- THIS POST WILL EXPLAINS U ALL ABOUT SMS
- The first text message was sent in 1992 .
- Over 70% of mobile phone users send text messages
- Text messages contribute to 20% of operator revenues
- 94% of 18-24 year olds send personal texts (MDA Professional text messaging report 2003)
- 34% of those aged between 18-24 send 36 or more messages a week (MDA Professional text messaging report 2003)
- 14% of people send business text messages on their mobile phone (MDA Professional text messaging report 2003)
- On New Year's Day 2003, the number of text messages sent in one day topped one hundred million for the first time, and on New Year 's Day 2004, the daily total reached 111 million messages
- On New Year's Day 2005, the highest daily total ever recorded by the Mobile Data Association was reached, when 133 million messages were sent
- The Mobile Data Association predicts that 30 billion text messages will be sent during 2005
- 78 million text messages were sent by Britons on Valentine's Day 2003, 6 times more than traditional cards and a 37% increase on text figures for 2002.
- 65 million text messages were sent throughout the UK on the last day of the 2002/3 Premiership (11th May 2003)
- In December 2004, 2.4 billion text messages were sent in Britain as the traditional Christmas card was dumped in favour of a seasonal text message.
- UK mobile phone owners now send 72 million text messages on a typical day across the four UK GSM network operators
- On average, 3 million messages are sent every hour in Britain.
- UK text message figures for December 2004 topped 2.4 billion, 2.2 billion for November 2004 , and over 2.3 billion for October
- GCSE results - 79 million text messages were sent throughout the UK on 26th August 2004
- A-Level results - 67 million text messages were sent throughout the UK on 14th August 2003. On August 19th 2004, the day last year's A-level results were announced, 81 million messages were sent.
- The first local and mayoral electoral vote in the UK by text message took place on 23rd May 2002
- 95% of all text messages are delivered within 10 seconds
- 23% of world-wide mobile users use SMS more than once a day
- 55% of world-wide mobile users who SMS more then once a day are 18 years old or younger
- 53% of Northeners use their mobile phone for sending/receiving personal text messages
- 67% of women in the UK classify themselves at 'text competent' - MDA Mother's Day survey
- 51% of women would rather receive a text message than a card on special occasions - MDA Mother's Day survey
- Who sends you personal texts? - 80% said friends/ 61% partner/ 39% parents/ 22% children -MDA Professional text messaging report 2002
- 50% of women use text messaging as a way of keeping in contact with friends and family - MDA Mother's Day survey
- 42% of women recognise text as a way of sharing a popular interest with their children -MDA Mother's day survey
- A text message is the best way to show you care, according to 47% of women - MDA Mother's day survey
- The peak hours for texting are between 10.30pm and 11.00pm
- You can send the same text to up to 50 people with group texting
- There are a huge range of services that can send you text updates e.g Movie reviews, bank balances, sports, weather.
- The Rt. Hon Tony Blair MP became the first UK Prime Minister to use text message technology to talk directly to the people on 25th November 2004, answering questions submitted in advance by text message from members of the public as well as in real-time in a mobile phone chat-room, transmitted live from No. 10 Downing Street
SMS HISTORY
SMS was an accidental success that took nearly everyone in the mobile industry by surprise. Few people predicted that this hard of use service would take off. There was hardly any promotion for or mention of SMS by network operators until after SMS started to be a success. SMS advertising went from showing business people in suits entering text messages to bright pink and yellow advertisements aimed at the youth markets that adopted SMS.
SMS was the triumph of the consumer- every generation needs a technology that it can adopt as its own to communicate with- and the text generation took up SMS. Paradoxically, it was because SMS was so very difficult to use that the young people said that they were going to overcome the man machine interface and other issues and use the service anyway. The fact that the entry barriers to learning the service were so high were an advantage because it meant that parents and teachers and other adult authority figures were unlikely and unable and unwilling to be able to use the service
SMS is one of the few services in consumer history that has grown very fast without corresponding decreases in pricing. Usually- even in the case of voice mobile phones- price reductions in the cost of the phones and phone service have led to increases in usage. Whilst these factors have helped to bring younger people into the mobile market, the price of SMS itself stayed steady because the networks were having trouble handling the volumes of messages being sent and dared not reduce prices.
