"SMS Marketing Still Superior to Mobile Apps"

Here's a quick story from Mobile Marketing Watch:

Although mobile apps are clearly all the rage, Shaun Gregory, the managing director of O2 Media, says it’s important not to place apps ahead of sound mobile marketing practices when it comes to utilizing the mobile space most efficiently in the promotional process.

Head over to Mobile Marketing Watch to read the rest.

Is MTV About To Make A TV Show About Sexting?

It seems like every day there's another story in the news about sexting (news search results). It now looks like MTV is going to turn the 18 to 25 demographic's fondness for sexting into a reality TV show:

 MTV News put out a casting call for "people who appear to be between the ages of 18-25 to share their stories" about the latest teen trend: sending text messages or e-mails with sexual images or provocative words.

The network's documentary arm is looking for people who have engaged in sexting, are worried that their private pictures have been disseminated to the masses, have had relationships ruined by sexting or are facing legal trouble from engaging in the activity.

According to a new Pew Research Center study, 15 percent of cellphone owners between 12 and 17 have received nude or partially nude photos on their phones, while four percent admitted to having sent the images themselves.

Read more @ The New York Post.

MetroPCS Now Supports Club Texting's Short Code

We wanted to relay to you a quick bit of news that will certainly excite many of our customers. Earlier this week, MetroPCS provisioned our short code, 25827 on their network, making us one of the first mobile marketing firms to support true two-way messaging for MetroPCS customers!

See our full carrier coverage list at Club Texting.

Holographic Text Messages - Whoa!

This viral video has got to be about the coolest text message we've ever seen:

Holographic Text Messages will rock your world. With 1.5 million views in just a couple weeks, this viral video proves it. The video, by Inha Luke Yoo describes the concept as HoloText Messaging. The kicker of course, is that this sort of technology isn’t yet available. But this concept video does a great job of showing you what holographic text messages will be like.

And the video:

(via textually.org)

Globalization, Blogging & SMS

How would you like to follow SMS-powered micro-blogs written by your favorite NBA stars...in Mandarin:

MogoTXT, a start-up that operates public texting groups, has launched texting groups for a handful of NBA players. Initially, five pro basketballers have agreed to post daily text messages that their fans can sign up to receive.
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The initial players who'll be texting are Shane Battier of the Houston Rockets; LaMarcus Aldridge, Portland Trailblazers; Jordan Farmar, LA Lakers; Eric Gordon, LA Clippers and Spencer Hawes, Sacramento Kings.

Read more @ Media Bistro

What Happened Today In History?

NBC News recently launched a new SMS alert service that should appeal to history buffs:

NBC News has launched a new SMS service called Today in History. It sends out one fact per day about an event that occurred on the current date in an earlier year. Simply Text ICUE to 275622.

Read more @ Textually

Car Insurance Firm Alerts Customers Of Icy Roads Via Text Messages

We recently heard about an innovative Dutch insurance firm, over at textually.org:

As soon as weather warnings are issued that could make driving hazardous, Onna-onna sends its clients a text message advising them to be extra alert or even stay off the road. The company relies on weather reports from the National Meteorological Institute, and provides the text messages free of charge to clients who have signed up for them.

Aiming to reduce the number of accidents caused by heavy winds, icy roads and severe thunderstorms, the warning service is part of Onna-onna's wider efforts to promote road safety. Which isn't a purely philanthropic gesture, of course—lower accident rates are good for any insurer's bottom line. Onna-onna is planning to trial the service for a year before evaluating and potentially adding other SMS-based perks.

Read More @ Spring Wise (via Textually)

Head over to Club Texting to read our Emergency SMS Alert System Case Study.

Talk And Type SMS App For The iPhone!

According to cnet's Crave blog, iPhone owners can bypass typing out text messages with a new app:

Tired of fumbling around the iPhone's onscreen keyboard to send a text message? Soon you can skip that altogether, as long as you can speak English properly.

This is thanks to a new iPhone application that Promptu, a talk-and-type mobile phone application developer, introduced Monday called ShoutOUT. The application is going to be the first voice-to-SMS application for iPhone users in the United States.

The application lets you dictate text messages instead of typing on the iPhone's touch-screen keypad. It also allows for checking the transcribed messages for errors and make corrections if necessary before sending them out to the intended recipients.

Read more @ cnet

St. Louis to announce new archbishop via text message

Barack Obama announced his running mate (VP Joe Biden) via text message. The Archdiocese of St. Louis is following suit:

The Archdiocese of St. Louis is claiming the first use of text-messaging technology to share news of the naming of a new archbishop.

The archdiocese said Monday it believes no other diocese has used the technology for that purpose.

St. Louis has been without an archbishop since June 27, when Archbishop Raymond Burke was named as the first American to lead the Vatican supreme court.

Read more @ Fox 4 Kansas City.

Visit Club Texting for text messaging solutions for churches and other religious organizations.

University Of Illinois Sets Up Text Messaging Emergency System

Offering a text messaging emergency alert system has become the norm, though not all systems are created equally:

Police responded to a bomb threat at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on Sunday evening, but it took a bit longer for students signed up for UNC's text messaging system to find out about the scare.

The slow response has left Illinois students wondering about the quality of the new University emergency text messaging system, Illini-Alert, which will be tested 10 a.m. today, said Todd Short, director of the University's office of campus emergency planning.
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The University of Illinois employs a text messaging system similar to UNC's, but Short said text messaging is just one of nine systems that would be used to alert students to an emergency on the University campus.

"One thing everybody needs to keep in mind about emergency notification systems is that you need more than one," Short said, adding that not everyone has a cell phone with text messaging capabilities.

Read More At The Daily Illini.

Learn more about emergency text messaging alert systems at Club Texting.