Washington Post article : Stargazer and 2sms

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/19/AR2007111901976.html?sub=AR

Old versions of the 2sms web site

Visit http://www.archive.org and enter www.2sms.com to see old versions of the 2sms web site.

2sms web site improvements

We have made 3 improvements to the menu structure of the web site.

1. The Help menu is now consistent irrespective of whether you are logged into the web site or not. The menu options now link to the
- Contact us
- Getting started
- Documents (library)
- Demos
- Support forum
- 2sms blog
- Site map

2. The 'What we do' menu has been renamed 'Solutions', and restacked to list the solutions that we offer.

- Text messaging (with sub menu)
- Emergency planning
- Find our Folks
- Real Estate
- XML
- Branded sites
- Bespoke development
- Reselling

3. The Developers zone menu now has options for each of the sub sections,
- XML
- Desktop software
- Portable
- Office add-ins
- Portal
- Developers
- Other

These changes have come about in response to customer comments, which are greatly appreciated.

Extended Validation SSL certificate

2sms is pleased to announce that it has implemented an Extended Validation SSL certification, using Verisign as the certificate authority.

SSL is used to allow HTTPS access to the 2sms web site (www.2sms.com) , and also the 2sms XML services at www.2sms.com/xml.

Google Android - SMS API

http://code.google.com/android/reference/android/telephony/gsm/SmsMessage.html

New XML web page for 2sms Text Messaging

Following requests from customers, 2sms has added a web page to cover all things XML related to text messaging. With links to 3rd party learning tools, free 2sms software, and links to the 2sms XML schemas, this page provides and introduction to sending SMS messages using XML, SOAP or Web Services (WSDL).

www.2sms.com/xml

Firmware history for Windows Mobile / Symbian / Blackberry

Are you running the latest firmware on your mobile device. Check these sites to find out.


Windows Mobile
http://channel9.msdn.com/wiki/default.aspx/MobileDeveloper.ListOfAKUs

Nokia
http://hunajatehdas.net/nokia/firmware/index_en.php

Symbian series 60
http://newlc.com/Nokia-Series-60-Firmware-History,1070.html
http://www.symbian-freak.com/quides/firmware/firmware.htm

Blackberry 4.x
http://www.blackberryforums.com/rim-software/1871-blackberryos-4-x-download-faq-upgrade-downloads.html

Text.it - UK official guide to text messaging

http://www.text.it

UK text messaging tops 1 billion a week

http://www.sourcewire.com/releases/rel_display.php?relid=iLziX

Ban on two handed texting while driving (USA)

http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/east/2007/10/31/84666.htm

This proposed law has the support of 2sms!

New 2sms office in London, UK

2sms is pleased to announce a new office in London, UK.

The address is :

Regent's Place
338 Euston Road
London
NW1 3BT
UK

0800 65 222 77

This office will serve as the 2sms registered office, Corporate HQ, and facilities to meet with customers.

2sms has offices in the UK and US

US : Reston, VA. Geneva, IL. Atlanta, GA. Reno, NV
UK : London, and Cranfield (Milton Keynes)

Where is your nearest cell tower (USA)

Useful sites for locating the nearest cell tower to your location.
Antennaguy - http://antennaguy.com/Maps.html
American Towers - http://www.americantower.com/SiteLocator/default.aspx
Sprint - http://www.sprint.com/pcsbusiness/coverage/towermaps.html
Mobiledia - http://www.cellreception.com/towers/ (superimposed onto Google maps)

CTIA Wireless & Entertainment 2007

http://www.wirelessit.com/

Oct 23-25 at Moscone Center South Hall, San Francisco, CA. (USA)

Everyone in the trade is there.

2sms will be represented by their CEO Tim King and their Director of Sales, West Region, Courtland James.

SMTP gateways for SMS messages

Free gateways exist for SMS message delivery. These are subject to spam filters, and can get busy. Check the terms and conditions of each carrier for conditions of use. These gateways are SMTP (email) servers that convert messages into text messages (SMS).