A whole new alphabet emerged because SMS messages took a long time to enter and were quite abrupt as people attempted to say as much as possible with as few keystrokes. Abbreviations such as “C U L8er” for “See you later” sprung up for timesaving and coolness. The use of “smileys” to reduce the abruptness of the medium and to help indicate the mood of the person in a way that was difficult with just text became popular.
The introduction of prepay mobile tariffs in which people could pay for their airtime in advance and thereby control their mobile phone expenditure was the catalyst that accelerated the take up of SMS. The network operators were unable technically to bill prepay customers for the SMS they were using because the links between the prepay platform and the billing system and the SMS Centers were not in place. The network operators responded with silence- the prepay literature did not mention SMS at all even though the prepay phones supported the service. One thing that is certain is that in these days with the Internet revolution to spread information, the young people will identify loopholes like this. And they did. Suddenly, millions more SMS messages were being sent- with some individual mobile phone subscriptions accounting for thousands of SMS per month alone as they set up automated message generators. Network operators worked with their platform suppliers to try and sort this out and implement charging for SMS for prepay customers. Meanwhile SMS incubated and spread and people were using it because it cost nothing whereas carrying out the same transaction using voice clearly did cost. Eventually after a few months the network operators finally got their act together and managed to implement SMS charging for prepay users- such that they could decrement the prepay credit by the cost of an SMS message
A mass SMS message distribution campaign was then typically sent out- such that everyone that had used SMS received a text message informing them that from a certain date, SMS would be charged for. This led to an immediate and protracted decline in SMS usage to between 25% and 40% of the pre-charging levels as people suddenly stopped using SMS or using it as much. Then something interesting happened- the volume of SMS messages started gradually increasing again and soon reached its pre-charging levels. SMS volume growth has continued its upward growth ever since, fueled by simple person to person messaging as people told each other how they were feeling and what they were doing- information services and other operator led initiatives failed to interest the user community to any degree and never have done. Whilst it was free, SMS had become an important part of the way that young people communicated with each other in their daily life. SMS would have taken off without this prepay factor because it was already being used before that time- but it would never have taken off as quickly.
SMS growth continued its astonishing growth during the year 2000 in Europe, a period of time when the mobile industry was trying to dictate the deployment of WAP. Despite doing nearly nothing else of any benefit, WAP did at least increase the attention that the mobile Internet received as people tried to work out services that would appeal to the mobile phone users. Those companies that survived the WAP debacle started to realize that it was SMS and not WAP that had the addressable audience of users and the clearer business case. Advertising and other services based on SMS started to be trialed as companies realized that people who could use SMS for person to person messaging would also be able to access SMS based commercial messages.
The next great success for SMS based services was ringtones. Nokia had started its smart messaging protocol that was built on binary SMS rather than the standard text SMS. Nokia had expected this technology to be used for information services and over the air service profiling and it had languished for years, until suddenly in the year 2000, it found its application- ringtones that allow users to change the way their mobile phone rang. Because the network operators were woefully inadequate and unable to offer the ringtone suppliers fair and flexible revenue sharing, the service providers started using premium rate Interactive Voice Response (IVR) voice platforms to trigger the transmission of ringtones. The ringtones market soon became a billion dollar market- and few of the network operators even offered services- this category was dominated by independent service providers who advertised in newspapers and magazines.
SMS was the triumph of the consumer- a grassroots revolution that the mobile industry had next to nothing to do with and repeatedly reacted to. This is in stark contrast to the top down technology and industry led approaches to other nonvoice services such as WAP. The industry can learn a lot from SMS as it tries to create other nonvoice services- it is no surprise that the only other nonvoice success- i-mode in Japan was also an unprecedented and unexpected success. The mobile industry would do well to realize that success for nonvoice involves setting the right environment to allow services to succeed- ensuring everyone implements the same open standards in the same ways, putting the right payment and microbilling technologies in place and recognizing that it takes a while to build a critical mass of usage. The mobile industry needs to realize that it can either delay the mobile Internet revolution by refusing to cede control to the end user and application and service development communities- or this will be taken away from it by the markets by force. Either way, the nonvoice revolution will arrive- it is not a question of whether, just when.
"Mobile" or "Cell"
What is correct: "mobile" phone or "cell" phone? Same thing. The word cell is short for cellular and has been used since Bell Laboratories set up the first wireless telephony system in 1947. It consisted of a network of low-powered transmitters, each placed to cover a small region or cell. Commercial cell phones were introduced in Chicago in 1978 and in Europe in 1981. If you're surprised to learn that mobile telephony has been around so long, here's another surprise: Bell Laboratories invented the videophone in 1927.
