The SMS text message is almost as ubiquitous these days as air pollution and high gas prices. But, we’d argue that most of the 2 trillion (with a “T”) SMS text messages sent around the world last year were of the vanilla variety – short text communications between friends, family and co-workers. The overwhelming majority of text message users likely go about their lives never the wiser to the fact that SMS text messages can do so much more than tell your friend how late you will be to their birthday party.

MobileMaven has put together a list of 10 ways you can use the text message as a productivity tool. After all, you’re paying for those text messages, why not make them work for you? Here’s a quick look at how SMS text messages can make your life better… or at least a little easier to manage:

1. Track your packages with TrackThis.
2. Yahoo! Alerts will deliver stock quotes to your text message inbox.
3. Xpenser keeps you on top of your finances.
4. Stop smoking with text message-based progress tracking from Qwitter.
5. Send small payments over SMS with Sepomo.
6. Have Apartments.com send you apartment information via text message.
7. Stay on top of your favorite Craigslist category with text updates from Craigslist Buddy.
8. Send yourself reminders, update your Amazon wishlist, and manage your Netflix queue with Kwiry.
9. Search Google via SMS, because you can.
10. Order up some ‘zza from Domino’s, Papa John’s and Pizza Hut.

Head on over to MobileMaven for nitty-gritty on just how to make all these SMS text message services work for you!

[Via: MobileMaven]

Looking for something fun and educational to do with the little ones? Or perhaps you’re babysitting and don’t have any ideas of what you could possibly do? Enter Kidtivities from Double Tap Apps for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Kidtivities contains over 50 activities for you to do with the youngsters. The activities are aimed at children aged 2 to 6. Aimed at growing the mind, vocabulary, motor skills and more, Kidtivities is a handy tool for any parent to have in their parenting ‘arsenal’ You can email activities to others, save your favorite activities, or shake your device to get a random selection of activities.

Don’t be mislead, the app doesn’t actually contain the activities on the device, they are just suggestions on fun things you can do with the kids… then you actually have to go out and do them

You can pick up Kidtivities for $0.99 in the App Store. Probably worth it, as they are going to be upgrading the app with more ‘Kidtivities’ in the near future. If you always want fun and educational activities at the touch of your finger, I’d give it a shot.

Canadians out there looking to find a solid texting device will be pleased to know that the LG KEYBO has dropped in price (ok, just a touch) over at Koodo Mobile. The KEYBO is now on sale for $200 (originally $225). Koodo also lets you ‘run a tab’. For this device, it looks like you can run a tab up to $150, to reduce the initial cost of the phone down to $50. Of course, you’ll have to pay the tab back later, but it’s a nice way of spreading out your payment.

The KEYBO from Koodo comes with a free GelaSkin, full QWERTY keyboard, 2MP camera with video, MP3 player, microSD slot, bluetooth, voicedialing and speakerphone.

Find out more over at Koodo.

[Via: MobileSyrup]

ASUS has just launched the P835, rather impressive touchscreen device running Windows Mobile 6.1. The screen clocks in at 3.5″ and 800 x 480 pixels, and comes along with a 5 megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, GPS, quad-band EDGE and tri-band UMTS. Opera Mobile comes included, with navigation made possible by a trackball, and above all, it can be used as a Wi-Fi access point for up to 10 devices. Who needs a MiFi hub? The P835 is also featuring a new version of the Glide interface that revamps the old look. This would be the very same Omnia-fighter we spotted in September, and is certainly slick enough to butt heads with the big boys.

[via ASUS]

Specifications after the jump!

Read the full article »

comScore has reported the results of the first study of its cross-media panel of PC and mobile Internet users in the U.S., finding that light PC Internet users are 30 percent more likely than heavy PC Internet users to use their mobile devices to access Internet content. In total, 42 million people used their mobile devices in October 2008 to access news and information content on the Internet, an increase of 57 percent from October 2007.

The study found that 15.2 percent of light PC Internet users accessed news and information on their mobile device at least once per week, compared to a lower 11.7 percent of heavy PC Internet users. For the purposes of this study, comScore defined “heavy” PC Internet users as those who viewed, on average, 6,701 pages in the month, and “light” users as those who viewed, on average, 1,104 pages in the month. Twenty percent of PC Internet users in the cross-media panel were classified as heavy users, and accounted for 43 percent of overall page views, while 50 percent were light users and accounted for 18 percent of page views. The balance was classified as medium users.

The study also found that mobile Internet users are more likely to be male (58 percent) and to be 18 to 44 years of age. Possibly reflecting this demographic skew, heavy mobile Internet users show a high engagement with Web sites that provide information that is appealing to people with more active lifestyles:

• Regional / local content
• Entertainment
• Sports information

In contrast, light mobile Internet users are heavier users of the PC to access Internet content and are heavily engaged with the following types of Internet content:

• Education
• Conversational Media
• Travel
• Business / Finance
• Retail

The study was conducted using a sample of individuals who were members of comScore’s PC panel of online users and who were also participants in comScore’s monthly mobile survey. The findings above represent digital media usage for the three-month average ending October 2008.

