I’m off to see the (purple) Sony Ericsson K770i Cyber-shot officially launch on the 3UK network this evening.

It is going to be a night of decadence and glamour — so says the invitation. Better put on a suit.

More about the K770i at Sony’s site here.

I’m very interested to get a hands-on look at the K770i. I have been developing a hankering for a candybar-style handset that takes brilliant pictures.

Ever since I saw the mint coloured T650i in the hands of Sony Ericsson’s Merran Wrigley, I have been feeling the need for a pocket-able handset. (The T650i has been snapped up by most of the team at Sony Ericsson HQ who can tell a winner when they see it).

The Sugababes are doing the entertainment.

I’ll take my camera, then…

Mobile messaging specialists Sybase 365 have launched their new MMS content delivery gateway - enabling content providers, marketers, and media companies to deliver MMS content directly to consumers’ handsets, globally, with a single connection.

“MMS is, and will continue to be, the most viable method for delivering rich media,” said Marty Beard, President of Sybase 365. “Mobile campaigns are becoming an increasingly important part of companies’ communication and advertising strategies, and multimedia messages are exceptionally effective because of their ability to engage the recipient in interactive campaigns.”
MMS 365 runs on the Sybase 365 operator-grade network, ensuring successful delivery of complex content, management of high traffic volumes, and seamless delivery to consumers’ handsets via its connections to more than 700 global operators. One connection to MMS 365 provides direct content delivery to millions of subscribers, eliminating the need for content providers to manage separate, time-consuming negotiations and connections to individual operators.
MMS 365 supports all popular types of rich content including photos, graphics, audio, video, alerts, ringtones, and wallpaper allowing content providers to use the most effective method to communicate a campaign to subscribers.

In an interesting move, mobile accessories firm Parrot have just unveiled what they’re claiming is the world’s first MMS-enabled digital photo frame.

Digital photo frames are nothing new - there’s quite a few on the market. The concept is simple: chuck one on your mantlepiece or coffee table, pop in a memory card and load some photos up. Where the DF7700 goes further is it’s got a GSM modem built in, and can receive MMS on it’s own dedicated number. Send a picture from your mobile to the frame and it’ll display it at the press of a button.

Like most other digital photo frames, it’s also got a USB port and an SD card slot - and holds over 500 snaps in its internal memory. The device has a 7-inch digital TFT LCD screen, a light sensor, position sensor so it knows whether to display your photos in portrait or landscape mode - plus you can even change the frame to suit the decoration of the room.

There’s no details yet of price or availability, but it should hopefully be out in time for Christmas.

Florida-based company Global SMS has just unveiled something they’re calling a ‘text messaging dating companion’, aimed at stopping so-called dating ‘players’.

Based on the simple concept that people cheat and lie while dating and in relationships, the PlayerBlock service provides an outlet for the “playee” to share their experience. This experience is linked to the phone number of the offender. This shared experience may help others with future dating decisions.

Beyond the standard “Report a Player” and “Check a Player” features, The PlayerBlock service also allows members to “Watch a Player”. The watch feature increases our audience beyond the dating arena and into the relationship space.

In addition to the practical features of PlayerBlock, the service also has entertainment features. Members may use the “Random” feature that will show random comments left about other players around the country.
PlayerBlock and all of its unique features are available to members both online at www.playerblock.com and via text messaging using the short code 25626 (BLOCK). The service fee is $4.99/month billed directly to the member’s cell phone.

The PlayerBlock service is currently supported by most major wireless carriers including AT&T Wireless, Sprint, Nextel, Verizon Wireless, Virgin Mobile and Boost Mobile. Other carriers including T-Mobile will be coming soon.

According to mobile media research firm M:Metrics, text shortcodes are the most effective platform for mobile advertisers in the US.

