Cell Phones Auctioned off Contained Data

Missouri’s athletic department sold 25 cell phones at a university surplus auction over the summer, and buyer Mike Bellman of Columbia, who paid $190, discovered the phones had not been erased. KansasCity.com reports.

Information on the phones hadn’t been erased. Bellman found himself in possession of all kinds of information, including text messages, contact numbers and e-mails from folks like football coach Gary Pinkel, basketball coach Mike Anderson and athletic director Mike Alden.

Bellman’s original intent was to sell the phones for parts on eBay. Now, he’s asking for $3,000 for the phones as a collector’s item.

But it comes with a caveat. Bellman said he’ll require any buyer to sign an affidavit claiming to be a fan of the Missouri Tigers and won’t sell them to, say, operatives from Kansas or Nebraska.

Related: - Sold Cell Phones Share Your Secrets

Guardian.co.uk Planning Paid-For iPhone App

Guardian.co.uk is preparing to launch an iPhone app and it’s likely to charge for it, paidContent.UK has learned.

Guardian News & Media confirmed an app is “in the pipeline” and digital director Emily Bell told paidContent: “It’s still in development, but we are working on an app which I can’t give you too much more detail on at the moment, although we are likely to charge.”

[via MocoNews]

Communist Ringback Tones

State-controlled mobile service providers in China are offering communist ringback tone music, the tone that you hear while waiting for someone to pick up the line.

According to Trendhunter, the song played instead of the waiting tone is called ‘Guo Jia,’ which means ‘Country’ in Chinese.

These ringback tones were made to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Peoples Republic of China.

101 Business Uses for SMS

Clickatell's 37 page guide reviews 101 innovative ways to use text messaging in your business and successfully:

* Reduce business costs
* Increase revenue
* Increase customer satisfaction

WHAT'S INSIDE?

Find out how SMS is being used for:

* Sales, Products and Marketing
* Customer Services and Relationship Management
* Business Process Management and Internal Administration
* Information Technology and System Administration
* Transport and Logistics
* Travel and Tourism
* Financial Services
* Social Networking

There's an app (category) for that

Since the birth of the App Store, Apple has oft stated "there is an app for just about everything." Now, it seems they have come up with a great way to prove their claim. TUAW reports.

Apple has added an "Apps for Everything" section to their website, complete with a wide range of selections from Apps for Cooks, to Apps for Managing Money, to Apps for Moms and Dads. Each section is then broken down into different tasks or activities that are associated with the group, and highlighting a particular app for that item, complete with screenshots and a link to the App Store.

Switching over to SMS-TV

Diana Jovin, VP Corporate Marketing, at Telegent Systems comments on the latest development for SMS that will create a new social experience for mobile subscribers, and drive revenues for operators.

[via 160characters.org]

Investment Giant Vanguard Group readies iPhone app

Pennsylvania investment giant Vanguard Group is readying an application for Apple Inc's iPhone that will be a first in the mutual funds industry. It follows similar applications from Bank of America Corp and E*Trade Financial Corp that allow customers to check their balances, pay bills or trade shares from mobile devices.

[via Reuters]

Hugh Jackman embarrasses audience member for letting phone ring

Joining a growing list of people publicly humiliated for letting their cell phones ring while in an audience, TMZ has posted a video of Hugh Jackman's reaction to the ringing of a phone while on stage with Daniel Craig in a performance of their play "A Steady Rain" Wednesday night in NYC.

Related:

-- Giuliani humiliates woman who's phone rang during speech

-- Stage Actor Richard Griffiths berates young man in audience for cell phone disturbance

-- Richard Griffiths Actor wins ovation as he stages attack on phone offender

-- President Obama Interrupted By 'Duck Ringtone' During Speech

The iPhone iPhone Sleeve

Spotted on Gizmodo, an iPhone iPhone Sleeve

24th suicide at France Telecom

A 51-year-old father of two has become the 24th France Telecom worker to commit suicide in 18 monts, reports EuroNews.

He leapt to his death from a motorway overpass after leaving a note blaming “the atmosphere at work”.

The company’s Chief Executive, Didier Lombard, was booed as he arrived at the call centre in Annency close to where the suicide took place.

Local union leader Jean-Claude Portello blamed the company’s restructuring program. “Today the entire France Telecom board must resign,” he said. “This means the people responsible for these decisions only defend the interests of the shareholders, the interests of profit, but as for the the human aspect, they do not defend the workers at all.”

Previously:

-- Smartphones blamed for suicide at France Telecom

-- France Telecom mobilizing managers after suicides

-- France Telecom staff stage protests over wave of suicides

CNN app with iReport

CNN has unveiled a dedicated iPhone and iPod touch app that lets users browse articles, images, and CNN video in a deeper way than before.

The CNN app features live breaking news video, push notification, personalization and location tools, and the ability to capture and submit user-generated photos and (on the iPhone 3GS) videos for CNN iReport.

The CNN app costs $1.99 and will be available later Tuesday morning in the App Store.

[via PCMag. CNN iPhone app logo from related article in Wired]

Foreign Airlines Ahead of U.S. on Cellphone Use

Cellphone use on airplanes, it would seem, is on extended hold in the United States. The New York Times reports.