AT&T : Your cell phone number@mmode.com e.g. 4443332222@mmode.com
Cingular : Your cell phone number@mobile.mycingular.com
Nextel : Your cell phone number@messaging.nextel.com
Sprint PCS : Your cell phone number@messaging.sprintpcs.com
T-Mobile : Your cell phone number@tmomail.net
Verizon Wireless : Your cell phone number@vtext.com

If service delivery matters to you, you might want to consider SMPP services. These cost money (cents per message), but come with SLA's, priority routing, audit trail and ISO27001 certification for information security. Visit www.2sms.com for more details.

We will post a more complete analysis of SMTP / SMPP services shortly.

Sending text messages from Salesforce.com

If you want to send text messages from Salesforce, 2sms offer a certified app at https://www.salesforce.com/appexchange/detail_overview.jsp?NavCode__c=&id=a0330000003ha8AAAQ

Benefits include:

1. Text messages sent via provisioned SMPP connections not unreliable SMTP gateways
2. 2sms is ISO 27001 certified.
3. The 2sms SMS app for Salesforce is a Certified app.
4. Download, plug and go.
5. The app is free. (2sms charges for SMS traffic sent.)

Get a free trial account to test this app at www.2sms.com/register

SMS emergency warning at St. John's

http://www.it-wireless.com/story/sms-emergency-warning-st-johns/2007-10-01

(2sms was not involved in this test)

How quick (slow) is email - Ask Ferrari!

While many assume that email is instant, this is not the case. A delay to email cost Ferrari (Italian Motor Racing team) dearly at the recent Grand Prix in Japan. Perhaps a text message would have been faster!

http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=40889

ps With text messaging, you know when your recipients got the message.

Purdue University alert system - eSchool news

Further coverage of the Purdue test at http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showstoryts.cfm?Articleid=7389

Which carrier is a cell phone on?

http://www.numberingplans.com/?page=analysis&sub=phonenr

Displaying long SMS text messages on Blackberry devices

Verizon Wireless have posted a Blackberry v4.x upgrade at http://vzw.smithmicro.com/blackberry/

This update will resolve the problem displaying long messages (>160 characters) on Blackberry devices. This upgrade is free, and provided by Verizon Wireless / Blackberry. Please review the software license and disclaimer information before choosing if you wish to install this update.

iPhone : Ability to receive SMS messages

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1152638&stqc=true submitted in response to http://www.hackint0sh.org/forum/showthread.php?t=5334

CTIA SmartBrief report on Purdue University SMS test

Antonio Villacorta (Antonio.Villacorta@2sms.com) thought you might be interested in checking out an excerpt from CTIA SmartBrief.

http://www.smartbrief.com/news/CTIA/storyDetails.jsp?issueid=1ED6B0E4-FAF8-40E3-A039-19160D6158FE&copyid=E3BA288A-CCEE-4569-B2D1-9C3766C4D4FC

Purdue uses text messages to notify students
Researchers at Purdue University recently completed an experiment to see how effective text messages were as a means of widespread notification. The test found that on average it took seven minutes to send out approximately 10,000 notifications, with only 30 participants not receiving the message. In 2006, the number of text messages sent increased 95% to about 158 billion, according to CTIA-The Wireless Association®. Indianapolis Star, The (9/25)

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070925/LOCAL/709250405/-1/LOCAL17

Designed specifically for those with an interest in wireless telecommunications, CTIA SmartBrief is a FREE, daily e-mail newsletter. By providing the latest need-to-know news and information about all aspects of our industry, CTIA SmartBrief saves you time and keeps you smart.
Sign up for your very own free subscription to CTIA SmartBrief at www.smartbrief.com/ctia.

Purdue University tests emergency alert system

http://www.wthr.com/Global/story.asp?S=7119901&nav=9Tai - powered by 2sms.

Video is at http://www.wthr.com/global/video/popup/pop_player.asp?ClipID1=1777607&h1=Purdue%20alert%20system&vt1=v&at1=News&d1=129467&LaunchPageAdTag=News&activePane=info&playerVersion=1&hostPageUrl=http%3A//www.wthr.com/Global/story.asp%3FS%3D7119901%26nav%3D9Tai&rnd=85058783

(A short commerical preceeds the main article.)

