrs. Crawford killed and her insurance money used to buy Mullins and her beau a nice house. Thankfully, Mullins was far too stupid to actually hurt anybody, and the text messages are absolutely priceless.


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Gadgets

Peek Handheld Can Now View Images, Text Unlimitedly

Posted by Elaine Chow at 1:15 PM on November 19, 2008

The Peek handheld, recently named the Time's best gadget of 2008, has now gotten even better with two added features. While we knew unlimited text messaging was already coming to the device, it's a pleasant surprise to find out it can now view images too. Peek will show .JPG, .GIF, .PNG and .BMP file formats when you click the "View Image" option. Considering its price drop to $US80, this little gadget's becoming a better deal day by day. [

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Networks

Telstra Launches MyConnect - SMS And Email Service For PC And Mobile

Australian Post Posted by Nick Broughall at 9:43 AM on November 7, 2008

telstra ehspa.jpgThis announcement from Telstra confuses me: We can already access email on pretty much any mobile phone these days, and I can't picture most people wanting to check their SMS messages on their PC. So what's the deal?

MyConnect is made up of three different parts: My Inbox, which is an online message, contact and calendar management service for all your various messages like email, sms, voicemail etc and is free; My Email which lets you access up to five different email accounts on your mobile for $7 a month (hang on, doesn't the HTC Touch Diamond do that for free?) and MySync, which for $3 a month will backup all your contacts and calendars and synchronise it with MyInbox.

So essentially it's like a MobileMe for Telstra customers. And it costs about the same too - for all the features you're looking at $120 a year.

Aside from the obvious bitching about price, is this something any of you guys would be interested in? Or are there other, better solutions you'd prefer?

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Online

Google Adding Text Messaging To Gchat in Gmail

Posted by Gizmodo US Edition at 4:45 PM on October 31, 2008

Those of you who use Gchat through Gmail can now send text messages to mobile phones. The function is experimental, so you have to go to the Labs tab inside of Gmail's settings (or click on that little green flask icon) to turn it on. Your messages will appear as a 406 number--once you've sent a text through gmail, that'll be your specific number. AIM's had this feature for a while, so it's not surprising that Google would implement it as well. Text your friends! See how it goes! [Webmonkey]


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Science

Researchers Discover Emotions Surpass Technical Limitations of Instant Messages

Posted by Jack Loftus at 12:00 AM on October 27, 2008

Now there's officially no reason to leave the house. Ever. We can call in food, clothing and gadget deliveries. We can pay our bills online. Thanks to infomercials, we can exercise in the comfort of a door frame. And today we discover that we can get all randy (or depressed) chatting with significant others on IM or its cousin, the text message. So says Jeffrey Hancock and his team at Cornell University anyway, and who are we to argue with scientists?


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Phones

For a Quick Response, Text Message Instead of Voice Mail

Posted by Gizmodo US Edition at 3:30 PM on October 24, 2008

This should come as no surprise to anyone using a phone these days, but text messaging someone gets a far quicker response than voice mail. In a study by Sprint, those under the age of 30 are four times more likely to respond within minutes to an SMS than a voicemail, with roughly 91 percent responding within the hour. Adults 30 and older were twice as likely to text a reply within minutes rather than call.


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