The free text messaging tool here at MobileMammoth.com is back up and running. The tool was down late last night until about 1:50pm Pacific Time today. The downtime was associated with a minor update to the tool last night.
We apologize for any inconvenience to our users. You may now resume sending text messages to your heart’s content!
1 comment June 4th, 2008
What do Yahoo! Finance, Scottrade, eTrade, and most other finance portals have in common? Their free stock quotes are all delayed by at least 10 minutes (Yahoo! Finance does offer a free trial for their service, but you must sign up for it).
Google Finance made a big leap forward today by announcing their quotes are now displayed in real-time. That’s impressive.
So what does this have to do with mobile, one might ask? You may be aware that Google offers a free SMS service, which includes providing stock quote information. Simply text message the ticker symbol to GOOGL (46645), and you will receive the current, real-time quote in a return message. I did multiple tests today, and each time I received a response within 18 seconds or less. That’s much better than the 20 minute market delay you’ll find at Scottrade or eTrade — and those are on their regular website.
Now go use that to your advantage!
Read Today’s Announcement
Find Out More on Google Text Message (SMS) Services
5 comments June 2nd, 2008
I ran across fring the other day, and it piqued my interest. The first thing that jumped out at me was that voice calls using fring are pure data – meaning the calls do not consume your wireless minutes at all.
fring boasts the following features:
- take all IM buddies mobile and view them from one, integrated contact list
- free calls
- live chat instead of SMS
- call landlines and regular cellular contacts using SkypeOut or SIP
- view call history
- send & receive files
- choose incoming call and message tones
- auto-roam in and out of WiFi hotspots
Not too shabby! Try it out for yourself.
2 comments May 21st, 2008
The race for the Democratic ticket is over, and all eyes are now shifting to the race for the white house between Barack Obama vs John McCain. If you are a fan of Obama, or simply want to know more about the candidate, there are several ways to stay informed via your mobile phone.
I must admit that while I have not yet decided which candidate I will support, I have been impressed with the Obama campaign’s marketing efforts, and specifically the Obama website and features around it. It is clear they have placed a heavy emphasis on this medium, and have focused on allowing people to access information in a variety of ways.
Text messaging has played a large role, as you can see here. Here is a brief guide on how you can interact with the Obama presidential campaign via text message:
The Obama campaign has made available a slew of ringtones for those heavy campaign supporters. To download one of the 12 ringtones currently available, text RINGTONE1 (or RINGTONE2, etc. through RINGTONE12) to OBAMA (62262).
To listen to the Barack Obama ringtones before downloading, go here.
Finally, the folks behind the Barack Obama campaign, with help from its supporters, also made available four different wallpaper images for your mobile phone. To download an image to your phone, text IMAGE1 (or IMAGE2, etc. through IMAGE4) to OBAMA (62262).
Not to go off-topic here, but I still can’t figure out what’s truly there behind the typical messages of “Change” and “Hope”. What are Obama’s detailed plans? Maybe I should read these text messages. Anyway, if anyone can help me make up my mind between McCain and Obama, I’m all ears.
1 comment May 10th, 2008
Sears has begun publishing it’s promotions and sale alerts via text message. This week’s specials cover outdoor lawn, landscaping, and gardening equipment. Not a bad idea to sign up if you are waiting for a big ticket item, such as a lawnmower, or patio furniture, to go on sale.
To find out more about getting Sears discount information to your desktop, go here.
As expected, there is no charge from Sears to sign up for the alerts, though keep an eye on your text messaging plan from you wireless carrier to determine if you might go over your text message limit.
Text “DEALS” to 73277
1 comment May 5th, 2008
Another interesting mobile/social networking, text messaging, viral community has sprung up. This one is called Mozes, and while it does not claim to part the seas, it does have a growing community of users.
Here are the top 3 FAQs directly from the Mozes.com site:
What is Mozes?
Mozes lets you send and receive exclusive mobile content to and from your favorite bands, friends and social groups using your mobile phone and your free Mozes account on Mozes.com.
Who can use it?
Everyone! Whether you’re a fan, band, campus organization, a brand etc., you can send and receive all sorts of mobile messages, such as ringtones, wallpapers trivia questions and photos to and from your favorite bands, friends and social groups.
How much does it cost?
It’s free! Mozes is free to individual users. Standard text message rates apply from your carrier. We recommend a flat rate text plan if you don’t have one.