“In the United States, CSCs represent the only universal way for brands to connect with almost all mobile users,” said Evan Neufeld, vice president and senior analyst at M:Metrics. “In August 2007, 92.5 million, or 43 percent, of mobile subscribers actively engaged in text messaging. Of these 92.5 million mobile subscribers, 41 million send text messages almost every day. Not only is this number impressive as a stand-alone figure, but it is exponentially higher than the potential reach of the next available mobile advertising method.”
“CSCs create a level of interaction that is unparalleled in any other medium,” said Diane Strahan, vice president of mobile at NeuStar. “The M:Metrics study offers detailed proof of what mobile marketing-savvy organizations across many industry verticals have speculated: that CSCs provide brands with the broadest and the most targeted way to reach today’s mobile consumer. As texting continues to increase in popularity, advertising agencies and marketers are focusing more and more on CSCs as a preferred mobile medium of choice. These firms are embracing CSCs not only to reach today’s on-the-go consumer directly, but also to transform traditional print, broadcast and outdoor advertising into truly interactive touchpoints — thus building significant loyalty among key audiences.”

Link: webitpr | AirVersent and BT Extend Relationship

AirVersent today announces an extension of its relationship with BT, which will see AirVersent’s ServiceNet solution rolled out to 2,000 of BT’s own mobile engineering workforce. In 2006 the ServiceNet managed service platform was chosen to underpin BT’s own Mobile on Demand (MoD) field service solution, which has already seen several successful deployments and will now be rolled out to a section of BT’s own workforce.

“BT MoD is a very neat mobility platform that fits nicely into the BT Field Force Automation (FFA) suite of applications and services and has been deployed successfully with a number of clients including Northumbrian Water and Sovereign Housing,” commented Paul Cleaver, General Manager (FFA) at BT. “The extension of this solution to a section of BT’s field force is a logical development and we expect 2,000 of our engineers to be using the solution in earnest in 2008,” continued Cleaver.

Under BT MoD, ServiceNet provides the link between customer service systems and a mobile field force. It delivers real time views of workflow, seamless data exchange as well as the tools to create configure and control the field application on the mobile worker’s handheld device. Communications are handled via ServiceNet, typically over a GPRS wireless network, enabling the receipt of job instructions, work schedules, including reactive work and real-time updates. In 2007 a class leading solution from 360 Scheduling was fully integrated into ServiceNet and hence in to BT’s MoD solution. ServiceNet is available as a managed SaaS (software as a service) application or for installation on a customer’s own premises.

“We are delighted that BT’s MoD powered by ServiceNet has been so successful,” said Lindsay Kennedy, AirVersent’s UK Managing Director. “BT’s choice of ServiceNet for a section of its own field force is a ringing endorsement of our solution which continues to grow in maturity thanks in no small part to the support we have received from BT. With new backing and the growing acceptance of managed service solutions we have high hopes for the further success of the ServiceNet platform across all geographies, continued Kennedy.

Interesting, interesting… other operators should take note. It’s not all doom and gloom…

Link: Apple: 17% of iPhones have been unlocked - FierceWireless - Wireless Industry, Wireless Technology News, Wireless Security News

By comparing the number of iPhones sold to the number of iPhones activated on AT&T’s network, Apple was able to figure out how many unlocked devices exist in the wild: somewhere in the neighborhood of 250,000. That’s a huge number–representing almost 17 percent of all iPhones sold–and demonstrates that there’s a very real demand for an unlocked iPhone.

AT&T, the US exclusive iPhone network added a whopping 448,000 *NEW* customers on iPhones (reports FierceWireless) and upgraded 672,000 existing customers to iPhones.

So here I was driving around my boring little town this evening on my way home, when I got stuck behind an SUV at a traffic light. Now living in a land where oversized vehicles are a common occurance, this isn’t too shocking, except for the fact that plastered all over this SUV was an ad for Askipedia. Along with the words, Text & Answer - Text your question to ASKUS. (My apologies for lack of pictures, my E62 doesn’t have a camera)

Before I got a chance to study it too closely, the SUV turned the corner and was gone. So as soon as I got home I Googled them to get some more info. See website here

They seem to have 2 options. 1 - fill out your question online and someone will answer it within 24 hours, or 2 - text your question and someone will answer you in minutes ($2 charge applies)

I have yet to try it. Partly because I have nothing good to ask, partly because I have issues paying the $2, plus whatever Fido will charge me I’m sure. Now maybe that doesn’t seem much to you dear reader, (not being in the UK, I’m not entirely familiar with what similar companies there charge for their answers) but to me it seems a lot. Here in Canada, we’re not inendated with the constant “txt for this joke” or “txt for this wallpaper” that seems to be everywhere in other parts of the world. All of this is a fairly new experience to most. The most common thing you see is “Txt your vote to…” on shows such as Canadian Idol.

