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The cost of sending and receiving SMS, also called text messages, is getting obsurd.  As Marguerite Reardon of Cnet points out: since 2005, the cost of SMS has doubled on all four major US telcos from 10 cents to 20 cents per message.

Why are the mobile phone service providers charging this much to send 160 characters of information?  Simple answer - because people are paying it.  So before you go griping about the big corporations and their practices, complain to your telco and refuse to send SMS messages.  This will be the only way we can get through to the Big 4 (Sprint, Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, and AT&T).

Sure text messaging is convenient and very popular in some circles (people under 25), but what is it going for us to say “enough is enough”.  Rather than use SMS, I suggest you look at mobile IM options.

Yelp, a site I have praised before, is continuing to grow and gain traction.  Today, TechCrunch profiled them and spoke of their success and new-found hate sites.  You see, business owners who have been given bad reviews on Yelp are trying to fight back.  Sorry businesses, but if you want to fight back, respond to the criticism by fixing what was being complained about.  Yelp has reached out to give business owners a way to reply to reviewers.

Yelp is one of the social media sites that defines what user generated content is all about.  Real people talking frankly about businesses in a frank and open manner.  If businesses can’t take the heat - perhaps they should just stick their head in the sand and ignore the feedback.  However, the feedback is free and will allow them to easily improve their business.

If you want to see my activity on yelp, check out my profile page.

A friend of mine, Surj Patel, told a while back me he thinks the next big thing in mobile application interfaces will be multi-modal input.  That is, we have buttons that allow us to interact with the phone and the fantastic iPhone allows us to use touch.  For more of my perspective on touch interfaces, check out a previous post of mine on GigaOm.

Multi-modal interfaces are those that allow us to use multiple mediums to utilize the mobile handset.  That is, being able to use touch and voice simulatiously.  Google Maps for Mobile just announced anew way of using Google Maps.  When conducting a search on the BlackBerry Pearl’s GMM application, you can speak in your search query.  Imagine how much time and frustration this will save when trying to interact with Google Maps for Mobile.

Think of how revolutionary this is.  Touch interfaces is changing the way we use and look at our mobile handsets, and being able to combine this with voice or other input methods is monumental.  As another example, Nokia phones (and some others) feature a hardware accelerometer and some forward-thinking applications are utilizing the accelerometer to do many common functions.  For example, if your phone is sitting on a table and it rings, imagine being able to simply turn it over if you want to dismiss the call, rather than having to push a button.

I think Surj is right about multi-modal interfaces.

Some say trends start Europe and cross the pond over to the US.  It’s true for fashion - is it true for personal communication as well?

According to a study by the EU, Europeans are turning their back on traditional landlines and instead are embracing internet telephony (also called Voice over IP or VoIP) and mobile handsets.  As Ars Technica points out, survey respondents aren’t getting landlines because of a lack of access, but rather because of a disinterest in the service altogether.

It is of no surprise to me that PSTN landlines are going the way of the dodo bird.  They are expensive, non-innovative, and lackluster.  Why should we pay for PSTN lines when a VoIP line can do all the same functions at a fraction of the cost.  If you have a quality broadband connection and QoS, VoIP can be liberating on your pocket book.

Services such as Skype show consumers that voice is just another communication mode enhanced by Internet, just as email transformed inter-office communication.  Therefore, using the net to route the calls is effective and neccesary with today’s communication infrastructure.  In Europe, where telephony termination rates (translation: voice calls are expensive in Europe) are outragously high, Skype has become very popular.  According to the aforementioned study, this is especially true in the blok states of Latvia, Lithuania, Czech Republic, Poland, and Bulgaria, where Skype usage is above 50% of European internet-enabled households.

As an additional note, Skype becomes most inviting when you can use it away from your PC.  I have used a Philips-made cordless phone that uses Skype to route calls. For my review of the Philips VoIP 841 cordless phone, check it out at Web Worker Daily.

