Blog | News & Information on Wireless Services & Telecommunications
Posted: 06/28/11 by Mobile Future Team
The ability of text messages to rally individuals to action is highlighted in a recent NYTimes article featuring Do Something, a nonprofit organization that encourages young people to pursue civic activities. By texting teenager’s simple ways to become involved in various philanthropic events, Do Something has already engaged over 1.2 million individuals to join at least one community service project.
According to Reid Hoffman, founder of LinkedIn and Do Something board member:
“Teens receive, on average, over 3,300 texts a month, and their phones are part of their social tissue. I’m convinced this is the best way to move teen philanthropic action to a new level in terms of scale and effectiveness.”
To learn more, click here.
Posted: 01/14/11 by Mobile Future Team
As this past Wednesday marked the first anniversary of the Haiti earthquake, the impact mobile donations made to aid the millions of recovering victims was remarkable.
Yesterday, President of the American Red Cross Gail McGovern announced:
“The American Red Cross received about $479 million in donations for Haiti, more than $32 million of which was raised from text messaging at $10 a text.”
Charitable giving via text message is perhaps one of the easiest ways to make a donation, and the Mobile Giving Foundation reminds us that there are numerous charities that now accept mobile donations, including a long list of organizations that continue to support the relief efforts in Haiti.
For a full list of charities that accept mobile donations, click here.
Posted: 12/17/10 by Mobile Future Team
During the past few months, 85 percent of 13- to 34-year-olds sent or received text messages. For seniors, it's about half that.
But according to a new article in BusinessWeek, that gap looks to be closing. First, seniors are catching on to the benefits of instant communications. Second, as the article notes, there are a growing number of mobile phones with large buttons and screens that are specifically designed for seniors.
The magazine cites one estimate predicting that by 2013, 80 percent of seniors will be texting, about double today's rate. As for texting's occasionally idiosyncratic spellings, as a 54-year-old Washington State mother told the magazine, "I was reluctant because of my bad spelling, but that was before I realized young people don't take time to spell correctly, either."
Posted: 08/05/10 by Mobile Future Team
Gone are the days when forgetting your cell phone was an insurmountable crisis. This faux-problem has been reduced to the now ubiquitous phrase, “There’s an app for that”. The app du-jour is from Vonage and allows users to call their facebook friends for free using the iPhone, Android devices, iPod touch and, in a few weeks, even the iPad. Users can contact any of their Facebook friends provided that both people have downloaded the app.
Concerned about getting a call from facebook “friends” you don’t actually know? A call-block feature is set to be added in future updates. Also in the future, Vonage plans to bring the app to Blackberry users and to add an SMS (texting) service!
Posted: 07/23/10 by Jonathan Spalter
Lost your home to flooding, a tornado or other disaster? If you have a smartphone and a wireless connection, help just got a lot easier.
This week, the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) unveiled an addition to its mobile site allowing disaster victims to apply for assistance directly from their smartphone. FEMA's rationale is clear: In a life-threatening emergency, seconds count. Residents are more likely to have a mobile phone on their person, or may have just enough time to grab one before heading to safety.
"More and more, I think we are reorienting our focus... to really developing tools that are useful to you in a mobile environment," FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate told Politico's Morning Tech.
(You can watch him run a demo of the new mobile site on multiple PDAs here.)
Fugate added that FEMA is exploring additional ways to deliver services via mobile and GPS technology. The agency already processes an average of about 40 percent of disaster applications online; this seems like a common-sense way to further streamline FEMA's operations.
Furthermore, FEMA's announcement is a timely reminder of the lifesaving capabilities of mobile communications. Five years ago next month, Hurricane Katrina slammed into Louisiana. The government's disjointed response in assisting the maintenance and repair of mobile communication links contributed significantly to the extended chaos.
Three years later, look at the improvement: During Hurricane Gustav, wireless technology provided real-time communication links vital to the rescue efforts. Among the examples, Tulane University kept more than 10,000 students aware of storm developments through Twitter. Mobile users accessed Gustav-related pages on social network sites such as Ning for real-time news alerts, on-site posts, and videos.
Looking to the future, mobile platforms are already linking voice, video, IM, and other data for first responders at federal, state and local levels. Just think how first responders could use mobile phones and GPS to organize a large-scale rescue operation with a location-based networking application (example: BrightKite), which would allow authorities to divide a region into smaller areas, directing volunteers in each one as necessary.
