Six-year-old with a phone
I gave my former Jasjam phone to Maggie (6). It has a SIM, so she can receive calls, but no credit so she can’t phone out. Maggie uses the phone to play games, listen to her favorite songs and watch YouTube clips.
Text message cost scandal
Some simple research has proved what many people have known for a long time — Australians are being ripped off by telcos when it comes to the cost of text messaging.
The standard flat rate for a text message at Telstra and Optus has remained unchanged at 25 cents, while at Vodafone, a text is 28 cents.
All carriers offer discount plans, generally for text messages to other people with the same carrier, eg the Telstra one-cent text to other Telstra users.
According to the article, the cost of texting on the GSM (2G) system is effectively free for the telecommunications companies, as they piggyback on the management channel used for the operation of the network. Costs on the 3G network are miniscule.
“The 25 cent cost of a text, for 160 bytes, means Optus and Telstra effectively charge $1560 per megabyte. If comparing with a $30 internet plan with a download limit of 10 gigabytes, the charge per megabyte is 0.3 cents, including free email.” (more…)
Kindle hype overstated
I’m something of a gadget man and early adopter, especially when it comes to media and communications.
I can’t get excited about the kindle though. In its current form the electronic reader is just too one dimensional.
Much of the hype is coming from newspapers, which have a vested interest in promoting the platform. In fact the whole of the publishing industry, including books and magazines, is hoping it takes off.
Don’t rush out and buy an early version, is my view.
The kindle needs to be more than just a reader; it needs to be part of an integrated communications device.
Instead of creating hardware to read digital books, software will be developed that works on a range of platforms. (more…)
Text the editor
A newspaper in a neighboring town, The Spectator at Hamilton, has a popular “text the editor” section.
The concept isn’t entirely new, of course. I’ve seen it in many places elsewhere and Mount Gambier’s paper does it as well.
In fact, I was interviewed by a university student during the week, who was researching how independent newspapers have adopted “new media” such as the internet and SMS.
She commented how The Border Watch has a more interactive website than The Spectator, but fewer text messages. I had pondered that myself.
Anyhow, what struck me about Hamilton’s text messages is how funny some of them are and how chaotic the whole thing is in a strangely entertaining way. The ones I receive are normally bagging someone or something.
A couple from The Spec that really amused me were:
“My new year resolution was to try jogging. Trouble is, ice keeps jumping out of my glass.”
And lost the clipping, but quote from memory:
“To the elderly man who advertised looking for a wife, you can have mine, phone now.”
New Year SMS peak
I filed a story on the newspaper website today about Optus expecting a record number of text messages to be sent in Australia on New Year’s Eve.
I thought it was one of those quirky yarns that people would be interested to read.
Optus expects customers to send a record 57 million text messages and make 67 million mobile phone calls tomorrow. Last year, Optus mobile customers sent 44 million SMS and made 58 million mobile phone calls on New Year’s Eve.
On Christmas Day this year, Optus customers sent nearly 50 million text messages, an increase of 28pc from 2008.
The website stats went ballistic this afternoon. For most of the day there were more than 50 people on the site at any given time and most of them were reading that article. (more…)
Google Voice SMS
I mentioned on October 4 how I’d managed to sign up for Google Voice (USA) from Australia, but didn’t know what to do with it.
Well, thanks to the assistance of regular American commenters Sue and Delmer, I’ve at least been able to play experiment with it.
Delmer from Ohio left a voicemail on my Google Voice number (276) 546-7390.
GV has this neat transcription feature. I received an email telling me that a message had been left, with the following text: (more…)
PDF scan from mobile
I don’t mean this to be a gadget blog, but sometimes I discover things that impress me and I want to tell people.
Still chuffed with my HTC Magic Android phone, I’ve installed a program that enables me to scan documents with my phone camera and convert them to PDF.
I won’t need this every day, or very often for that matter, but what an amazing tool!
I tested it on a letter, snapped a photo and emailed it to myself as a PDF. The quality was great. (more…)
