MightyText started out as a simple service allowing you to replicate your Android smartphone SMS client on your PC. Now its turning to other synchronization capabilities, starting with photos and video. Read more »
New investor Foundation Capital led the round bringing with on board Twitter veteran Anamitra Banerji. Kik is evolving from a texting clone to an HTML5 app platform, which has helped drive big growth in recent months. Read more »
Verizon just turned tablets and PCs into fully functioning SMS clients. It’s new Verizon Messaging service virtualizes its texting and MMS capabilities on the iPad, Android tablets and multiple web browsers. Read more »
Open Garden needs scale, TextMe needs a means for its customers to reach the Internet. These two might just be a match made in heaven. Read more »
In about 18 months, over 90 percent of wireless subscribers will be able to text 9-1-1 to get the help they need, bringing one more element of our telecommunications infrastructure out of the landline era. It’s a project that’s over two years in the making. Read more »
In five months, PC messaging startup MightyText has quintupled its user base to 1.2 million, and it’s now ready to expand to its Android-to-PC SMS synchronization service to new tablets. Read more »
MightyText has taken the beta wraps off of its over-the-top messaging service, which extends an Android phone’s SMS capabilities to PCs and tablets. Using the same phone number, a MightyText user can send and receive text messages from a PC or tablet browser. Read more »
Verizon’s new “Share Everything” plans use one bucket of data for up to 10 devices on an account. Instead of buying a data plan for each device, one monthly charge covers voice, messages and data to be shared. And it will likely save you money. Read more »
With a reported 11 teens killed while texting and driving per day, parents are turning towards apps to limit their kids phone use behind the wheel. SecruaFone offers one for iPhone and Android handsets that diables some features when in motion, but it doesn’t stop there. Read more »
The humble text message turned 20 years old this weekend, and other than an excuse for cake, the birthday is a great chance to look at how carriers innovate and why they are getting crushed by over the top services now that times have changed. Read more »
It is not a surprise that when you walk and text, you see a massive drop in viewing your surroundings, but did you know that when walking and texting or talking on the phone at the same time, your speed of walking declines by 16 percent? Read more »
Scosche has a simple, $129 plug-and-play solution called the CellControl to help curb smartphone activities while driving. When the module detects the vehicle in motion, all handset activities, with the exception of hands-free functions, are disabled through a corresponding smartphone app. Fewer distractions means safer driving. Read more »
Connected mobile devices make life easier, but are our bodies paying too high a price? Eyewear retailer Mezzmer culled a number of datapoints in an infrographic that gives a glimpse into the health complications brought by small screens, speakers and the ergonomics of using handheld computers. Read more »
The carrier cash cow of SMS text messaging is on the wane, driven by third-party messaging apps that include BlackBerry Messenger, iMessage, Skype and others. So what will carriers do to replace it? Look for pricing changes and a focus on M2M. Read more »
Location Labs has built a solid business with its location-finding and texting-while-driving prevention tools. Now, the company is taking its idea of family security one step further by launching a Facebook online monitoring tool, which will now be part of a suite of software safety tools. Read more »
Twilio, which provides a service so companies and web services can add voice or SMS to their menu of options, now will offer developers the option to use all IP communications as well as the old-school phone and mobile networks. Read more »
Twitter is using a service provided by a telco spin out to access telco APIs for its new photo service. As part of this move it–and other developers– may have found a crucial key to making money for themselves and even for telecommunications providers. Read more »
It’s a wonder anyone still uses traditional cellular networking voice or text services at all, given all the alternatives that pop up. But each of these services faces a critical challenge, and in my opinion, they’re all just living on borrowed time. Read more »
AdelaVoice, a startup founded in January of this year, has just launched a compelling Android application called StartTalking that addresses the texting while driving issue. The software creates outgoing and reads incoming texts solely through voice commands, without needing to touch or look at your smartphone. Read more »
Growth of digital content in homes and businesses continues to grow, fueling a demand for more and more storage. And though inefficiency and usability gaps in this market are showing, so too are the opportunities companies can seize to create convenient, secure and redundant storage ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