This would be particularly helpful in the aftermath of a serious earthquake. As reported last week in The Orange County Register, a new early-alert system in the O.C. could give residents up to 70 seconds warning of a major San Andreas earthquake. Through the use of mobile apps, that would be enough time to slow high-speed trains, shut down power plant generators and take other precautionary steps.
The augmented incorporation of mobile technologies into government-led relief efforts is already saving lives and resources. In the five years since the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, wireless has grown up as an industry, with the government recognizing the powerful organizational capabilities immediate access to mobile technology affords Americans stuck in disaster areas. FEMA's recent addition to its mobile site is one of many demonstrations that the government takes seriously the positive ramifications of amplifying its use of mobile devices, which are now inextricably linked with the day-to-day lives of Americans.
This article was orginally published on Huffington Post.
Posted: 06/21/10 by Mobile Future Team
Whether you use your mobile device to work, play, or a little (or a lot) of both, you are undoubtedly one of millions who has taken to tapping and typing away on your phone to communicate. Well users, before you get too comfortable with your tap-to-type lifestyle, check out this YouTube of Swype, a new way to craft messages on touch screen phones. The technology is the brainchild of research scientist Randy Marsden and inventor Cliff Kushler (Kushler is the same man who revolutionized our last century lives with T9), and is already available on seven smartphones across the US and through all major wireless carriers.
With Swype, users no longer type a word letter by letter, but rather slide a finger across the screen’s keyboard to spell words, thereby slashing their overall text-time from 20 to 30 percent. For a more detailed look at Swype, visit Jenna Wortham’s article in Sunday’s New York Times, or just head directly to the official website.
Posted: 06/14/10
It’s beginning to seem like no feat is too large for the wonderful world of wireless. So in the future, don’t be surprised when the latest wireless advancement isn’t merely something you can text or tweet, but something you can… wear?
Sure enough, developers have introduced prototypes for a new ‘smart’ clothing, which use wireless biosensors to measure a wearer’s physiological conditions throughout the day. The information is sent to the user’s smartphone or PDA that maps the findings in an emotional database, and in turn responds with a pre-determined message depending on the wearer’s emotional state.
The inspirational sayings can come in the form of text messages scrolling across the garment’s sleeve, via video streaming across the corresponding handheld device, or as sound clips spoken by loved ones that come from speakers embedded in the clothing.
The technology is still in its nascent stages, but the potential positive ramifications it could have across varying industries—including its medicinal uses—are already being explored.
So while it may be a while before Mobile Future shows at Bryant Park, we’re certainly not surprised that wireless may soon be wearable (and no… we’re not talking something like this).
Posted: 05/04/10 by Mobile Future Team
One of the really exciting emerging uses of mobile technology involves healthcare. This holds remarkable potential for everything from the pretty straightforward (automated text messages that remind you to take your pills) to the truly remarkable (wireless in-home monitoring for seniors that send an alert if there’s a chance they’ve fallen).
Now for any expectant Moms, there’s even a pregnancy app. WCBS in New York recently profiled this method, which allows doctors to monitor vital signs such as the blood pressure and heartbeat of mothers and their infants using mobile technology. If something becomes abnormal, the technology alerts the doctor.
Incidentally, if you need help choosing a name, here’s a handy app that gives you about 15,000 options.
Posted: 04/21/10 by Mobile Future Team
A long time ago – 2006, to be exact – barely half of teens who had cell phones were texting. Today almost 90 percent are taping the keys, according to a survey released Tuesday by the Pew Research Center and the University of Michigan.
Texting has now overtaken every other form of interaction, including instant messaging and talking face-to-face. The survey also found that three-quarters of teens own cell phones, up from 45 percent in 2004.
What seems especially interesting is the impact of parents on cell phone use. Many parents limit cell phone usage; the parents of 12 to 13-year old girls were most likely to say they monitor its use. One upside: Teens whose parents put boundaries on their phone use were less likely to report regretting a text they sent or texting while driving.
Posted: 03/01/10 by Mobile Future Team
Earlier this year, mobile users donated more than $40 million via text messages to help Haiti's earthquake victims. Now our friends at the Mobile Giving Foundation, who spearheaded the texts-for-Haiti effort, are doing the same for the Chileans. All you need to do is text "Chile" to a five-digit number and you can make a donation of $5 or $10 to Habitat for Humanity, the Salvation Army or World Vision.
For more information, click here.
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Tags: Innovation, Mobile Phone, News, Teens, Text message, Wireless Innovation