2sms add support for Adobe (Macromedia) Coldfusion

To learn how to integrate text messsaging into your Coldfusion application, and get sample code, please visit
http://www.2sms.com/Forum/shwmessage.aspx?ForumID=1&MessageID=110

News story : Text messaging to students on college campus

http://wjz.com/topstories/local_story_249182331.html

DateTime and timezones in .NET

http://www.2sms.com/Forum/shwmessage.aspx?ForumID=1&MessageID=108

Using 2sms services from mobile devices

www.2sms.mobi / http://pda.2sms.com - How to access your 2sms account from mobile devices.
http://www.2sms.com/Forum/shwmessage.aspx?ForumID=3&MessageID=109

Courtenay Heading

After 7 years as Business Development Director, leading the launch of 2sms into the USA, Courtenay Heading has accepted a Non Executive Director role at 2sms. He will continue to manage his investment in 2sms while seeking new opportunities for 2sms to pursue. All at 2sms thank him for his long service, and look forward to seeing him on a monthly basis in the Cranfield UK and Reston, VA offices.

Courtenay will continue to promote 2sms while taking up a number of other Non Executive Directorships in other organisations.

2sms Widset

2sms has added a Widset to www.widsets.com - You can now get 2sms RSS newsfeeds on Widsets on your mobile phone.

New SMS app for Salesforce.com

Sneak preview of the new version 3.02 app for Salesforce.com - visit
https://www.salesforce.com/appexchange/detail_overview.jsp?id=a0330000003ha8AAAQ

This app works in APEX v9.0, and does not require a Java Virtual Machine. A 2sms account will be required. Get a no cost trial account at www.2sms.com/register.

Apple Dashboard Widget

http://www.boisseau.co.uk/software/2sms.php

This a very simple widget for Apple's Dashboard feature, introduced in Mac OS X 10.4 'Tiger'. It allows you to send SMS text messages via the Internet to mobile phones. Provided by Charlie Boisseau, a long time and faithful 2sms friend.

2sms XML schemas - new v2.0

http://schema.2sms.com/2.0/schema_2.xml has details of the new 2sms schemas. Backwardly compatible to the v1.0 schemas, 2sms has added additional methods for message sending and reporting.

Documentation is much improved, with many more examples. Examples of each of the methods in the Send Message section will be of particular interest to developers. http://schema.2sms.com/2.0/notes/0410_description.html

2sms RSS Newsfeeds

The following newsfeeds are maintained in the 2sms support forum at www.2sms.com/forum

Software support - http://www.2sms.com/Forum/rssfeed.aspx?id=1&Task=ForumRSS
Website support - http://www.2sms.com/Forum/rssfeed.aspx?id=2&Task=ForumRSS

Forum Comments / Suggestions - http://www.2sms.com/Forum/rssfeed.aspx?id=4&Task=ForumRSS
Website Comments / Suggestions - http://www.2sms.com/Forum/rssfeed.aspx?id=3&Task=ForumRSS
XML Gateway Comments / Suggestions - http://www.2sms.com/Forum/rssfeed.aspx?id=8&Task=ForumRSS

Service News - http://www.2sms.com/Forum/rssfeed.aspx?id=5&Task=ForumRSS
Software and website updates - http://www.2sms.com/Forum/rssfeed.aspx?id=6&Task=ForumRSS

Text messaging in the USA - SMTP v SMPP

There are two ways to send SMS messages in the USA.

The 'unapproved' way. Find a 'free' SMTP gateway, and send messages via email.

Advantages :
- Free

Disadvantages :
- Subject to anti spam filters. You are at risk of having your IP address blacklisted.
- You will need to know which mobile phone carrier owns the handset you are sending a text message to. Each carrier has a different gateway configuration.
- Delays, Messages can take seconds, minutes or hours to be delivered.



The 'approved' way - Via an aggregator or service provider who has officially provisioned connections to the mobile phone carriers.

Advantages :
- Your messages will get delivered
- Fast
- Single messages or in bulk
- With a service level agreement

Disadvantages :
- Not free!