Americans Catching on to Wireless Text Messaging

Once considered a teenage fad, text messaging popularity in the United States is rising dramatically. According to The Wall Street Journal, 4.7 billion text messages were sent in the USA in December, 2004 compared to 2.1 billion in December, 2003.

In fact, text messaging is entering all aspects of our society, even relationships. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that nine percent of singles have even admitted to breaking up with their significant others via text message. Thirty percent of text users said that they've continued an argument by text message; probably part of the same group that ultimately contributed to the break ups.

The applications for text messaging promotions are also increasing just as quickly. Major League Baseball offers a text message service that enables its fans to catch up on the latest news and results of their favorite team. There are also custom cell phone wallpapers of team logos and unique actual game recorded play-by-play ringtones in the professional baseball offering. Live 8, which sponsored the single biggest text messaging promotion in history, garnered 26 million texts last month supporting increased government aid to poor African countries. The opportunities for promoters appear to only be limited by one's imagination.

One of the more interesting applications that we've seen is one being sold to radio stations by Chicago-based Spark Network Services. Spark, which got its start by offering 900-number based radio voice personal datelines, is now selling a suite of text messaging products called PromoTXTRadio. The text messaging products allow radio stations to offer votelines, sweepstakes, song dedications, station play lists, traffic reports, and breaking news via text message. It even allows radio stations to offer their station jingles to be played as cell phone ringtones.

Still, Americans have a long way to go to catch their Asian brethren when it comes to the growing phenomenon of text messaging. CTIA-The Wireless Association, estimates that the average Chinese cell phone user sent 651 text messages last year compared to just 203 for US wireless users.

C U L8r.

Bob Bentz is the editor of the Cool Ringtones Blog-a blog that reports on cell phone ringtones, text messaging, and the mobile data content industry. He is also an avid text messaging user and claims to easily be outdistancing the average Chinese user.

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Google News Updated : Sun, 06 Jul 2008 12:55:34 GMT Argentine Lower House Passes Grain Export-Tax Plan (Update3) - Bloomberg Voice of America Argentine Lower House Passes Grain Export-Tax Plan (Update3) Bloomberg - 14 hours ago By Eliana Raszewski July 5 (Bloomberg) -- Argentina's lower house of congress approved the government's plan to increase taxes on exports of grains and oilseeds, risking a resumption of three months of strikes by farmers. Export Tax That Angers Farmers Advances in Argentina New York Times Argentina lawmakers approve farm export tax hike guardian.co.uk The Associated Press - BBC News - Reuters - AFP all 149 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 05 Jul 2008 22:41:30 GMT Google's new privacy link - CNET News CNET News Google's new privacy link CNET News - 19 hours ago Google's decision, noted Thursday in a corporate blog and a public policy blog, was an attempt to quell a controversy over the posting of its privacy policy. Google Replaces Google With Privacy On Its Home Page eFluxMedia Google Changes Home Page, Adding Link to Privacy Policy New York Times PC World - Los Angeles Times - TechCrunch - Search Engine Land all 46 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 05 Jul 2008 16:59:20 GMT Oil Prices Drive Stocks to Bear Market - Washington Post Calgary Herald Oil Prices Drive Stocks to Bear Market Washington Post - 7 hours ago US stocks fell last week, giving the Dow Jones industrial average a 20 percent bear-market drop from October's all-time high as record oil prices threatened global economic growth. Jobless report, long weekend equal small market gains Denver Post Market down, but not panicky Seattle Times Mail Tribune - The Associated Press - BusinessWeek - Bloomberg all 460 news articles Publ.Date : Sun, 06 Jul 2008 05:50:10 GMT Jesse Helms dies at 86; NC senator opposed equal rights - Detroit Free Press ABC News Jesse Helms dies at 86; NC senator opposed equal rights Detroit Free Press - 5 hours ago Conservative icon Jesse Helms, the former Republican senator from North Carolina, died Friday. He was 86. Helms, who served 30 years in the Senate, died of natural causes in Raleigh, NC, an aide said. Video: A Look Back At Jesse Helms CBS Helms never changed on civil rights opposition The Associated Press Washington Post - Wall Street Journal - Boston Globe - San Jose Mercury News all 2,343 news articles Publ.Date : Sun, 06 Jul 2008 07:14:24 GMT Google trying to take privacy seriously - ZDNet ABC News Google trying to take privacy seriously ZDNet - 13 hours ago This week was a very interesting week as far as Google and privacy goes. First, a burglary (the same on that affected CNET earlier last month) was confirmed to have affected all Google employees hired before December 31, 2005. Court order on YouTube user data fans privacy fears Reuters • YouTube Ordered To Release User Data Washington Post Slashdot - New York Times - Ars Technica - Wall Street Journal all 921 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 05 Jul 2008 23:49:42 GMT Taiwan tour operators sceptical about China boom - AFP WELT ONLINE Taiwan tour operators sceptical about China boom AFP - 6 hours ago TAIPEI (AFP) - The launch of regular direct flights between China and Taiwan has been hailed as a symbol of progress and a boon to tourism, but industry workers here are not all convinced. Mainland visitors warmly welcomed in Taiwan Xinhua A Side Competition in Beijing: Island vs. Mainland New York Times AllAfrica.com - International Herald Tribune - Wall Street Journal - Reuters all 933 news articles Publ.Date : Sun, 06 Jul 2008 06:15:38 GMT Obama cites faith as key to change - Boston Globe Obama cites faith as key to change Boston Globe - 5 hours ago Barack Obama called "active faith" an obligation of religious Americans and a chief agent of societal change in a speech yesterday at the national meeting of a black church group. For Republicans, the Senate outlook is bad Los Angeles Times Analysis: McCain struggles to regain footing The Associated Press Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - Fort Wayne Journal Gazette - Zanesville Times Recorder - Wall Street Journal all 346 news articles Publ.Date : Sun, 06 Jul 2008 06:58:31 GMT RSS Software Increase Web Traffic

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