So I applaud Askipedia for expanding to this Text & Answer service (they’ve been around as a website since November 2005) and other similar companies such as Mosio. It’s nice to see Canada finally catching on.

Bebo, the other MySpace/Facebook, is now accessible for a fixed fee of £3 per month. Meh. Whatever. Next.

It’s a little uninspiring for the mobile industry, I feel, if you spend a ton of effort educating people that they can pay £3 to access Bebo on their mobile… then you nail them for a few pounds a meg on every other mobile site they visit. Bill shock will just put more and more people off. Before you know it, you’ve got an MMS on your hands. (That is, you kill the introduction of a service particularly as a result of stupid pricing).

Mobile Choice has the details….

Link: Mobile Choice Blog: Orange offers Bebo Mobile for £3 a month

For £3 a month, Orange customers can sign up to Bebo Extra, which gives them unlimited access to Bebo’s mobile internet site without paying any data charges. They’ll be able to send comments via SMS, receive notifications back in return, and also send Bebo Mails by text.

Check out Orange’s Bebo profile.

Just did a post on The Cloud wifi network and their stupid pay-more-per-MAC-address policy.

Only then did I realise that I’m paying £11.99 a month for my unlimited The Cloud subscription. The current price on their site is £9.99.

Right.

Thanks for letting me know…

They’re using that hugely outdated Worldpay system that appears set in stone. I think I’ll actually have to UNSUBSCRIBE and then RE-SUBSCRIBE if I want to take advantage of the current price. Crazy.

And stupid.

Verrrry stupid customer policies.

They’ve obviously all engineers at The Cloud, right?

The Cloud is a UK network of WiFi hotspots.

They do an unlimited subscription for £9.99 per month. That means you can go to any of their hotspots (think train stations, pubs, hotels) and use their service. If you just want your Nokia N95 (for example) to access the service, then it’s £6.99 a month for unlimited usage. (But you can’t use this connection with your laptop or any other device).

You can, I think, still buy hourly access from The Cloud’s portal if you want — but the most sensible way to access their service is via an unlimited subscription.

I’ve had a subscription for a long time — maybe a year or so — and, generally speaking, they’re pretty reliable. I have put them through their paces now and again. For example, when I was in Hartlepool recently, not a single one of their hotspots worked. However they’ve been a lifesaver (or business-saver) when I’ve needed internet access urgently.

I was copied in on an email from an SMS Text News reader this evening who is APOPLECTIC with annoyance. He’s just got himself a new iPhone and naturally, wants to use the device in some The Cloud hotspots. He can. He’s got an unlimited subscription. The only arse? He needs to manually log on with this username and password every time he visits a hotspot.

BUT, The Cloud offer a MAC-address registration option. That is, you can automatically register your Nokia N95, iPhone, iPod, PSP (etc) with The Cloud, so that whenever you hit a The Cloud hotspot, you’ll get internet access. You don’t need to first load up the device browser and login. You do this by registering the device’s unique MAC address with The Cloud thus:

All is ok, so far.

However, the reader is going nuts — justifiably — because he subscribes to the unlimited service plan.

He got a note from The Cloud customer service this evening explaining that if he’d like his iPhone (or any other device) to be automatically switched on to The Cloud, he needs to buy another ‘Cloud unlimited’ or ‘Cloud music’ subscription.

‘Why?’ He asks.

It’s ridiculous. Why do Unlimited £9.99/month customers not get the option to add, say, 4 device MAC addresses as well as use the standard laptop login service?

