Posts Tagged ‘sms’

Top 3 Cool Messaging features on your Rumor2

Friday, December 4th, 2009

The LG Rumor2 is what I would call a solid messaging device. It is similar to the widely popular original Rumor in form factor and functionality with a few new tweaks and improvements. With the improved messaging capability,someone on the Rumor2 is going to be messaging easily and often.

Here are my favorite three messaging features:

It has threaded text messaging.
Your text messages are organized by conversation instead of by time, so you can recall that conversation you had with your friend about where to meet for a bite to eat tonight and make sense of it all. It even shows the date, if your conversation spanned over a few days.

The 4 row qwerty keyboard has a dedicated emoticon key.
You can insert the quick smiley face or wink with one button instead of having to draw the face yourself. The phone gives you 12 different preset facial expressions – even one for a crying face, in case you ever need to express great sorrow.

Add email messaging with the Gmail app
This is a really cool application that you can check your gmail account with that is available only on select non-smartphones. The Rumor2 is one of them. You can always check your gmail account by going to the mobile gmail site through the web browser on your phone, but this app delivers a better user experience.

To download the gmail app go to: m.google.com from your phone’s browser and click on gmail to download and install the app. Beware the gmail app does use data so if you want to avoid high data charges, I recommend adding a data plan.

And as if you need any more reasons to upgrade to this phone, it comes with an extra stylish cover.

The stylish cover that comes with the LG Rumor2

The stylish cover that comes with the LG Rumor2

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DriveSafely. Just say no to TWD.

Friday, November 6th, 2009

In a recent AAA survey, 21% of respondents admitted to texting while driving (TWD). Even California’s first lady can’t resist the urge to use her mobile phone while driving. It’s also tempting to read your emails and texts while at the wheel. To reduce my chances of an unfortunate incident, I installed DriveSafe.ly from BlackBerry App World on my BlackBerry Curve.

drivesafely

DriveSafe.ly automatically reads your messages to you as they arrive. You just turn it on when you get in the car or even when you are about to go for a long bike ride and you’re good to go.

DriveSafe.ly will automatically respond to your messages for you, but you can turn this feature off easily by clicking on Advanced Setting. Then you can respond personally when you arrive safely at your destination. The free version will read up to 25 words of each message and DriveSafe.ly Pro will read a maximum of 500 words plus give you a choice of speakers.

If you’re one of the tempted, download DriveSafe.ly today. Keep your eyes on the road. Your fellow drivers will thank you.

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Posted in Green, Messaging, Productivity, Reference, Travel and Maps | No Comments »

Quickvite: SMS Evites that aren’t Quick At All

Friday, September 18th, 2009

Evite’s Quickvite service is in concept a good idea. Text your friends a simple invitation to their mobile phones for casual get togethers. However, I found it inconvenient to use and not very “mobile”. evite

First, you have to setup groups and enter friends’ phone numbers on the Quickvite website. Then, you can create and send out a text message invitation to your friends from your computer. That’s right – from your computer. I don’t know that I would sit at a computer to text my friends an invitation through this website when I can text my friends the conventional way: through my phone.

I did find the Evite mobile site http://m.evite.com and some of the other mobile features like send to phone more useful. I can see my upcoming events, map the location, get directions, and even change my reply if I need to. Too often, I am running out the door without directions or the address to a party. With my phone in hand, I’ll be sure to get there. Maybe not on time, but who goes to parties on time anyway?

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Get SMS Alerts from the Humane Society of the United States

Friday, August 28th, 2009

The Humane Society of the United States is currently running a campaign to Stop the Canadian Seal Hunt.  You can sign the pledge to boycott Canadian Seafood on their website but if you are subscribed to their text alerts program, you would receive a text message about the campaign and could have signed the pledge right from your mobile phone.