Certainly there are some fascinating insights – one of the many reasons I am a fan of comScore’s studies. I’m probably an “anomaly” in that I use both fixed and Mobile Internet A LOT – but then I suspect the same is true of a number of the IntoMobile readership

[Via: comScore]

Apparently Econet Wireless have signed up 200K subs in 3 months in it’s newest network in Kenya – astonishing – that comes out pro-rata 800K subs per year…. but their aspirations don’t stop there – they want to be at 4-5mn within a couple of years!

These are good growth rates for Econet (which uses the brand ‘Yu’ in-country), but it’s in with some well-established incumbents – consisting of Safaricom, Celtel, and Telkom Kenya. However, a good thing is that the penetration rate of mobile devices is only at 36%, so there should be room for all to grow.

Well, we wish Econet the best, and the battle for those as-yet-unsigned subs should be interesting one – let’s re-visit one year on!

[Story via: Cellular News / Image via: Econet Wireless International]

Well, it’s all about the 3.5G/HSPA+ in my posts today….!

Movistar (which is part of Telefonica (NYSE: TEF) Moviles Group) is extending it’s coverage to 74% of the country by mid-2009. As you can probably imagine, and as I’ve said before, one of the main uses of this boost in wireless bandwidth is mobile broadband modems (you know, those little USB dongle chappies).

Certainly from my experience of these modems, it really does begin to eradicate the need for public WiFi – okay, WiFi is consistently faster, but it is very limited in terms of it’s coverage (obviously). With HSPA+ rollouts snapping at the heels of recently-deployed 3.5G, it’s not going to be long before 4G tech comes along – snowballing to the ideal of ubiquitous wireless interweb access for all…. ahhh, the promised land!

[Via : TeleGeography]

Orange has just announced a new BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) to join its other Wi-Fi toting bretheren: the BlackBerry Curve 8900. As you may already know, the newest addition to the Curve family sports Wi-Fi, GPS, an extraodinarily sharp screen clocking in at 480 x 360, and a slim, light construction that does the Bold’s chubby profile shame. Quad-band EDGE is fine and all, but there’s no 3G here. One of the biggest changes in this phone has been UMA support – just about the only kind of VoIP Orange is interested in. Plans start at 9€/month for straight-up e-mail, but a promotional 4.5€ rate will be available for the first three months, but there’s also the new Pay as You Go service that the UK introduced that may have found its way across the border. No sign in their online store just yet, but it should be popping up shortly. Wonder how the BlackBerry 8900 stacks up? Check our review for the full low-down.

[via RIM]

I’ve posted about Notescasts before, as quite an innovative service, making use of some native functionality in iPods – well new TimeStream Software has announced the upgrade of its “Walt Disney World Secrets” Notescast for the iPhone and iPod touch. Rated in the Top 25 of paid Travel Apps, this upgraded Notescast title now contains over 180 secrets of Walt Disney World Resort, plus a new added bonus of over 200 Fun Facts.

Filled with over 180 fun, magical and surprising secrets of Walt Disney World® Resort, the new Walt Disney World Secrets Notescast App works as an innovative new guidebook allowing guests to tour all of Walt Disney World Resort with their iPhone or iPod touch in hand as they journey from one new secret to the next in Magic Kingdom®, Epcot®, Disney’s Animal Kingdom® and Disney’s Hollywood Studios™.

Additional information and screen captures for the “Walt Disney World Secrets” Notescast App may be found at http://www.Notescasts.com.

The new Walt Disney World Secrets” Notescast for the iPhone and iPod touch may be downloaded from the App Store at http://www.apple.com/iphone/appstore/

[Via: Notescasts.com]

Apparently, In a head-to-head comparison between ChaCha and Google (NSDQ: GOOG) SMS, ChaCha achieved 70 percent of Google’s SMS search volume in the fourth quarter of 2008, according to data from the Q4 Mobile Messaging Report from The Nielsen Company.

Of all SMS traffic measured in Nielsen’s report, which is comprised of all incoming and outgoing text messages, ChaCha is the seventh most trafficked service, quickly gaining ground on Google, Facebook, and Twitter. ChaCha now has more than 3.5 million unique mobile users in its first year of service.

Advertisers like Palm (NSDQ: PALM), McDonald’s, the Obama Campaign, and H&R Block have already taken advantage of the tremendous growth and response rates through ChaCha’s pay-for-performance text-based mobile advertising solution.

“ChaCha is quickly dominating the SMS search market – we don’t just provide a pile of links to Web sites or require customers to know special search codes like other contenders. Instead, we enable millions of text conversations with a ’smart friend’ who can quickly answer virtually any question,” said ChaCha CEO, Scott A. Jones.

In January 2008, ChaCha introduced its free mobile answers service, which leverages human guides to provide free answers to any question, anytime, anywhere. Users don’t need a Web-enabled phone, special browsers or codes to search the Internet, and ChaCha answers go far beyond directory assistance. For free, mobile customers simply text 242242 or call 1-800-2ChaCha on their mobile phones, ask their questions and receive concise, relevant answers via text messaging.

It certainly seems as if ChaCha has an aggregated suite of services that suit the needs of many users really well. If you’d like to check out more about what they have on offer, check out their site here.

Thanks to Lisa for the heads-up on that one!

[Via: ChaCha]