Does anyone else subscribe to The Cloud? How do you rate your experience?

Remember I bought a pay-as-you-go sim card from AT&T last week? Although it was a painful process, I was delighted to have my own ‘local’ service to use.

I was deeply, deeply unimpressed when I switched it on at London Stansted airport and found zero signal. AT ALL.

There must be some ‘enable me for international roaming’ thing that needs to be ticked. Arse.

SMS Text News advent calendar is coming soon.

It is, after all, Christmas time. Okay so it’s only October 23rd, but really, the shops have got their Christmas trees up, the American stores are already playing Bing Crosby…

…and I could use a bit of feedback from you, dear reader.

I’m planning an SMS Text News advent calendar competition. The concept being that we give away a brand new sparkly handset (or handsets) to SMS Text News readers every day of December leading up to the 25th December and a grand prize of some sort.

I’ve got a few ideas, but I’d really appreciate yours… what do you think we should try and arrange?

Handsets? Line rental? USB Modems? I’m working on it now and making calls.

I’m sat on the phone to Chris from The Dogs Trust earlier today, right? We’re debating the finer points of charity funding when all of a sudden I don’t hear anything from Chris. I’m chatting away and I hear silence.

I check the screen of my Nokia E61i and I see the dreaded message:

CONNECTION ERROR

I phoned back and spoke to a confused colleague (”Chris is on the phone?”)

“No, he was on the phone to me, just a second ago, seriously…”

I get connected back to Chris and apologise. He queries what happened.

I have to explain that I’m a T-Mobile user — we then continue our conversation.

How stupidly embarrassing is that?

My handset just disconnected. This isn’t a handset feature. It happens whatever I’m using, whether it’s a Sony Z7, iPhone, any Nokia or whatever. I just get disconnected now and again, randomly.

I have to phone back and it makes me feel like a total numskull.

Why am I using T-Mobile? Well, I think the Flext plan is a good deal. I like it. I don’t like Vodafone’s idiot call charges once you use up your minutes. I think it’s ridiculous to pay 35p a minute to talk to someone on another network. It is, afterall, 2007.

I’m also rather impressed at the 55p/min interational rates. Yes it’s expensive to make a call from Los Angeles to London, but I like the fact I’m paying rates nearby what a Vodafone customer is paying to talk to me on T-Mobile when we’re both in the UK.

By contrast, Three’s US rate is £1.20/min to make a call and £0.80/min to receive.

Every time I get near dumping T-Mobile, I take a close look at the prices and……… arse. I don’t know.

What’s your opinion?

Should I stay or should I go?

Link: SourceWire | Press Releases - iO global to Launch Trial of Three-Screen Marketing Practices

iOâ„¢ global, the innovative worldwide provider of integrated digital retail solutions, is launching a three-screen trial to measure the effectiveness of integrated mobile-TV-PC marketing practices. For the first time, publishers, advertisers and agencies and a digital retail solutions company are joining forces to establish a framework for demonstrating ROI on three-screen marketing initiatives.

iO global is partnering with several major media companies and advertisers to deliver branded content to a sample of consumers. The trial will kick-off in January, 2008. Participating publishers and advertising agencies will have access to behavioural and purchasing data, as well as brand health measurements collected during the trial.

I think this will yield som fascinating results. More from iO Global here.

SMS Text News sponsor, Clickatell, has added some more hot shot chaps to the team.

They are Chuck Drake (who joins as Executive VP of Marketing) and Bill Wolfe (who joins as Executive VP of Research & Development).

Chuck joins from MarkMonitor and Corillian where he led both companies to achieve market leadership status in their respective Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and Enterprise software markets serving Financial Services, Retail, Manufacturing, High Technology, CPG and other verticals worldwide. Here’s a pic of Chuck:

Bill joins from VeriSign and Openwave Systems where he was responsible for managing critical business cycles to provide complex, intelligent, highly secure, and reliable enterprise infrastructures to deliver core communications services targeting the Entertainment, Technology, and Telecommunications markets. Here’s a pic of Bill:

That’s not all the news though. They’ve recently added support for an additional 85 networks, enabling their 8,000+ customers to send messages to over 680+ networks worldwide — that’s more carriers and networks than any other messaging provider in the world.

