sms

Twitter acquires SMS service Cloudhopper

Twitter announced Friday that it's made another small acquisition: Cloudhopper, a start-up that makes it easier to connect to mobile text-messaging (SMS) carrier services around the world. The two founders of Cloudhopper, which had already been partnering with Twitter, will join the company full time.

This is key for Twitter as the company attempts to make inroads in communities where cellular data access and smartphones like the iPhone and BlackBerry are less common. But Twitter's history with SMS has been spotty: High costs initially forced Twitter, which only just unveiled a concrete business model, to disable text-messaging functionality in a number of countries. … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1193: Apple hypocrisy: we salute you (podcast)

Today's show opens with a not-unexpected rant about AT&T trying to sell you a $150 MicroCell to "supplement" the "coverage" you already pay for. A bit more on Google and China, Apple's unbelievably bizarre sandbox behavior in approving the otherwise super cool Line2 app, and cheap photos from space.

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Improve Your 3G Connection with an AT&T MicroCell http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/192557/improve_your_3g_connection_with_an_atandt_microcell.html

China issues media rules for stories … Read more

Buzz Out Loud Podcast 1152: Hacks on a plane

The FAA has asked Boeing to prove that its new connected airplane isn't so connected it can connect hackers. We also discuss why folks think women aren't as good at math when all the women we know are great at math. And we hash over some Apple tablet rumors. I mean, how could we not? We also have special guest host Clayton Morris from Fox News, and Ryan Shrout from PC Perspective.

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OnLive responds to bad press, more beta testers … Read more

Avoid iPhone overages with OverMyMinutes

What's the only thing worse than paying that monthly AT&T bill? Paying an even higher AT&T bill, which happens when you blow through your allotted talk time and/or text messages.

That's why I'm a newfound fan of OverMyMinutes Alerter, a free app that alerts you via e-mail and/or SMS when you're getting close to your talk/text limits.

At first blush, this may seem unnecessary. After all, you can use AT&T's own MyWireless app to review your minutes and data usage, or just dial *646# to get … Read more

Buzz Out Loud Podcast 1148: Verizon cuts off alleged illegal downloaders

Breaking news during the show has Verizon admitting to cutting off the Internet access of people accused of illegal downloading. But hey, they don't throttle,they say. Great! Except for cutting off people is really an extreme from of throttling. And also, Verizon isn't getting proof for this, just accusations. The problems with this policy are immeasurable and we discuss them. Oh and Bing may oust Google on the iPhone.

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The Times to Charge for Frequent Access to Its Web … Read more

Buzz Out Loud Podcast 1145: China to Google: Suck it

The Google-China drama continues as China makes a veiled response that only law-abiding companies are welcome in the People's Republic. More information came out indicating the Gmail hacking was done by the government in China. This isn't over folks. We'll keep on it. But there is other news. Apple lawyers strike back over tablet rumors, and app stores are all pretty much the same.

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Is Sprint making money off of your text message donations? http://consumerist.com/2010/01/att-and-sprint-are-making-money-off-of-your-text-message-donations.html… Read more

Windows phone date bug appears limited

Microsoft said late Monday that a text message problem with certain Windows Mobile phones appears to be limited to a small percentage of devices.

Since earlier this month, some phones have been receiving text messages that appear to be coming from the future--2016, to be specific. The problem appears to be limited to HTC phones running on Sprint's network.

Microsoft said on Monday that its partners, whom it did not identify by name, are working on a solution.

"Working with our partners, we've determined that the issue impacts only a small percentage of phones," a … Read more

Texting essential

Android's management of text messages leaves much to be desired, which is why enhancement apps proliferate. Like others, the free Handcent SMS pops up text messages on your screen, complete with the contact's photo (if you've got one for that person) the message, management icons, and a text field for replies. You have some control over the theme and skin, and many more customizations when it comes to notifications and adding a personal signature. We'd like to see a greater number of skins and themes in future releases, but even as is, Handcent SMS is a … Read more

Telecom providers announce LTE standard

In the battle between LTE and WiMax for wireless broadband, LTE may have just gotten another boost.

A group of leading telecom service and equipment providers, including AT&T, Verizon, Nokia, and Samsung, announced a new standard Thursday for delivering compatible voice and messaging services using Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks.

The standard, dubbed the One Voice initiative, offers a set of technical functionalities that telecommunication companies can use in their LTE services and products to provide both voice and Short Message Services (SMS).

The group of companies setting up One Voice (which also includes LTE proponents Orange, Telefonica, … Read more

Google Voice and Gmail are sort of merging

Two new little Google Voice features just made their way into Gmail. A new option lets text messages sent to Google Voice show up as e-mail messages in Gmail. You can reply to messages from Gmail, too, which makes it a nice platform for carrying on a text message conversation.

Also, there's a new Labs feature in Gmail that lets you play your Google Voice voicemail messages from inside the Gmail viewer. Previously, Gmail would send you the text transcript of your message, but if you wanted to play the audio file, it would open a new browser window … Read more