OXFORD, United Kingdom-If you believe the latest predictions from the handset manufacturers and market research firms, then mobile gaming is set to become a major business for mobile operators.Nokia is actively attempting to pull together the various technologies, content providers and operators to make...
ZAGREB, Croatia-Croatians sent nearly 600,000 short message service (SMS) messages through an m-commerce parking service in the capital of Zagreb. Th mobile parking service is offered by parking company Zagrebparking and mobile operators HTcronet and VIPnet.The messages were sent between September 2001 and July...
BEDFORD, Mass.-RSA Security, a company that has been delivering two-factor authentication security solutions to consumers since the 1980s, has jumped into the mobile space by replacing the small security devices it offers with end users' own mobile phones.RSA Security's two-factor authentication is based on...
NEW DELHI, India-Cellular phone customers in one of the fastest-growing markets in Asia are a happy lot, but this happiness is not shared by operators, as they face mounting losses due to high government tariffs. This is the trend in India, where the subscriber...
LONDON-Jordanian operator MobileCom announced it will now offer short message service (SMS) services to prepaid customers traveling abroad. Launched on 21 August, the service will be available in more than 90 countries."Building on our achievement of being the first operator in the Middle East...
WASHINGTON-Target Wireless, a provider of short message service (SMS) advertising, was given permission Thursday by the Federal Election Commission to provide political advertising without disclosing who is paying for the advertising.In a four-to-one vote, the FEC said that SMS advertising of 160 or less...
BUCHAREST, Romania-EuroTel Praha, the Czech GSM operator, announced it will launch multimedia messaging service (MMS) for its contract customers on 30 August."Multimedia messaging is the natural evolution of SMS (short message service) technology, and MMS takes us a major step closer to third-generation technology,"...
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa-MTN is reported to be urging its subscribers to ignore a scam involving short message service (SMS) messages currently circulating among GSM subscribers in Nigeria. The message alleges that MTN and other mobile operators have joined for a special trial that offers...
ANNAPOLIS, Md.-TeleCommunication Systems Inc. and messaging company Mobileway announced they will team to develop a short message service delivery network to allow mobile users to send text messages to recipients all over the world.The companies said they will pursue direct connect agreements with U.S....
DUBLIN, Ireland-Software firms across Europe have developed myriad mobile applications aimed at the business market during the past few years, raising hundreds of millions of dollars in venture capital to fund their development. But with few applications being widely used and businesses fearful of...
As the battle for the multimedia messaging service (MMS) market in Europe begins to heat up among the region's wireless carriers, the fight for the MMS infrastructure market has largely drawn to a close-and the undisputed winner is Ericsson."The leader in the MMSC (multimedia...
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa-Mobile network operator MTN announced that it has begun charging subscribers for its wireless Internet gateway (WIG) services. The service has been offered free since its inception in August 2000.An MTN spokesman said customers would now be charged the standard short message...
HONG KONG-GSM operator SmarTone has launched a "picture mail" service that enables multimedia messaging service (MMS) phone users to send messages combining pictures, text, voice and music.Using either the Sony Ericsson T68i or the Nokia 7650 camera phones, subscribers can register free on air,...
BEIJING-Li Yue, vice president of China Mobile, announced at the GSM China 2002 conference that China Mobile's customers are expected to send 50 billion short messages this year, up from 15.9 billion last year. Customers of rival China Unicom sent 3 billion messages last...
OXFORD, United Kingdom-The U.K. Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) reported an increase in the number of consumers complaining about unsolicited text messages. The organization said it upheld six complaints about SMS-based promotions this year, compared with none the previous year. Most of the complaints, according...
JAKARTA, Indonesia-The popular short message service (SMS) traffic has compelled Indonesia's paging operators to call for government protection. Sukoyo, head of the country's radio paging association, said the protection is imperative because the continuity of radio paging services in the country is a big...
Ever heard of EMS, or Enhanced Messaging Service?If not, don't worry-few people have.It was created as an extension to the short message service messaging technology that has taken the worldwide wireless industry by storm. The idea was to "enhance" SMS messages with more space...
ARLINGTON, Va.-Despite the dark shadow the depressed economy has cast on much of the U.S. wireless sector, the Consumer Electronics Association's recently released Digital America 2002 report shows wireless device sales are still up, third-generation services are still unfolding and demand for wireless services...
NEW DELHI, India-After consolidation of operations and brands, Indian GSM players are now turning to more competitive services by adding new features. This week, two leading players-Bharti and Escotel-launched high-powered subscriber identity module (SIM) cards to facilitate more applications.The 32K SIM card launched by...
LONDON-Six European markets will soon have MSN Messenger, Microsoft's instant messaging service, on mobile phones via short message service. Operators in Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland and Turkey will offer the messaging service. The same operators also currently offer the MSN Hotmail e-mail...
STOCKHOLM, Sweden—THQ Wireless will develop licensed and unlicensed gaming and entertainment applications for Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications phones, the companies said. THQ will provide both embedded content, as well as downloadable, stand-alone and interactive content for upcoming SEMC phones based on Java and future...
ALISO VIEJO, California, United States—SMS Media Group said it signed a deal with European mobile entertainment company Jippii Group that enables SMS Media to provide its subscribers with a large selection of ring tones. SMS Media plans to launch later this month a new...
HONG KONG—Verizon Wireless Inc. is the first customer for Lightbridge Inc.'s Mobile Data Manager, a new service that enables carriers to allow users to self-provision data services. Mobile Data Manager is significant because it can generate more traffic, and thus more revenue, for carriers,...