For those companies concered about security, Clickatell recently received the SAS 70 stamp of approval (a widely recognised standard used as a proof point by Chief Security Officers to examine the due diligence process needed to assure data security, safety and integrity).

More about Clickatell here. As they’re a valued sponsor, if you’d like to do business with them and you’d like a direct introduction, wherever you are in the world, drop me a mail and I’ll facilitate.

Mike Masnick over at Techdirt posted this yesterday. He’s commenting on Walt Mossberg, the noted Wall Street Journal tech columnist, who’s pushing for US Government intervention in the mobile phone marketplace.

It’s an interesting — and rather contentious perspective:

Link: Techdirt: Walt Mossberg Pushing For Gov’t Intervention In The Mobile Phone Market

Walt Mossberg has been talking about this for a while, but his latest column follows a few other recent calls for the government to step in and mandate more open wireless networks. The idea is that mobile networks should be more like the wider internet. That is, when you buy a computer, you don’t buy one locked to a particular ISP, or with only what that ISP wants you to access included. That openness has resulted in tremendous innovation in the PC, internet and software worlds — and it’s quite likely that a similar openness would lead to much more innovation in the mobile space as well.

Walt’s right — the interoperabilty, the compatibility, the openness is definitely what heavily contributed to the success of computer industry. (Apart from Apple….. or… well, even Apple standardised on the likes of USB, Firewire and so on).
Mike adds:

The problem, though, is that it’s really not that simple.

And he’s right. It’s not as simple as calling for openness. There’s so much going on across the marketplace and the dynamics are, at best, difficult to pinpoint exactly.

Do you subsidise every handset? Yes or no. Do you lock the handset to the network? How do you handle the mobile phone look-up if you’re using T-Mobile one day and chatting away on Vodafone the next?

Yesterday I wrote a glowing perspective regarding OnePoint Text Surveys. I thought they were a brilliant service — indeed, I am considering setting up an account to give it a go and run an SMS Text News text survey.

However in my text, I wrote that you could try out a demo survey by texting RESEARCH to 85001 and then I (sensibly) put “standard network rate” after the instructions. Only…. it’s not! The OnePoint shortcode is entirely free to use in the United Kingdom. They’re using a free shortcode! This is one of the first real-life instances I can remember seeing where a company are actually deploying a free-to-use shortcode.

I spoke to Neil from OnePoint who explained that it’s extremely important to them — and their clients — that end-consumers shouldn’t have to pay to take part in any surveys.

I’m going to meet with Neil later this week and find out more about the company.

Messaging interoperability and content delivery specialists Sybase 365 have just unveiled a new suite of products for the financial industry.

Sybase mBanking 365 provides secure and direct multi-channel interaction with customers over all mobile messaging channels — SMS, WAP, and rich client. Vital services such as bank account activity alerts that notify customers of potentially fraudulent transactions in real time, and simple activities, such as balance inquiries, can be conducted conveniently and without involving costly customer care resources. Sybase mBanking 365 also features support for natural language, interactive banking services, with the Answers 365 product, to enable customers to access services without the need to memorize set keywords.
“Mobile banking is on the brink of widespread consumer adoption,” said Marty Beard, president of Sybase 365. “The mobile phone is rapidly becoming the one technology that people have access to around the globe. As such, mobile banking will quickly become a critical channel for customer interaction.”
Financial institutions have realized a number of benefits from utilizing mobile banking services, including cost reduction and increased efficiency in communicating with customers, fraud reduction, and improved customer retention. In fact, Sybase 365 recently commissioned a global study across the Americas, Europe, and Asia-Pacific, and more than a quarter of respondents in each region reported they would consider switching banks if an alternative provider offered them mobile banking services.
Sybase is a trusted partner for some of the world’s biggest banks. The company has over 7 years experience through its Financial Fusion product, providing integrated services to more than 200 of the world’s leading financial institutions. Coupled with Sybase 365’s mobile banking expertise as the leading provider of mBanking services (SMS, MMS) for financial corporations worldwide, the company is uniquely placed to enable banks to realize the potential of mobile banking.
Sybase mBanking 365 combined with Sybase 365’s operator-grade network reaches more than 700 mobile operators around the world and 2.4 billion mobile subscribers. One single connection to Sybase 365 enables financial institutions to reach 100 percent of their mobile customers.