The national union representing flight attendants wants Congress to ban in-flight phone calls, and survey after survey of airline passengers shows strong opposition to allowing cellphones on planes.

... In much of the rest of the world, meanwhile, passengers on various foreign airlines are already routinely using cellphones and other personal wireless devices to make and receive calls in flight. Industry officials say cellphones can be used on more than 15,000 flights a month.

Read full article.

India. SMS campaign to raise awareness against foeticide

According to the Times of India, citizens are using text messages to generate awareness on the issue of female foeticide.

Some of the SMSes sent out:

"Vijaydashmi is the celebration of victory of good over bad. People must pledge to wipe out social evils like female foeticide and drugs."

"To gain liberation, to win Rama's grace, it is not enough to repeat his name. We have to practice his principle and liberate our society from evils like female foeticide."

2 Billion iPhone Apps Downloaded, Apple Says

A mere four months after the company announced that a billion apps had been downloaded in the store, Apple on Monday said that the number of downloads had crossed the two billion mark.

Apple said there are more than 85,000 apps available to the more than 50 million iPhone and iPod touch owners worldwide and over 125,000 developers in Apple’s iPhone Developer Program.

[via GigaOM]

Apple ends iPhone exclusive distribution deal in the UK ... US next?

Cellphone provider Orange has announced a deal with Apple to sell the iPhone in the UK, a move which will see the end of O2’s exclusive deal. How long until Apple does the same in the US?

[via ZDNet]

New Zealand to Ban Cell Phone GPS Features While Driving

New Zealand is taking their cell phones-while-driving-ban beyond text messaging and calling, prohibiting the use of GPS, reports Cellular News.

Under the new law, that would be illegal, according to Transport Ministry spokesman John Summers: "The Road User Amendment Rule 2009 means drivers will not be able to look at a navigation aid on a mobile phone when driving, even if it is mounted on the dashboard.

"You can use a mobile phone held in a cradle while driving, but only to make, receive or terminate a phone call. You cannot use them in any other way, such as reading a GPS map, reading email or consulting an electronic diary."

The restriction will only apply to navigation systems with mobile phone functionality.

Cellphone side effects may be all in your head

The headaches and fatigue that some people report after exposure to electronics ranging from cellphones to microwaves may be the result of a so-called "nocebo" effect, a new report suggests, because they have "a pessimistic belief and expectation that it may be harmful to human health". CTV.ca reports.

The report, released earlier this week by the European Commission's Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks (SCENIHR), examines how electromagnetic fields may impact human health.

Related and contradictory:

-- Mobiles, computers can cause "electrosensitivity"

-- EHS sufferer views computer through binoculars

-- Scientists serious about 'electricity sickness' claims

-- I have to switch the mains off to get to sleep'

-- Mobiles, computers can cause "electrosensitivity"

-- Mobile mast effects to be studied

-- Mobiles, computers can cause "electrosensitivity"

-- Dutch study claims the next generation of mobile phone services can cause headaches and nausea

-- Electrosmog in the clear with scientists

In the Philippines, SMS rates are 4,500 times overpriced

Dr. Giovanni Tapang, one of the Philippines' outstanding scientists, the chairperson of AGHAM—the association of Filipinos scientists devoted to making science work for the people—and a columnist of The Manila Times, has computed the real cost of a text message:

At current rates, its around 4,500 times overpriced.

SPECIAL REPORT: Efforts to pass a law taxing text messages in the Philippines are not new

Archie Orillosa, in a special for The Manila Times recaps how the Philippino government has tried to tax text messages since 2001.

Plans to impose taxes on SMS messages are not new. They were among the main reasons why TXTPower was formed in 2001. That year, due to the government’s ballooning deficit, the International Monetary Fund proposed new taxes on SMS. As the world’s texting capital and SMS being one of the most popular and accessible means of communications, the texting public was one of the targets of the government, which hopes to cash in on the texting craze. Each time, the public resisted the imposition of the tax.

Read full article.

Related:

-- Philippines. Scientist computes the real cost of a text message

-- Philippines. House retreats from text-tax bill

-- Philippines. SMS is tax goldmine

-- Philippines. "No to Text Tax!" campaign

-- Online campaign launched vs. text tax in the Philippines

-- Philippines. House body OKs tax on text messages

-- Related attempts to tax SMS around the world

iPhone notepod

Spotted on SwissMiss, iPhone notepods. Available at Notepod.

0870 - an iPhone app that can actually save you money

The 0870 app for UK users makes it cheaper for iPhone users to dial premium numbers such 0870, 0845 and 0800. TechDigest.tv reports.

How it works is that the app searches a database for the 08 number you are calling and then directs the call to an alternative landline number if it can find one.

The app has been available to Android users since January with company developer Simon Maddox stating that he believes that the app's users have saved £84,000.

Now it has become available to iPhone users though its arrival is not without controversy, As Mike Butcher points out at TechCrunch Europe it has taken Apple an astonishing 429 days to approve the app.