The ever popular ASUS Eee PC is about to get perhaps its most significant upgrade yet.  Is it WiMax, a boost in RAM, an LED backlit screen?  No - it’s a larger keyboard!

The upcoming 904 and 905 models will have the same 8.9 inch screen as normal, but the keyboard will be the size of the one used on the company’s 10.2 inch model.  The 904 and 905 models will soon come out and will eventually replace the existing 900 and 901 models.  Watch for dramatic price drops on the 900 and 901 when the new models appear.

Also, the new ASUS computers will feature the much hyped Intel Atom processor, which features ultra-low power consumption combined with fantastic battery life.

Good times are ahead in the ultra mobile PC market.

[via Digitimes] [Photo credit: Flickr User Moe_]

Techmeme is, by and large, a fantastic way to stay up on the present buzz occurring in the tech blogosphere.  However, I’m confused at how the system works so I’m hoping to shed some light on the subject with this post and the conversation that ensues.  In talking to other blogging friends, I’m not the only one who is curious about this subject.

From their “About” box, TechMeme states:

At this moment, the hottest stories in technology are scattered across dozens of news sites and blogs.

That’s an awful lot of sites for anyone to check.

Fortunately, Techmeme arranges all of these links into a single, easy-to-scan page. It’s auto-generated through a news-picking software system, so updates occur around the clock.

So, how does Techmeme decide which post is most worth of the primary link?  For example:

Earlier this month, Om Malik interviewed and wrote a post about Jeff Bezos. Anyways, Om did the work, then RoughType links to the post and embeds the video.  Then I see the Nick gets the primary post on Techmeme!?

How does Techmeme’s algorithm work?  I’d assume in this case, Om’s post would get the Techmeme, love, not the RoughType coverage of Om’s interview. This, in my opinion, is an injustice to Om as he is the original content creator.

See the screenshot below:

Additionally, a while back I posted on GigaOm about Strands acquisition of NetworthIQ.  My post on GigaOm went up first, (my post ran at 4:37PDT, and TechCrunch’s ran at 8:26AM) however TechCrunch’s story got the primary link, with my post was placed in the Discussion category.  Here’s a screenshot from that day:

This post is not intended to complain about Techmeme - just to educate myself and the community about how the selection process is conducted by Techmeme’s bots.  Is Techmeme handcoded or dynamically driven? Inquiring minds want to know

For a while now the big 4 US mobile operators T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint have been offering unlimited mobile plans.  Typically, these include a flat rate of $99 for unlimited calling to the United States.

Virgin Mobile has just entered the fray and raised (lowered) the bar by granting us a $79.99/month unlimited plan that goes further than the big 4 by offering Unlimited text messaging, IM, email, and picture messages.  This is similar to Cricket’s plan, however Virgin Mobile has a much more expansive network footprint.

Also, unlike the biggie telcos mentioned above, there are no contracts with the Virgin plans.  If you’re a heavy cell phone user, this Virgin plan should be on your radar.

Below is a paste of the entire press release:

Read the rest of this entry »

Nokia Opens Their Platform And Causes Industry Change

Today’s news about Nokia and Sybian joining forces is starting to sink in and people are beginning to question what it means for the mobile platform.

In one fell swoop, Nokia has achieved what Google can only hope Android will be in 3-4 years.  That is, Nokia has gained a widely adopted open source mobile operating system that has profound market share.  To add to this, there is already a plethora of fantastic mobile applications written for Symbian as application developers have flocked to the platform over the past 10 years.  The numbers vary widely depending on where you look, but as TechCrunchIT points out, Symbian currently carries roughly 60% of smartphone market share worldwide.

This, combined with the fact that industry heavyweights are behind the Symbian Foundation including carriers such as AT&T, NTT DoCoMo, Orange, T-Mobile, and Vodafone.  Also, handset makers LG, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung, and Sony Ericsson are on board as well.  This is a wide ranging array of mobile bellweather companies, making Nokia and Sybian a force to be reckoned with.

