Monday, July 23, 2012

Google Launches SMS Gmail In Africa

Search engine and mail host Google has launched a text-based version of their Gmail email service, which is specifically aimed at users in Africa who do not necessarily have access to a constant or stable connection to the Internet.

Gmail SMS can run on so-called "dumb phones" which only have very basic features and no access to the internet. The new service is aimed at users who do not have smartphones and make use of feature phones – mobile devices that cannot connect to the Internet and have no ability to feature apps and especially those that support only voice and SMS.

Geva Rechav, Google's product manager for emerging markets,explained in a blog post how Gmail SMS was adapted to work by using simple text commands.

"Gmail SMS works on any phone, even the most basic ones which only support voice and SMS," he wrote.
"Gmail SMS automatically forwards your emails as SMS text messages to your phone and you can respond by replying directly to the SMS.

"You can control the emails received by replying with commands such as MORE, PAUSE and RESUME.
"Additionally, compose a new email as an SMS and send to any email address recipient - who will find your message in the right email conversation thread!"

While Google is conducting educational programmes in the African region, the SMS addition extends Google’s product range which is specifically aimed at enhancing the lives of Africans. Google previously said that computer science training in African is “an important goal for Google in 2012″.

Often the lack of resources to buy hardware in order to connect to the Internet is a major stumbling block, which the SMS services aim to overcome.

Gmail SMS is currently available in Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya and is offered as a free service, while any command sent texts will be subject to standard network rates.

So, how do you set yourself up with Gmail SMS?

First of all, you’ll need to log-in to your Gmail account, and click on your profile at the top of the page and then hit Account.





 








Click Open SMS settings in the "Phone and SMS" section.


Add your phone number to receive Gmail to that number.



Verify your phone number by entering the verification code that we sent as SMS to your phone.



Check the box for email forwarding to your phone.



Last but not least, receiving Gmail SMS is free of charge.  Standard SMS rates apply when replying to messages, creating new messages and sending Gmail SMS commands from your phone. 

Source: ITNewsAfrica.Com, BBC News Technology

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Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Emerging Markets Are Driving Adoption Of Mobile Internet

According to Forrester research, the global penetration of mobile Internet users will exceed that of PC-based Internet users in 2016.

This situation is already the norm in many African countries, where the low penetration of landline phone connections has led to the exponential increase in the adoption of mobile phones, and where subsequently many consumers who had not been able to go online are using these devices to access the Internet.

For instance, according to the Communications Commission of Kenya July statistics, in the Internet/data market segment, the number of subscriptions increased by 5.5 per cent, from 6.1 million recorded in the previous period to 6.4 million during the quarter under review. Mobile data/internet subscriptions continued to dominate  the internet market with 98.8 per cent of the total Internet/data subscriptions being from the mobile Internet/data  sub-market.  Number of  Internet users  rose  by 4.7 per cent,  from 11.3 million users posted the previous period to 11.8 million users during the quarter under
review. Broadband subscriptions increased significantly by more than three-fold, from 131,829 subscriptions posted the previous quarter to  651,738 subscriptions  during the quarter.  Broadband subscriptions represented 10.0 per cent of the total  Internet/data subscriptions.

“Emerging markets are driving the adoption levels of not only mobile telephony, but also Internet access through these mobile devices,” says Gerald Naidoo, CEO of Logikal Consulting.

“Access to the Internet through a mobile handset is predominantly incremental in emerging markets, whereas it is supplementary in developed markets. For companies looking to reach global customers, the mobile Internet is just an additional channel in mature markets but is the chief point of entry in many emerging markets.”

This understanding has formed the basis of the company’s approach in its African territories, particularly in Nigeria, one of the continent’s biggest growth markets. Working with its partner company, Interlogikal West Africa, Logikal Consulting is using its expertise in mobile application development to help Nigerian businesses access this rapidly expanding market.

 

Wednesday, July 04, 2012

Twitter cuts off service to LinkedIn


twitter-linkedin-244x183Twitter, the micro-blogging site, has cut off tweets on the professional social network LinkedIn, ending a two-year partnership.


Twitter is a website that lets users broadcast 140-character status updates, or tweets, in real time. The micro-blogging service has had a partnership with LinkedIn since 2009. 


"If you had previously synced your LinkedIn and Twitter accounts, and selected the option to share Tweets on LinkedIn, those Tweets generated from Twitter will no longer appear on LinkedIn. There will be no other changes to your LinkedIn experience," Ryan Roslansky, LinkedIn head of content, said in an email sent to its users.

LinkedIn users will still be able to post updates to Twitter from LinkedIn, but not the other way around.
Cutting off tweets to LinkedIn users is part of a greater initiative at Twitter to create stricter requirements for developers who use the company's application programming interface (API). An API is a set of tools that lets third-party developers write custom programs for a service.

The new requirements are meant to encourage developers to build apps on Twitter's website. The company said it would "more thoroughly enforce" its Developer Rules of the Road. Twitter wants to ensure its branding is consistent across the Internet, whether tweets are read on the site or a third-party client.
While the company is cracking down on inconsistency, developers are struggling with the narrowing constraints of integrating with Twitter.

In a March 2011 note to developers, Twitter platform team member, Ryan Sarver said, "developers ask us if they should build client apps that mimic or reproduce the mainstream Twitter consumer client experience. The answer is no."

The challenges of building a program that doesn't mimic Twitter while ensuring consistency across all platforms has raised the ire of developers - some feeling jilted by the company. Their concern is that they have invested time and resources into developing apps for Twitter, only to have the company change the rules of the game.

"We're building tools for publishers and investing more and more in our own apps to ensure that you have a great experience everywhere you experience Twitter, no matter what device you're using," Twitter product manager Michael Sippy said in a blog post, where he emphasized upgrades, like Twitter Cards. The new addition to Twitter lets users add a few lines of code, or "card," to a tweet that will add an expanded view of content on Twitter.

Twitter faces its own challenges. Much of the company's content is viewed on third-party sites or programs. The micro-blogging service must find the right balance of running a profitable business and maintaining a robust developers' community.

Source: CBS News

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