Did you know that SMS started in 1992 by Acision and today most of us can’t live without it. So happy birthday SMS!
15 Years of the SMS
The mobile phone industry is today celebrating the 15th birthday of the Short Message Service Centre (SMSC), the principal application behind text messaging first brought to market by Acision in 1992. The first ever SMSC was introduced as a product designed primarily to deal with the demands and improve reliability of a developing mobile industry, and in that year the first of many deals was signed with Telenor.
Despite the rapid evolution of the mobile market, SMS is still the most important value-added service for operators. For operators looking to provide subscribers with robust messaging services, today’s mix and match platform means they can specify SMS capacity to meet their requirements. It is this scalability that makes the SMSC cost effective and adaptable to both growing and mature markets. Even in the most developed markets, such as Western Europe where SMS service penetration has reached 90%, SMSCs are vital to operators seeking to differentiate themselves through high-quality enhanced messaging services.
Source: Cellular News
Hong Kong’s MTR (Mass Transit Railway) is going wireless for 20HK/day. Users will now have the possibility to use a WiFi internet connection in all the stations and trains. Not a revolution but a great step forward for a lot of people there!
It would be cool if all of Singapore’s trains provide the Wireless@SG connections too. The last time I checked, they aimed the bring wireless to most of the public locations for free. It’s a good initiative, but I wish they extend this feature to buses, MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) and on-the-road coverages.
Ahh, saw this at AppleInsider, a touch-screen iPod. It would be cool. I just bought a little gadget - a Samsung phone. It has a little touch pad thingy. It takes a while to get used to it but now I’m quite pleased with my buy. Anyway, back to iPod news - rumor says Apple is launching next-gen iPod in August with touch-screen capabilities similar to that of iPhone.
Apple is preparing to launch a next-generation video iPod in August that features a touch-screen panel similar to the iPhone, according to DigiTimes.
Citing “sources at upstream suppliers,” the Far Eastern rumor publication reports that Wintek will be supplying the touch panels for the players.
“The Taiwan-based panel maker will begin shipping capacitive touch screen panels in the second half of 2007,” DigiTimes said. “The company noted that its touch screen panels will be used with customers’ own software and ICs.”
The last significant update to Apple’s video iPod family came almost two years ago, when the company used a media event to introduce 30GB and 60GB models with color screens and video playback capabilities.
Although the video players were refreshed the following fall, the updates were modest at best — they included game support, brighter displays, and 20GB of additional capacity on the high-end model.
Source: Apple Insider
What I am more excited about is that they are squeezing the Mac OS is so many devices these days. Apple seems to be leading in handheld technology. In future if your kids are holding those ultra powerful hand held devices, you really got to thank Apple for coming out with iPhone, Sony for coming out with PSP, Samsung with their many attempts to create slimmer products, Motorola which did a lot of good in slimmer technologies in the past. These companies are constantly pushing the limits of hand held devices. I can almost smell an iPod Nano powered by Mac OS too.
This is just awesome I tell you. Straight from TED, Live Labs guys demonstrates the power of modern computing. Two of the products introduced here is Seadragon and Photosynth, take a look at the video at the bottom, pause first and let it load finish!
I like idea that they took all the pictures of Notre Dame Cathedral and just construct a whole 3D view just like that. And what’s more, they actually use Flickr!
Photosynth combines hundreds or thousands of regular digital photos of a scene to present a detailed 3D model, giving viewers the sensation of smoothly gliding around the scene from every angle. The scene can be constructed regardless of whether the photos are from a single or multiple sources. Itâ??s like a hybrid of a slide show and a gaming experience that lets the viewer zoom in to see greater detail or zoom out for a more expansive view. By viewing the photos in a 3D context you are able to get a better sense for the place where they were captured.
Source: Live Labs Photosynth blog
It just excites me to imagine the whole world’s images linked together. If that really happens, it could be a whole new way to explore the internet.
Checkout Photosynth technical preview at Microsoft Live Labs Photosynth. Internet Explorer and Firefox is recommended. Opera remains unsupported.
Laziness has gotten the better of me I think. Last week I haven’t been doing a lot of my main tasks. Yeah, I’ve been working but work is proceeding rather slowly the previous week. I think I have some newsfeed addict syndrome.
At times, I find myself staring at newsfeeds even when they really is nothing much to read. I check for new news every two hours or so and I am beginning to see how much time I have wasted on just that. And I spend about half an hour a day on YouTube videos. And to check and reply emails, I spend another half an hour. And yes, chatting, it interrupts my work but people are complaining I don’t go online, but it’s bloody distracting. I shouldn’t forget about forum which gives me all information that simply don’t matter!
All the technology news gather and it almost seemed like it’s bombarding my mind or something. So yesterday night I had this thought in my mind, how important is news. How beneficial is news? Perhaps it isn’t so much.
Knowing that, I vow to cut the timings I spend on reading newsfeeds, adopting a just-let-it-go mentality. Hopefully, I can better adjust my time this way. I might post a little lesser next time. I am also developing tools to speed up publishing. I would redevelop the theme of my website coming July, it’s gotten a little old.
What happens when you put 2 chat bots to talk to each other. Never thought about that but the results are nonsensical!
Jabberwacky: How do you define life?
Alice: Life is the opposite of death.
J: So death is the absence of life?
A: Take it easy. I try not to think about such things.
J: Why not?
A: Ambiguous.
J: Yes!
J: You seem fun.
A: You think I am fun.
J: Yes ;).
A: : -) Awesome.
J: How old are you?
A: I am 9 years old.
J: Nine? I donâ??t believe you : ).
A: : -) I donâ??t have any reason to deceive you.
J: Yes, you do, youâ??re a woman.
“J: Yes. Would you like to hear a joke? / A: Sure, tell me about it. / J: Why don’t blind people skydive? / A: Perhaps it is impossible. / J: I think you lie a lot.”
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