You have to hand it to the SMS Text News audience. You’re responsive.

I’ve had 11 email requests for sponsoring a dog by text in the last hour.

Steve of mobile services company iTagg just posted this to my previous post on the subject:

Ewan, the keyword DOGTRUST on 60300 is now in your iTAGG client account. Simply login to configure it to return a premium rate sms autoresponder; and then let the Dog Trust know that they are now fully tooled up for mobile sponsorship. I’ll also be happy to donate our slice of the psms to the Dog Trust.

You top man, Steve. I just got notification that the keyword’s been added.

I can’t tell you how annoying it is when a see an advert or when I’m moved to want to sponsor something — only to find out it’s actually a bit of an arse to do so.

Before anyone decides to have a go at me for presenting such a blatantly lazy perspective to helping others, first let it be known that I do already give money to a charity regularly. Second, I’m deliberately highlighting this perspective because, well, that’s reality.

I’ll happily donate to something if it’s not too difficult.

I’ll give a few pounds to a chap collecting for the blind, the aged, cancer research or, especially to an old chap standing proudly at the entrance to a supermarket, his medals and poppy clearly displayed. It’s an easy transaction. You dig into your pocket and bring out some shrapnel, you gesture to the chap, he thrusts the collection bucket at you, drop the change in, he thanks you — and maybe even gives you a sticker, or a poppy. In other cases you get a thank you from a breast cancer supporter standing with their tin. There’s a quiet dignity that one can’t help but respect.

When it comes to television — or any other indirect media (i.e. it’s highly difficult to ignore an 80 year old chap standing proudly, medals out, poppy in hand) but it’s easy to switch channel, or turn the page.

So I saw this advert last night. A pound a month to support a dog via The Dogs Trust. I was well up for it, until I found there was no text-donation element. And if I look closely into my psyche and analyse this honestly, I just couldn’t be arsed to phone up and give my life story, post code, sort code, bank details…. well, actually, let’s be clear, I COULD be bothered, but I’m being pedantic. I’m disappointed that, generally speaking, most charities haven’t made the process easy by implementing the text donation medium. Why can’t I just text a shortcode and you take the cash from my phone balance?

I *don’t* want to have to speak to anyone. I made my decision when I saw the ad. Yes I’ll give you a quid. But no, I don’t want to speak to anyone — AND I don’t want anyone to call.

How many other people are thinking similar thoughts?

How many other people would have shot of a text, just like me?

I wonder. Obviously since I work in and around the mobile industry, I’m under the (misguided?) impression that if you add a text donate channel, it’ll be very heavily used.

Perhaps charities have tried and found it entirely lacking?
So why don’t these charities make it easy? Why haven’t they adopted donating-by-text?

I can think of two main reasons.

The first, SMS Text News reader, loulou, posted earlier:

The problem is, maybe there is no way, via prem SMS, for charities to get their extra 28p per £1 if you are a UK tax payer on a regular 12 monthly text payment (hence why we see it for one off donations where any money payed out from the ops is acceptable, but not monthly donations where ultimately more money and tax revenue can be garnered).

You’re entirely right, Loulou. Charities react negatively when they find out they can’t easily get their extra 28p per £1 via text donations — that’s an almost 30% revenue uplift on each donation. But wouldn’t these charities rather have thousands of £1.50s every month without ‘giftaid’, given the choice?

The second reason: Well I wonder if it’s education. I wonder if they, generally, don’t understand the medium? Or if they’re far too wary having heard one too many scare stories?