However, in today’s mobile environment it doesn’t matter who supports what - platform success revolves around which mobile applications are most successful.  Which platform will mobile application developers flock to?  There are currently 4 main choices: Symbian, iPhone, RIM’s BlackBerry, and Windows Mobile.  Symbian has some gravity based on their market share, but will it be enough to effectively woo inspired developers creating the next great application?

The iPhone has been a game changer and will continue to be with the pending release of third-party applications and the Apple App Store.  With the iPhone having an initial cost of $199, many new consumers will be adopting smartphones and expecting fun apps to enhance their experience.

My suggestion to Nokia would be to make their applications more available to consumers.  Apple will make adding new applications to the iPhone easy with the app store, much like iTunes changed the music buying experience.  Nokia needs to respond with a similar unified way of finding and consuming mobile software - with ease-of-use at the forefront of this effort.

How will Google respond to the Nokia acquisition?  In what way will they make Android the application platform of choice?  I believe they will use their Google mobile services as a magnet.  On the other hand,  Google has embraced the Symbian market also with native applications such as Google Search and Google Maps for Mobile.  Will they continue to pump out applications for a competitive mobile OS?  Om Malik thinks the move is aimed at Linux on Mobile, but I believe it’s also aimed squarely at Google’s Android, as well is LiMo.

The mobile industry is one that is primed for competition and excitement.

Nokia Answers Back

A compelling reason I enjoy Nokia smart phones is their use of the Symbian operating system.  This mobile OS is found on many phones including Nokia, Sony Ericcson, Panasonic, and a few others.  Up until now, Symbian has operated as a separate entity that created an environment that was very inviting to mobile phone application developers.

Tonight, in a huge announcement, Nokia has announced that they are acquiring Symbian Limited and are open sourcing the Symbian mobile operating system under a new entity called the Symbian Foundation.  Nokia has long been a large stakeholder in Symbian, and announced today they are acquiring all the shares of Symbian Limited it doesn’t already own for approximately 264 million Euros.

According to Nokia CEO Olli-Pekka Pallasvuo, Nokia’s intent is to create “the most attractive platform for mobile innovation and drive the development of new and compelling web-enabled applications”.

Today’s acquisition is undoubtedly an answer to Google’s open source Android operating system, which today was publicized to have been delayed because of issues with telcos.

Application developers will hopefully be able to help Symbian continue its mobile OS dominance as Symbian currently enjoys a favorable market share.  Now, app developers will have two major open source operating systems to chose from when developing their mobile offerings.

Note: I’ve posted further analysis in this post.

Are you a small business who wants to make a big impression with your phone system?  If so, check out Jazinga, the so called “No IT-guy required” phone system.  In basic terms, Jazinga gives small businesses a high-end phone system that includes features such as an automated attendant, company directory, individual voicemail boxes, and voicemail to email.  Additionally, the Jazinga box includes wireless networking, fax and email.

Many business want to install and configure their own VoIP systems to enhance the functionality of their phone systems.  Such systems are very, very expensive to install and maintain.  Alternatively, Asterisk provides an open source (free software) PBX system, but to use it you have to be a wise phone geek and have copious amounts time to invest in implementing the system.

Jazinga aims to fill this void by supposedly simple to buy, install, and maintain.  The box can use your own VoIP or standard landline for calling in and out.  Additionally, a few of the features Jazinga provides are:

• Auto Attendant - “Press 1 for John, Press 2 for Sarah”.
• Free voicemail with voicemail-to-email: have your voicemails sent to your inbox for portability.
• Music-on-hold: upload your mp3s so you can have music playing for incoming callers on hold.
• Simulanious ring: have an incoming call ring multiple phones so you never miss a call.

I just received a Jazinga box to put through its paces.  I’ll post status updates as I try out this box and will post a full review upon the conclusion of my trials.