CTIA Panel: Lay Off On The Per Message Carrier Fees
April 1, 2009 — Club TextingA panel discussion at this week's CTIA show in Las Vegas voiced something we definitely agree with:
So what is the alternative?
Read the entire article @ Mobile Marketer
6 New Phones For AT&T And They're All About Texting
March 30, 2009 — Club TextingAT&T recently unveiled six new phones to be sold on their network. Featuring full QWERTY keyboards, they're all designed with texting in mind:
CBS Scores A Big Win With March Madness Mobile
March 26, 2009 — Club TextingUSA Today's AdTrack column delivers the info on CBS Sports' successful March Madness mobile marketing campaign:
Advertisers for CBS (CBS) broadcasts of the NCAA men's basketball tournament now underway are getting a bonus: Their ads show up in games viewed on iPhones via a $4.99 CBS application.
Coke (KO), for one, is happy. "It's an innovative iPhone application that gives us an additional way to connect Coke Zero with NCAA fans," says spokeswoman Susan Stribling.
Read the entire story at USA Today.
(via MobileMarketingWatch)
Mobile Marketer's Mobile Outlook 2009 Is Now Available
March 23, 2009 — Club TextingHead over to Mobile Marketer to download a PDF of their Mobile Marketer's Mobile Outlook 2009. It's packed with important info:
Several trends are emerging as mobile matures into a medium that, while not without flaws, is a more palatable option than other marketing channels in use. The emphasis, however, should be on mobile's complementary nature - it gives legs to other channels, including retail, online, television, print, coupons, radio, outdoor, direct mail and insert media.
Top of the trends list is the consumer's growing comfort with consuming news and content on mobile phones, along with exchanging SMS text messages, shopping for products and services, checking email, playing games, conducting mobile banking transactions and searching for retail locations or driving directions.
Read more at Mobile Marketer, and download the PDF!
New Club Texting Web Site. New Club Texting Features!
March 19, 2009 — Club TextingIt's been a busy week at Club Texting. First, we launched our brand new website this morning. It's designed to help you find exactly what you're looking for as quickly as possible. We think you'll enjoy it.
The other major announcement is that we're launch two great new features: Picture Attachments & Voice Broadcasting. Here are the details on Club Texting Voice
And here is the info on Picture Messaging
Visit the new Club Texting website today!
AMBER Alert iPhone App Goes Multiplatform
March 11, 2009 — Club TextingJonathan Zdziarski's recently announced AMBER alert iPhone app is now available on the App Store. You can expect to see it on other platforms in the near future as well:
The application helps NCMEC more accurately pinpoint the location of missing children by sending GPS coordinates of your iPhone when you report a sighting. The NCMEC uses the GPS data to coordinate reported sightings and inform the proper law enforcement agencies.
Read more @ Ars Technica.
Read more about Emergency SMS Alert Systems @ Club Texting.
Talk And Type SMS App For The iPhone!
March 2, 2009 — Club TextingAccording to cnet's Crave blog, iPhone owners can bypass typing out text messages with a new app:
This is thanks to a new iPhone application that Promptu, a talk-and-type mobile phone application developer, introduced Monday called ShoutOUT. The application is going to be the first voice-to-SMS application for iPhone users in the United States.
The application lets you dictate text messages instead of typing on the iPhone's touch-screen keypad. It also allows for checking the transcribed messages for errors and make corrections if necessary before sending them out to the intended recipients.
Read more @ cnet
St. Louis to announce new archbishop via text message
February 23, 2009 — Club TextingBarack Obama announced his running mate (VP Joe Biden) via text message. The Archdiocese of St. Louis is following suit:
The archdiocese said Monday it believes no other diocese has used the technology for that purpose.
St. Louis has been without an archbishop since June 27, when Archbishop Raymond Burke was named as the first American to lead the Vatican supreme court.
Read more @ Fox 4 Kansas City.
Visit Club Texting for text messaging solutions for churches and other religious organizations.
Lots Of Text Messages Will Be Sent On Valentine's Day
February 9, 2009 — Club TextingAT&T Mobility sent out a press release this morning, announcing the results of their pre-Valentine's Day text messaging survey. Some of the highlights:
Among the key findings? Texting is complementing -- not necessarily replacing -- the displays of thoughtfulness typically associated with Valentine's Day. The survey found that of the 36 percent of texters who intend to send a text or picture message to celebrate the holiday, 67 percent also plan to send a traditional card.
Read the entire press release @ Yahoo Finance.
British Airways to allow in-flight texting
February 2, 2009 — Club TextingBritish Airways announced this week that it would initiate limited cell phone use on an upcoming route between London and New York City. Voice calls will not be permitted, but passengers will be allowed to send and receive text messages and e-mails.
The airline will limit the service to twice-daily flights between London City Airport and New York's JFK that are due to start in September. The all-business class route is flown by a narrow-body Airbus A318 aircraft that must make a stop in Ireland on the westbound leg. The configuration will allow for just 32 seats.
Detouring Around Inaugural Phone Jams
January 21, 2009 — Club TextingThe threat of possible "phone jams" in DC was all over the news yesterday. Many papers had their own take on how to lessen dropped calls and texts, including the New York Times:
With about two million people expected at the inauguration Tuesday, attendees can expect cellphone traffic jams. When too many calls try to fit on limited bandwidth, calls and messages get dropped (more on that here). Some texts never make it to their destinations or make it hours – even weeks – late.