Simple enough? Oh, and if you also want to join Rascal Flats’ mob on Mozes, text “rfacm” to 66937 (Don’t forget to register as a user first).
1 comment April 29th, 2008
Have you ever wondered about the nutritional value of the meal you were about to order? Now there’s a text messaging service that sends you just that.
A friend of mine forwarded me a note about the Diet to Go text message service from Diet.com. By sending a text message to DIET1 (34381) with the restaurant name, followed by the menu item, you will receive back the basic nutritional information for that item.
The service works best when you text only the restaurant name and menu item – do not include words like “the” or “and”. (They also say not to include your signature line — who has a signature line on their text messages?)
Let’s look at a quick example. We compared the Wendy’s Chicken Sandwich (Grilled) with the Sonic Grilled Chicken Wrap. My guess was that the Wendy’s sandwich would probably have more calories and more grams of fat. Let’s see the result below:
Sonic Grilled Chicken Wrap
Calories: 539
Fat: 27g
Carbs: 40g
Protein: 29gWendy’s Grilled Chicken Sandwich
Calories: 300
Fat: 6g
Carbs: 36g
Protein: 24g
Obviously, I was way off. I would never have imagined that the Sonic wrap would contain almost 4 times as much fat as the Wendy’s sandwich, and the calories are significantly higher as well. Maybe that wrap includes Ranch dressing or something?? Maybe one of our readers can validate those counts.
In any case, this is a neat service that I intend to use. It’s quick and easy, and really provides valuable information. Test it out for yourself and let us know what you think.
2 comments March 24th, 2008
As golf fans are well aware, the 2008 Masters is right around the corner. Considering how difficult it is to find time to sit in front of the television for 12 hours over 2 days, this is an ideal event to get scoring alerts to your mobile phone when you are out and about.
Augusta.com, operated by The Augusta Chronicle, provides a showcase of The Masters and also provides information about points of interest in and around Augusta, Georgia.
In addition to plenty of online content about the prestigious golf tournament, including live scoring, the site send scoring updates via SMS for five of your favorite golfers during the tournament. Here is an excerpt explaining what type of alerts you can receive:
Scoring alerts, whether by SMS or e-mail, can be selected at three different levels:* End of round: Sends one update on the player’s score and position when play finishes each day.
* Hole by hole: Sends an update each time the player finishes a hole, plus end of round.
* All changes: Sends updates anytime the player’s position changes, as well as end of round and hole by hole.
Go here to sign up. If you have one of the newer wireless plans with unlimited text messaging, you might as well go for the All Changes option.
So who will win The Masters this year? The first person to guess the winning golfer AND their winning score will win a sporty new MobileMammoth t-shirt. Just post your guess in a comment to this post.
Rules: One entry per person — if you submit your entry more than once, only your last entry will count. In the event of a tie, the first 3 winning entries will all get a t-shirt. All entries must be submitted by Wednesday, April 9, at 11:59pm ET.
Good luck!!
Add comment March 8th, 2008
Last week I attended the Mobile Outlook 2008 round table breakfast in McLean, Virginia. The event included speakers from several area companies experiencing significant growth in the mobile industry:
SquareLoop
Provides patented location-based service (LBS) technology to enable targeted delivery of mobile communications.
Millenial Media
Offers mobile media solutions targeted specifically to the much sought-after 18-29 year old market (this company has a great story, by the way – check it out).
Mobilians International
Enables online payments with your mobile phone.
Distributive Networks
Provides technology to enable mobile promotions including text messaging campaigns, mobile coupons, and contests (named to Deloitte Technology Fast 500 in 2007).
Core Capital Partners
Venture Capital firm located in Washington, DC and focused on “disruptive, core technologies.”
The speakers clearly had their own opinions about the industry and where things are headed. Here are my take-aways from the event:
Do you agree? What else am I missing here?
Add comment February 15th, 2008
Just a quick note to let you know we’ve added two more wireless carriers to our free text messaging tool – US West and Comcast.
Here is the full list of carriers supported:
Alltel
AT&T
Boost
Comcast
Cricket
Nextel
Sprint
Suncom
Sprint
T-Mobile
US Cellular
US West
Verizon
Virgin
Voicestream
So what are we missing? Let us know what carriers YOU want in a comment on this post, and we’ll add ‘em!
1 comment February 13th, 2008
