SMS for politicians

SMS is slowly making inroads onto US political scene. Here are just a few examples how SMS has been used so far, not only in the US but around the world:

• SMS petitions organized by Amnesty International permitted individuals to text a message asking congress to close Guantanamo Bay prison

• Russia’s President Putin, during his annually nationally televised event, in October of 2006, permitted voters to text in questions.

• In October of 2006, The Republican National Committee unveiled a program where they are inviting mobile users to sign up online for SMS election-related breaking news and action alerts.

• In Israel, a new initiative by MK Israel Hasson will let anyone send suggestions for new laws by text message. The best ones will be proposed to parliament. According to Hasson, the initiative stemmed from “the real desire to draw new ideas from the public."

To summarize the current state of text messaging in the US politics, there is a great vacuum that can be filled with targeted efforts, especially in organizing volunteers and informing the electorate.

MESSAGEbuzz has worked with John White and MoveOn.org. We are getting more into this segment of the SMS market.

I know that this is a bit of shameless self promotion but even I have to do this sometimes. Klem

Ringtones with a statement

AP reports that an environmental group is starting to distribte animal sounds ringtones. They are hoping that the more people hear these sounds from threatened animals, the more they'll wonder where they came from.

I love this idea.

The ringtones that I make for MESSAGEbuzz staff are usually snippets of 80s songs with funny statements recorded over. I don't sell them nor I post them on the web.

I want to command Peter Galvin, a co-founder of the Center for Biological Diversity, that came up with the idea. Great job Peter! Klem

SMS coupons are coming ...

MESSAGEbuzz created a text based coupon campaign for Simplie Smoothie. "With our first coupon alone we had a 29% response rate," told us Matt Ricketts. "We want to use texting as a tool for our customers to view nutritional and calorie information of all our menu items as they are considering our menu board."

Now, some of the hottest nightclubs in the UK are starting to use cellphones to check the identity of their VIP guests: they send an entry pass in the form of a super barcode to their mobile phones. This is scanned by the very large gentleman who lifts the velvet rope.

I believe that we will see dramatic increase in usage of both SMS and MMS based coupons in the United States. With SMS, even small, family owned business can quickly create coupon based promotions and cut down on their distribution and product costs. Klem

We've come a long way

What can I really say... Klem

PDA Security

The advent of smart phone and PDA has created new security challenges that most of the owners completely ignore. Since these devices do not have built in firewalls and have multiple channels of communications they are prime target for attack.

Also, most of these devices are equipt with Bluetooth. Open Bluetooth channels tend to transmit a lot of info such as MAC addresses, device name and device model. If you are looking at reviewing some of the Bluetooth vulnerabilities, I would suggest Bloomer http://trifinite.org/

Viruses, such as Cabir, The Skulls and Onehop ,are already starting to show up. Most common way that viruses get distributed is through SMS and Bluetooth.

“Normal” cell phones are starting to experience similar security threats. J2ME is not immune to viruses. There have been reports that some J2ME are starting to appear.

My suggestions are: Do not open SMS attachments that come from unknown sources. Turn off your Bluetooth discovery feature and never leave your phone unattended.

We are all protecting our PCs. Start protecting your phones too. Klem

National Geographic Travel Phone

National Geographic announced the launch of the National Geographic Talk Abroad Travel Phone, designed specifically for the needs of the traveling public. Phone will be available March 2007.

"Staying in touch while overseas has proved difficult for travelers; the majority of overseas travelers have not been able to afford the security and convenience of a cell phone," said Sebastian Harrison, president, Cellular Abroad. "With expensive rates and little or no technical support, international cellular service has excluded the general public. Now, it is at their fingertips."

The idea is cool but I wonder how many people will be willing to dish out $0.90 a minute for outbound calls. But incoming calls will be free in most international markets

I guess "Hi mom, I am alive, call me back" will become a norm for global travelers. Klem.

Welcome to MESSAGEbuzz News

It has come to my attention that the MESSAGEbuzz team has been remiss in regards to getting a blog going.

As of today, we're not slacking any more!

The plan for this space is to have various members of MESSAGEbuzz share solutions, ideas and news that are common to SMS, MMS and mobile development. We hope that you find this blog interesting, informing and sometimes even funny.