Iowa 911 Call Center Accepting Emergency Text Messages

An emergency call center in Waterloo, Iowa, is believed to be the first in the U.S. to accept emergency messages via text. "I think there's a need to get out front and get this technology available," Black Hawk County police chief Thomas Jennings said.

John Snapp, a senior technical officer of Intrado, the company which upgraded the call center, says that calling is still be the preferred way to reach 911, but texting is a useful complement. A lot of kids already think they can text 911, he said.

The 911 texting is currently limited to one carrier within the area covered by the center but expect many more carriers and emergency centers to follow.

Source: Seattlepi

Black Hatters Reveil SMS Security Concern

Speaking to the Black Hat conference in Las Vegas, Charlie Miller and Collin Mulliner told the audience that smartphones operating Apple's, Microsoft's, or Google's operating systems were vulnerable to an SMS based attack that would be executed by code arriving in a text message. The malicious code could knock a phone off of a network, access data on the phone, or access the programs installed on the phone. The pair have published their findings to encourage the OS makers to fix the holes and have said the they contacted Apple, Microsoft, and Google directly but Google is the only one who has addressed the issue todate.

BBC story.

Amazon Launches TextBuyIt - Text To Purchase Service

Amazon has just launched a new service that allows you to text in a product name, UPC code, or ISBN and get a response with whether or not the item is stocked. The query will return two matches at a time and prompt you for the sale. If you decide to make the purchase you will be prompted for confirmation by identifying the e-mail address associated with your amazon account and then phoned to complete the checkout details. As Wired eludes, this brings a whole new tool into the game of comparison shopping... I suppose that is why they support UPC and ISBN codes. Text to 262966 ("Amazon" on the keypad) and give it a try!

College Coaches to Vote on Texting as a Recruiting Tool

College basketball is competitive on many levels, least of which is the recruitment of top ranked high school players. For many coaches trying to recruit, text messaging or texting has become a valuable tool which reaches the young stars in a manner that they are familiar and comfortable with. There is a fine line however and some students have begun to complain that all of the messages are costing them time and money leading the N.C.A.A. to put a ban on the practice for Division I colleges last August. Today during their annual convention, representatives from the N.C.A.A.’s Division I members are expected to revisit the issue after 34 of the 329 colleges asked for an override vote. Some are suggesting that governing body reinstate the practice but put restrictions on the use of texting similar to those imposed on placing phone calls to the recruits. What an interesting dilemma! Sort of like that which we all face when we get those annoying telemarketing calls, only for these kids there are real benefits to staying in touch with certain coaches while others with whom they have no interest still want to be heard. The New York Times has the story here.

A Billion text messages a week in Briton!

According to the latest figures from the Mobile Data Association (MDA) Britons are now sending more than 1 Billion text messages a week, up 25% in the last year! "It's convenient, comprehensive, it's on every handset and network and it is cost effective," said Mike Short, head of the MDA. The upward trend seems to be driven by business's adoption of the technology, "It's a lot more convenient for a business now to notify lots of their employees about an urgent message using a text message," what ever the reason that's a lot of keys being pressed on tiny key pads! I am seeing an increase in texting here in North America as well but I'd venture to guess that it's adoption rate is far below that of Europe and Asia. The BBC has more here.

Texting while driving could be costly for UK drivers

Engadget is reporting that drivers in the United Kingdom could be facing stiffer penalties for using their favourite devices while driving their cars. The current penalty is a maximum of £2,500 fines or community service, a new classification for the offense is being sought and could result in a maximum 2 years imprisonment. Now that's harsh! Perhaps that's enough incentive to smarten folks up!