To get Humane Society SMS alerts on your phone, go to their sign up page , enter your mobile phone number, and start putting your cell phone to work for animal causes.

humane-societybmp

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Sign Up for SMS Alerts to Save the Dolphins

Monday, August 24th, 2009

“The Cove” is a documentary that brings to attention the atrocious killing of dolphins in Japan to sell in markets as “whale meat.” Being Japanese, I am appalled that this goes on in my home country. I never knew that there was such a tradition of killing dolphins or that they were sold into the market as food with toxic levels of mercury.

It’s not showing in every city, but it looks like it’s worth going out of the way to see. I plan to see it at the Embarcadero Center in San Francisco.

To help stop the Japanese fishermen from slaughtering these dolphins, sign up for SMS alerts on this issue by texting DOLPHIN to 44144.  The first text message is a link to a form that you can fill out on your mobile phone to send a letter to President Obama, urging him to address this issue.

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Posted in Green, Messaging, News, Political | 4 Comments »

College Students: Sign Up for Campus Emergency Alerts

Tuesday, August 18th, 2009

When going through your back-to-campus checklist, here’s one more to add: sign up for your college’s text-message emergency alert program.

Many schools across the U.S. have adopted systems over the past two-and-a-half years. The need for campus-based emergency alerts was brought to the national spotlight with the tragic shootings at Virginia Tech in the spring of 2007. Since that time, a large number of schools have added alerts for emergencies and general campus communication. But the sign-up rate at many schools is still under 50%.

The systems are fairly similar and easy to use. Simply provide your mobile phone number to the university either online, at registration, or by opting in directly from your phone. The systems vary so your best bet is to check your school’s Web site for details.

The alerts vary from simple traffic announcements and bad weather advisories to armed robberies on campus. In addition to emergency information, some schools also offer class schedules and on-campus event announcements. Text-message charges will apply unless you have an unlimited text plan, but the volume of messages is low.

Here’s an example from the University of Texas:

UT’s program provides a fun optional service in addition to emergency alerts. The alerts are hosted by Mobile Campus, a company that provides optional text-based coupons for local businesses, such as “Buy One Dominos Pizza, Get One Free.” What’s not to love about free pizza? There are a number of schools offering this combination of alerts and free offers from Mobile Campus, including: Clemson, Florida State, Joliet Junior College, Kent State, New Mexico State, Texas State University, Texas Tech, University of Arizona, University of Central Florida and the University of Louisiana.

If you’re a college student, sign up now! Or forward this post on to the college students you know to  encourage them to investigate programs at their school.

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Posted in Messaging, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Back to the Basics (of SMS)

Wednesday, August 12th, 2009

Seen recently in the Wall Street Journal: “Quick! Tell Us What KUTGW means.” What proceeded was on the surface a lighthearted article about the many acronyms used in text messaging these days (see article here).

It made me laugh but was also useful. As the article mentions these sometimes indecipherable acronyms have become more pervasive, extending beyond teenagers’ text messages into work emails, the mainstream media and even everyday speech (though I find it extremely annoying if someone says LOL instead of actually laughing).

Here are a few of my favorites:

  • ALTG: Act locally, think globally (who knew there was an acronym for this!)
  • HIOOC: Help, I’m out of coffee (could have used this one this a.m.)
  • IBIWISI: I’ll believe it when I see it (who comes up with these?)
  • TPC: The Phone Company (I prefer MPCCM, “my phone company CREDO Mobile”)

And the list goes on and on and on.  If you are interested in learning more there’s a handy reference mentioned in the WSJ article – netlingo.com.

In the meantime, I hope this helps you communicate a bit more effectively with a teenager in your life, or your hipper, txt-happy friends. And if you are a teenager reading this I hope it gave you a good LOL.

BTW, KUTGW means “keep up the good work”.

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The social responsbility of being on time

Friday, July 24th, 2009

So, I’ve been known to run a bit late in my time. More than once I’ve left someone waiting at the baggage claim because their flight was early (happened once, I swear!) or actually on time (a rare occurrence too).

