BROWSING: SMS

Mobile applications: Ultimately good or bad for the wireless operator?

Editor's Note: Welcome to our weekly Reality Check column. We've gathered a group of visionaries and veterans in the mobile industry to give their insights into the marketplace.From an outsider's point of view, it's easy to say mobile applications should be a slam dunk...

Obama’s inauguration likely to break text-messaging records

Industry insiders say Barack Obama's inauguration today is likely to spark record-high SMS usage among U.S. mobile consumers. But the event may also serve as a kind of coming-out party for SMS as an interactive communications channel in the United States.VeriSign Inc. saw a...

Executive Interview: Paul Palmieri, CEO, Millennial Media: Wireless veteran discusses landscape for mobile phone advertising

Few people in mobile marketing can leverage both the online and wireless experience Paul Palmieri commands. The CEO of Millennial Media was an executive at Advertising.com before becoming a driving force at Verizon Wireless during mobile data's infancy, heading up the carrier's value-added services...

Economic downturn bodes well for mobile coupon companies: Mobile coupons show promise, adoption remains modest

Plenty of application developers and content owners are spinning their wheels as they try to convince users to shell out for mobile goodies. But a small - and very optimistic - segment is hoping to get consumers to save money with their phones.Mobile coupons...

Playing Santa

There's a chill in the air, the malls are packed and my daughters are taking Christmas ornaments off the tree and breaking them like there's money inside. So in the spirit of the season - and in light of the predictable, holiday-related news vacuum...

CTIA details ‘enhanced messaging’ functions

Cellular association CTIA released a document aimed at helping messaging companies develop interoperable EM (enhanced messaging) offerings.The 67-page document addresses presence-enabled services and includes instructions on creating groups, allowing mobile marketers to more efficiently deploy cross-carrier text campaigns. The "Final Set of Uses Cases...

Think globally and act locally, globally too

Editor's Note: Welcome to our weekly Reality Check column. We've gathered a group of visionaries and veterans in the mobile indU.S.try to give their insights into the marketplace.While it was good to see some retailers reporting stronger than expected sales for Black Friday and...

Brands, agencies attend annual MMF event: Mobile is glue connecting media screens

SAN DEIGO - Adding mobility to marketing campaigns is becoming a no-brainer. Case studies from brands that use a mobile component as part of their overall marketing campaigns show that mobility enhances the overall campaign and brings value to the other media channels. In...

REVIEW: GoTV’s Rock On serves purpose, but that purpose should be free

Editor's Note: Welcome to our weekly feature, Yay or Nay. Every week we'll review a new wireless application or service from the user's point of view, with the goal of highlighting what works and what doesn't. If you wish to submit your application or...

Analyst Angle: Opportunities for growth and responsible teenage spending: Who doesn’t love data?

Editor's Note: Welcome to our weekly feature, Analyst Angle. We've collected a group of the industry's leading analysts to give their outlook on the hot topics in the wireless industry.Data usage is an important component for future revenue growth as it becomes an ever...

Moto plunges into luxury handset market with $2,000 ‘Aura’ : Gadget sports ‘hand-sculpted richness’

Motorola Inc., struggling to return to sustainable profitability, will bring the Aura handset to market this quarter, the company said. With "state-of-the-art handcraftsmanship," the device will set you back two (really) big ones - that's $2,000.The launch's timing aside - for many, the price...

Political texts hit sweet spot

I got another text message from Barack Obama's campaign this week. The latest missive mentioned that Joe Biden was coming to town. "Doors: 10:30 a.m.," it read succinctly. "Free & open to public."Short. Simple. Informative.I've received maybe 20 such texts since I signed up...

VZW’s proposed text-fee increase still being digested

FOR NOW, AT LEAST, Verizon Wireless has stepped away from plans to tack on a drastic 3-cent fee to each vendor-generated message on its network. But there's little doubt that some significant changes are in store for nearly every player on the business-to-consumer text...

Worst of the Week: The greatest wireless application in the history of the world

Hello! And welcome to our Thursday column, Worst of the Week. There's a lot of nutty stuff that goes on in this industry, so this column is a chance for us at RCRWireless.com to rant and rave about whatever rubs us the wrong way....

Mobile search set for new growth spurt: Smartphones offer fertile ground for local business info

With the launch of Apple Inc.'s 3G-capable iPhone earlier this summer, along with a slew of other Web-ready smartphones topping consumers' wish lists, the mobile search market stands as one of the most rapidly expanding avenues of digital marketing.There is no shortage of outfits...

Consumers, carriers spar on short-code rules: Critics claim ‘content-based discrimination’

PUBLIC-INTEREST GROUPS ACCUSED WIRELESS CARRIERS of conjuring up misleading excuses to avoid federal regulation of short-code text messaging, pointing to content restrictions in industry documents that they say underscore the need for anti-discriminatory safeguards."Wireless carriers admit that they engage in content-based discrimination," Public Knowledge,...

UPDATED: ‘Sense of panic’ as content vendors respond to Verizon Wireless’ proposed 3-cent texting fee: Carrier softens stance following outcry

The off-deck content world reacted with shock to Verizon Wireless' plan to impose a drastic new fee for vendor-generated text messages. However, it's unclear whether the carrier will actually follow through with the charge."It came completely out of left field," said 4INFO CEO Zaw...

Verizon Wireless to charge content vendors 3-cent fee for text messages: Google, 4INFO, others to face charges beginning Nov. 1

In a move that sets a new and potentially major precedent in the text messaging services market, content and messaging companies are going to have to cough up some dough if they want to deliver their goodies to Verizon Wireless customers.The nation's No. 2...

Analyst Angle: Why you should buy your grandmother an iPhone this holiday season

Editor's Note: Welcome to our weekly feature, Analyst Angle. We've collected a group of the industry's leading analysts to give their outlook on the hot topics in the wireless industry.Maybe you should buy your mother one, too. My mother (age 66) already packs a...

Best handset, service selection ever: But will economic realities spook consumers?

The second half of 2008 already ranks highly for offering the most advanced handsets and most reasonable prices in the history of wireless. And myriad device launches are yet to come in October and November.In a word, the season is about getting smart, as...

Text overload: Links in the SMS chain taxed by volume

If this keeps up, "Can you hear me now?" may just become, "Have you gotten this text yet?" And network operators are scrambling to make sure the answer is yes.The average U.S. mobile user now sends and receives more test messages than they do...

So you want to open an “app store”? : What does the plethora of app store announcements mean to the world of smartphone content distribution?

Editor's Note: Welcome to our weekly Reality Check column. We've gathered a group of visionaries and veterans in the mobile industry to give their insights into the marketplace. By far and away, the most popular question I was asked at CTIA earlier this month...

Getting an ‘Eagle Eye’ film experience via mobile marketing: Effort follows movie’s plot With voice, text messages

In "Eagle Eye," the Dreamworks/Paramount Pictures thriller set for release this weekend, the lead characters are driven to extreme acts by a mysterious woman who contacts them via their mobile phones. So what better way to promote the movie than through a mobile-marketing campaign?...

On social networking business models

Editor's Note: Welcome to our weekly Reality Check column. We've gathered a group of visionaries and veterans in the mobile industry to give their insights into the marketplace.I have a good vantage point of the mobile social networking opportunity: The largest social networking providers,...