As I was writing this, I had a note in from Chris at The Dogs Trust to explain that they do, actually have a text service — just, they didn’t advertise it on the particular TV advert I saw. They’ve got it setup thus: You text DOG (standard network rate) to 64118 and you’re then prompted by return text to reply with your full name and address. You’re then added into the Dogs Trust collective database and sent out some details to actually sign-up.

So that’s good news — and bad. Good news that they’ve got the medium implemented, bad news that it doesn’t actually take money — they’re simply using it as a method of collecting data from interested participants. It’s then incumbent upon them to try and upsell you at a later date.

I’ve decided to take matters into my own hands.

I think, perhaps incorrectly, that there are a ton of people out there who would be keen to sponsor a dog, a cat or a child via text. I think the fire-and-forget nature of the medium lends itself well to speed-donating.

I’m going to give it a go, so I need your help.

First off, to put my money where my mouth is, I’ve setup a boring old-school donation with The Dogs Trust. I’m sponsoring Harvey (a Golden Retriever):

(Here’s the link to my certificate of sponsorship)

Second, here’s where I need your help. I want to explicitly prove to charities (not just The Dogs Trust) that the medium of mobile should not be overlooked when it comes to cash donations.

With the help of Steve from iTagg, I’ve setup a subscription service called DOGTRUST. (Unfortunately this is only for those based in the UK at the moment.) The service will bill you £1.50 every two weeks. I want you to subscribe to it — a) to show your support for The Dogs Trust, but b) to show your support for the mobile industry.

If no one bothers subscribing, well, that’ll be a super indication of why charities are right not to use the mobile medium. However I’m betting — and hoping — that a few people will do this. I’ll regularly publish the subscription figures to highlight the possibilities. Every month, when I get the payment from iTagg, I’ll send the entire balance directly to The Dogs Trust and I’ll publish a few screenshots along the way.

Steve has agreed to waive all premium text revenue so I’ll be able to donate the maximum amount that iTagg receives from the mobile operators to The Dogs Trust. Obviously I’m not making a turn on it either.

Do you think it’ll work? Let’s give it a go.

Would you please pass this link around your friends and colleagues in the industry and get them to support it? (ESPECIALLY if your company pays your phone bill). Please blog it too. I know there have been successful examples of mobile donations in the past, however they’ve not been grassroots enough or compelling enough to get the attention of the UK’s charities. I think if we in the mobile industry, can demonstrate a demand it — then perhaps a lot more of the charities in this country will take a second look at mobile donations and talk to their suppliers accordingly.

This concept is not affiliated with The Dogs Trust in any way — except that the resultant cash is heading their way, ostensibly for Harvey, but really, for the good of all dogs.

Here’s how you sponsor Harvey via SMS Text News:

Text START DOGTRUST to 60300

The immediate reply will be from me with the a confirmation and the unsubscribe command (STOP DOGTRUST) — that reply won’t cost you anything, I’m paying for it to be sent to you. You’ll then get a text update from me every 2 weeks that will cost you £1.50.

You can unsubscribe at any time with the command STOP DOGTRUST texted to 60300. (Any texts sent to the service are charged at the standard network rate)

Mobile value-added services player Zed Group (formerly LaNetro Zed, and current owner of MonsterMob) has just announced they generated a record $100 million dollars in revenue in the month of September 2007. The company’s mobile products and services are used by more than 35 million customers across 37 countries each month.

Javier Perez Dolset, founder and CEO of Zed, commented, “It is incredible to think that during a single day in September we generated more revenues globally than we did during the whole of 2000. In our most recent fiscal year, we were delighted to reach $454 million in revenue, and our continued growth illustrates the rising global consumer demand for mobile services and entertainment.”

Attributing to Zed’s recent growth is its new line of mobile products, which offer users an interactive community where they can create and share content – across the Web or their mobile device. Together with the company’s proven business models and strong third party alliances, Zed’s upcoming US activities have set the company on a path for continued growth in the Web and mobile markets.

I saw this advertisement on television the other day. I think it was on the TV channel, Classic FM.