Innovative use of SMS in Marketing a Deodorant

This is certainly an innovative use of SMS as a a marketing teaser, only mildly related to the product. Spotted about on Gizmodo:

To launch a new deodorant in Uruguay, the Lowe Ginkgo agency in Montevideo created an incomplete ad. The ad showed a purrty neekeed girl in a suggestive pose. It didn't, however, show any of her naughty bits. Instead, it came with blank spaces and the following text:

To complete this ad send AXE to 2345 after 9 pm.

The message made a server to send a multimedia message to your cellphone with the rest of the ad, so you could admire the complete image.

A one man campaign against distracted driving

Jeff Larson of Safe Roads Alliance campaigning against distracted driving by offering drivers $1 to hang up phones.

[via The Boston Globe]

Read Deleted SMS Messages

Freee Partition Repair, a leading data recovery company, has just launched software that can retrieve deleted text messages.

Read full press release.

Texting Fish in The East River

Fish Sensor from xDesign Project on Vimeo.

The Environmental Health Clinic is offering New Yorkers the option to receive text messages to find out what's underwater in the East River at any given moment.

By texting heyherring, riverriver, amphibious architecture, ahoyanchovie, or eastriver to 41411 they will be informed when one of such species swims by a sensor pole.

Motion sensitive poles have been set up underwater in the East River, and every time a fish swims by one of these poles, a text reply is sent out to folks who have sent one of the messages above.

[via Switched]

'Trauma' used dramatic mock 911 calls as part of campaign

The Hollywood Reporter on NBC's series of radio ads for its upcoming medical drama "Trauma", premiering next Monday night, that dramatizes mock 911 calls.

The radio ads depict an emergency, a call to a 911 operator and then the aftermath, complete with voiceover from the point of view of the responding paramedic.

The power of mobile money

Mobile phones have transformed lives in the poor world. Mobile money could have just as big an impact. A summary of mobile payment options by the Economist.

Across the developing world, corner shops are where people buy vouchers to top up their calling credit. Mobile-money services allow these small retailers to act rather like bank branches. They can take your cash, and (by sending a special kind of text message) credit it to your mobile-money account. You can then transfer money (again, via text message) to other registered users, who can withdraw it by visiting their own local corner shops. You can even send money to people who are not registered users; they receive a text message with a code that can be redeemed for cash.

By far the most successful example of mobile money is M-PESA, launched in 2007 by Safaricom of Kenya. It now has nearly 7m users—not bad for a country of 38m people, 18.3m of whom have mobile phones.

Read full article.

Clickatell And Social Networking

Clickatell's global text messaging service has also been used successfully for social networking. Below is a case study of a company called Mobiluck, a fast growing mobile location-based social network with over 1 million mobile members and 5,000 new people joining daily from all over the world.

Available on all cell phones and PCs, in all countries, on all operator networks, and without any download, Mobiluck allows people to find nearby people, places and events, sorted by distance. In just a minute, people and businesses can create a free mobile webpage in order to be easily found on the mobile web.

Mobiluck were looking for a global provider, which could offer quick and reliable global SMS delivery at a suitable price point.

Mobiluck chose to integrate with Clickatell's cost effective, reliable and simple to implement SMS API solution, which offered them the reliable global reach, performance and price point they required.

The Results

With Clickatell's truly global reach, Mobiluck is able to extend its mobile communications channel to 790 networks spanning 220 countries enabling them to deliver millions of monthly SMS alerts around the world.

Mobiluck members now receive free Clickatell-powered SMS alerts to inform them of interesting events such as nearby friends or recent profile views.

Throughout September, Textually will be promoting Clickatell through a series of editorial ads that will highlight some of their specific services tailored to governments, industry, retailers, social networks and individuals, helping them do business smarter and faster - not only controlling costs but driving more revenue too.

Sizing up Apple's App Store

Bernstein Research has taken a whack at estimating App Store sales. Total Telecom reports.

Apple generates quarterly revenues of $60 million-$110 million from downloaded apps. That's just over 1% of total Apple revenue, if we use the high end of Sacconaghi's App Store revenue estimate.

The analyst believes the App Store contributes between 2 cents and 4 cents a share in profit to Apple a quarter (Apple's earnings per share were $1.35 for the three months ended June 27). Sacconaghi arrives at his estimates by crunching numbers from the most popular application lists on the App Store. His sales estimates are for the money Apple gets from the 30% cut it takes on App Store software sales; he estimates independent makers of iPhone software generate between $140 million and $250 million a quarter through their 70% cut of App Store sales.

Smartphones blamed for suicide at France Telecom

A top executive at France's biggest telecommunications company, which is dealing with a spate of suicides, warned that the barrage of emails from smartphones and personal computers was stressing out employees. The Sydney Morning Herald reports.

France Telecom chief financial officer Gervais Pellissier said workers in all big companies were under more pressure in the age of the BlackBerry.

Today for people working in business, whatever the level, whether they are CEO or even first- or second-rank level employees, they are always connected," he said.

France Telecom, which operates under the Orange brand, has come under public scrutiny after 22 workers committed suicide and another 13 attempted to kill themselves since the start of last year.

Previously:

-- France Telecom mobilizing managers after suicides

-- France Telecom staff stage protests over wave of suicides