Anyway, that’s why I find this google text-based app one of the most useful tools on my cellphone. Just text “Airline Name” + “Flight Number” to 46645 (Google’s shortcode) and wha-la real-time arrival information.

Here’s an example:

My text to 46645:
virgin america 803

Response from 46645:
29 May 2009
VX 803

SNA
Depart 8:45 AM
On time

SFO
Arrive: 10:15 AM
On time
Gate: T1

It even provides the gate information and besides standard text messaging rates this service doesn’t cost anything extra.

I’m stoked to work for a socially responsible company like CREDO Mobile. Now, with tools like this, I’m hoping I can be a little more “responsible” (i.e. on-time) in my personal life too.

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Posted in Reference, Travel and Maps | 1 Comment »

Take Action by Text Message

Monday, July 13th, 2009

Through our donations to progressive non-profits, CREDO helps you make a difference every time you talk on the phone.  But it doesn’t end there.  Through CREDO Mobile Action, you can use your mobile phone to take rapid action on pressing issues.

It works like this:  when an urgent political situation arises — say, a bill we support is getting a vote in committee — we send a text message alert to members of the mobile action network.  The message includes some basic information about what’s happening.  Mobile Action members can then reply to the message with the word CALL.  Seconds later, your phone rings and a message plays with talking points on the issue.  Finally, the call is patched through to the decision maker, and you can make your voice heard.

You can sign up today for CREDO Mobile Action alerts.  Or, join the network by taking action on any of the current petitions listed in the right-hand sidebar at credoaction.com.  Just include your mobile phone number and select ‘urgent issues and election info’ (we’ll also remind you when it’s Election Day) before clicking to sign the petition.

We’ll send you text messages once or twice a month as fast-breaking issues come up.  Also, keep your eyes open for new features in the near future, including the ability to reply FAX and have us submit a fax in your name directly to the decision-maker!

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Root Root ROOT! for the Home Team: Major League Baseball on Your Mobile Phone

Tuesday, July 7th, 2009

So the A’s haven’t hit their stride yet this season. It’ll happen (I hope) and when it does, I’ll know about it – instantly – whether I’m eating peanuts in the right-field bleachers at the Oakland Coliseum or sitting on the streetcar, half-way through my evening commute home from the office. Thanks to the MLB.com Desktop Icon for BlackBerry®, I can easily access the A’s season schedule, stats,  game results and news alerts from my BlackBerry Curve. There are fun Oakland A’s downloads like wallpapers and ringtones to outfit my CREDO Mobile BlackBerry Curve.

Not an Oakland Athletics fan? You can get the same application for any (less awesome) MLB team from the Major League Baseball mobile website. These features also aren’t limited to solely to BlackBerry – the Major League Baseball mobile applications site has applications and content supporting a variety of mobile phone models.

Here’s how to download the MLB.com Desktop Icon for BlackBerry® application and get your team’s latest news  -  proudly using your team’s logo as the shortcut icon on your BlackBerry home screen.

mlb

Visit http://wap.mlb.com/blackberry on your BlackBerry® and follow the instructions listed there.  To view the MLB.com’s mobile site on other phone models, go to http://wap.mlb.com using your mobile phone browser.

If you just want to check the latest scores or news on your team, you can use MLB.com’s Team TXT service from any mobile phone.  (Note that standard text messaging rates apply)

  1. Text the name of your team “Athletics” to MLBGO or 65246.  A cool trick if you are on a BlackBerry – typing the letters MLBGO while holding down SHIFT will dial or text the corresponding number.
  2. Team TXT will return the current score if your team is in the middle of a game. If your team is not playing a game at the time, it will send you the score of the last game they played and the schedule of the next game.
  3. Include the key word “NEWS” in your Txt quiry and you’ll get the latest headlines on your team.

Looks like the A’s are playing Boston tonight.  I’ll be checking the score on my commute home.

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Posted in Entertainment, Messaging | 3 Comments »

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