It’s from the Dog Trust here in the UK. The advert’s basic message was: Pay us a pound a month and that’ll (sort of) sponsor a dog. Accompanied by nice music and some footage of a little dog jumping about happily, it was enough to get my attention.

‘A pound a month? Sure thing,’ I thought. Might as well.

My handset was already out so I waited for the end of the advert and, sure enough, the phone numbers began to display.

Excellent.

I waited for the text portion.

Only…. that never came.

If you want to sponsor a dog, you have to phone up.

Thing is, I know how these things work. I know that there’s a lady in a call centre somewhere sat waiting for me to phone. She’s ready to type all my details into a system that will then direct debit me a pound a month, on going… and send me out a nice thank-you letter.

Trouble is, I’ve got no patience for a 4 minute ‘my name is’ session.

I just couldn’t be arsed to phone. In the plain light of day, I know that previous sentence will read terribly… does it make me out to be some heartless arse?

Or, does it point to the reality. The truth.

There’s another way. I would have sent a text message. I genuinely would have sent ‘DOGTRUST’ to some shortcode for 1.50… or, actually, 3.00 pounds (just for the convenience of not having to speak to Mandy in Huddersfield).

I bought the ad’s concept. I wanted to transact.

Only the chartiy hasn’t bothered getting itself a shortcode.

I wonder what IDIOT telecommunications consultancy or service provider has advised them not to do this — or has STOOD BY whilst the marketing manager at the Dog Trust has ignored the medium of text.

It’s absolutely 100% ridiculous.

What’s more, I’ve had enough.

I’m going to do something about it.

PS you can get info at sponsoradog.org.uk.

I hear that 3UK’s mobile broadband offering priced at a sweet-spot deal of 10 pounds per month is really resonating with the public. I dont have any figures yet, I hope to have some soon. Right now I just see some surprised and elated faces at 3UK. Good work!

- Taken at 9:05 AM on October 23, 2007 - cameraphone upload by ShoZu

Link: BBC NEWS | Northern Ireland | Cell phone radio caller shot dead

Back in May 2007, a man by the name of John Daly made a phone call on his mobile to a popular Irish radio show. However, this wasn’t any ordinary call - as Daly was currently inside Portlaoise jail serving a nine-year stretch for armed robbery.

Understandably, his actions caused a little upset within the prison service - and led to the rather alarming discovery that quite a few prisoners had mobile phones in their cells (as we reported here). In fact, guards also apparently found plasma TVs and, rather concerningly, some budgies.

Anyway, back to the story. Daly was released from prison in September, and unfortunately was shot dead in the early hours of this morning whilst sitting in a taxi. Apart from phoning to add his 10p worth to the radio discussion about gangland violence, the fact he admitted on the show he was calling from jail - thus triggering the searches - wasn’t exactly the most popular thing to do.

MXit, the massive South African mobile instant messaging success story, has launched service in three additional languages — those languages are Afrikaans, Xhosa and isiZulu.

Here’s a quick primer:

Afrikaans is derived from Dutch and is the majority language of the western one-third of South Africa. Hallo! Hoe gaan dit? means ‘Hello! How are you?’ in Afrikaans.

isiZulu is the most popular home language in South Africa. If you wanted to text hello to someone via MXit, you’d write Sawubona and if you wanted to enquire if they spoke English, you’d write Ukhuluma isiNgisi na?.

Xhosa is South Africa’s second most popular common home language after Zulu.
I’m willing to bet that you were unaware Nelson Mandela is a famous Xhosa-speaker? Thanks to Wikipedia, I now know this.

5.4 million MXit users can now converse in these languages — Paul Stemmet, the General Manager of MXit Lifestyle reckons this will boost traffic and subscriptions even more. Quoting from the press release:

He believes that the new languages, coupled with the inexpensive nature of chatting via MXit (the cost of a MXit instant-message is less than 1cent, as opposed to approximately 80c for an SMS) will ensure that the current trend of some 10 000 to 12 000 new registrations signing up daily will continue.

That’s quite a substantial cost saving 1 cent vs 80 cents.

10-12k new registrations a day? Geez!