There are a few things you can do to assure that your inaugural moment makes it past jammed lines. These strategies are worth remembering for any large gathering, from 4th of July fireworks events to New Year’s Eve at Times Square.
Click here to read the strategies.
AT&T Guilty of Spamming Its Customers?
January 16, 2009 — Club TextingFor any AT&T customers who have ever voted for American Idol or are simply "heavy texters", you may have received a curious SMS on Tuesday:
Some AT&T Wireless customers have voted an emphatic no on a promotion for "American Idol" that popped up on their phones this week.
AT&T, a sponsor of the show, said it sent text messages to a "significant number" of its 75 million customers, urging them to tune in to the season premiere on Tuesday night.
Mark Siegel, a spokesman for AT&T Wireless, said the message was meant as a friendly reminder. "We want people to watch the show and participate," Siegel said. He added, "It makes perfect sense to use texting to tell people about a show built on texting."
In the advertisement, AT&T told recipients to "Get ready for American Idol" and pointed them to a company Web site promoting an "Idol"-related sweepstakes. It noted that recipients were not charged for the message, and that they could opt out of future advertisements by responding with the word "stop."
Read the full story here.
Text-or-Treat for UNICEF
January 14, 2009 — Club TextingA few months ago, we covered the Salvation Army's test of SMS donations in Ohio. Today we came across this new program from UNICEF, which is still one of the few live mobile donation campaigns in the US right now. Below is an excerpt from their site:
Omama's Text Messaging Guru - Part II
January 12, 2009 — Club TextingRead below for Part II of a long Q&A with Scott Goodstein, who ran all of the text-messaging and mobile communications for President-elect Barack Obama's campaign. In this section, we finally find out how large Obama's cell phone list is and find out the real story behind that 3am Joe Biden text.
Click here to read the rest of the interview.
Part I was published in last Friday's blog post.
Obama's Text Messaging Guru Talks To LA Times
January 9, 2009 — Club TextingPresident-elect Barack Obama is expected to name the nation’s first-ever federal chief technology officer sometime soon. According to Obama’s website, the role of the CTO will be to “ensure that our government and all its agencies have the right infrastructure, policies and services for the 21st century.”
It’s not surprising that Obama plans a major emphasis on technology. His presidential campaign relied heavily on the latest forms of communication -– like Internet social networking sites and text-messaging -– to organize volunteers, raise funds and get voters to the polls.
Scott Goodstein, a D.C.-based campaign manager, ran all of the text-messaging and mobile communications for the president-elect's campaign. The Ticket recently talked to him in detail about the campaign’s new media strategy, the size of its phone book and that much-talked-about 3 a.m. text message. Click here for Part 1 of the interview.
Mobile TV License Auction Coming to Hong KongMobile TV License Auction Coming to Hong Kong
January 5, 2009 — Club TextingNothing like a good auction to kick off a new year. And Hong Kong is the place for all the excitement.
The Hong Kong government said that it will “auction three mobile TV licenses in 2009,” a move that could put city viewers one step closer to watching their favorite dramas and soccer matches on the go.
The licenses (which will span fifteen years) will allow operators to broadcast in the DVB-H standard common in Europe and in the T-DMB standard common in Korea. High bidders for the licenses will have to begin broadcasting within a year and a half, putting the start of the market’s mobile TV rollout in the second half of 2010.
Get the full story here.
Mobile Phone Regulations in the Workplace
December 17, 2008 — Club TextingWith mobile phones such a regular distraction in our everyday lives, aren’t there rules in place to stop our electronic lifelines from interfering with our work? Our friends at the UK-based blog Mobile Phones & Safety have complied a great commentary on the topic of mobile phones in the workplace, which includes best practices that we believe all offices should take into consideration.
Read the full post here.
Playboy launches first made-for-mobile reality series
December 15, 2008 — Club TextingPlayboy Enterprises is launching “Interns,” its first multi-digital program developed, shot and produced exclusively for the mobile Web.
Interns offers a glimpse inside the fascinating world of Playboy, following the journey of three summer staffers in New York City through six, three-minute irreverent “mobisodes.” Users can access the content at http://www.playboymobile.com, by texting INTERNS to 75269 (PLBOY) and at http://www.myspacetv.com/playboyinterns.
AT&T and ChaCha Announce Strategic Relationship
December 12, 2008 — Club TextingLast week AT&T Inc. announced a strategic relationship between AT&T and ChaCha, one of the fastest growing text messaging mobile search services in the industry. As part of the agreement, ChaCha will use a co-branded greeting and promote AT&T when consumers call 1-800 2ChaCha (1-800-2-242242).
Guinness taps mobile for print campaign
December 10, 2008 — Club TextingIrish brewer Guinness has launched The Great Guinness Pint Contest, an interactive mobile program meant to engage consumers with the brand.
The program asks consumers at participating businesses to rate their pint of Guinness via their mobile phone. Each time consumers rate their pint they are entered into a sweepstakes in which the winner gets a trip to the Guinness Brewery in Dublin, Ireland, during the company's 250th anniversary.