Numbers
Most numbers on a phone keypad have letters assigned to them. For instance, the letters for the number 2 are a, b and c. But there are no letters assigned to the numbers 1 and 0. These numbers remain unassigned because they are so-called flag numbers, kept for special purposes such as emergency or operator services. Previously, Q and Z were not included on the keypad, meaning that you could not dial a word such as Quincy. Q is now assigned to the number 7, and Z to number 9.
SMS DICTIONARY
A
AAM As a matter of fact.AB Ah Bless!ADctd2uv Addicted to LoveAFAIK As far as I knowAKA Also known asALlWanIsU All I want is YouAML All my loveASAP As soon as possibleATB All the bestATW At the weekendAWHFY Are we having fun yet
B
B4 BeforeBBFN Bye Bye for now.BBS Be back soonBBSD Be back soon darlingBCNU Be seein' youBF Boy FriendBGWM Be gentle with me (please)BRB Be right backBTW By the way
C
Cld9? Cloud 9?Cm Call meCu See youCUIMD See you in my dreamsCul See you laterCUL8R See you later
D
Dk Don't knowDur? Do you remember
E
E2eg Ear to ear grinEOD End of discussionEOL End of lecture
F
F? FriendsF2F face to faceF2T Free to talkFITB Fill in the BlankFYEO For your eyes only.FYA For your amusementFYI For your information
G
GF Girlfirend.GG Good GameGMeSumLuvin Give me some lovin’!Gr8 GreatGSOH Good Salary, Own HomeGTSY Glad to see you
H
h2cus Hope to see you soonH8 HateHAGN Have a good nightHAND Have a nice dayHldMeCls Hold me closeHt4U Hot for YouH&K Hugs and Kisses
I
IDK I dont knowIGotUBabe Ive got you BabeIIRC If I recall correctlyIMHO In my humble opinionIMI I mean itILU I love YouIMBLuv It must be LoveIOW In other words...IOU I owe youIUSS If you say so
J
J4F just for funJFK Just for kicksJstCllMe Just call Me
K
KC keep coolKHUF know how you feelKIT Keep in touchKOTC Kiss on the cheekKOTL Kiss on the lips
L
L8 LateL8r LaterLol laughing out loudLTNC Long time no seeLtsGt2gthr Lets get together
M
M$ULkeCrZ Miss you like Crazy!M8 mateMC merry ChristmasMGB May God BlessMob Mobile MYOB Mind your own Business
N
NA No accessNC No commentNE AnyNE1 AnyoneNo1 No-OneNWO No way out
O
O4U only for youOIC Oh, I see.OTOH On the other hand
P
PCM Please call mePPL People
R
R AreRMB Ring my Bell ROTFL Roll on the floor laughingRU? Are you?RUOK? Are you Ok?
S
SC Stay coolSETE Smiling Ear to EarSO Significant OtherSOL sooner or laterSME1 Some OneSRY SorrySWALK Sent with a loving KissSWG Scientific Wild Guess
T
T+ Think positiveT2ul Talk to you laterTDTU Totally devoted to youThx ThanksT2Go Time to GoTIC Tounge in CheekTMIY Take me Im yoursTTFN Ta ta for now.
W
W4u Waiting for youWAN2 Want toWLUMRyMe Will you marry Me?WRT With respect toWUWH Wish you were here
X
X! Typical WomanX KissXclusvlyUrs Exclusively Yours
Y
Y! Typical ManYBS You’ll be Sorry
SMS | Meaning |
| :-) | Smiley |
| (-: | Also smiling |
| :) | Smiling without a nose |
| :' ) | Happy and crying |
| :-( ) | Smiling with mouth open |
| 8-) | Smiling with glasses |
| [:-) | Smiling with walkman |
| :-)8 | Smiling with bow tie |
| {:-) | Smiling with hair |
| d:-) | Smiling with cap |
| C|:-) | Smiling with top hat |
| (:-) | Smiling with helmet |
| :-)= | Smiling with a beard |
| &:-) | Smiling with curls |
| #:-) | Smiling with a fur hat |
| :-D | Laugher |
| ;-) | Twinkle |
| ;) | Twinkle, without nose |
| :-* | Kiss |
| @}--\-,--- | A rose |
| :-( | Sad |
| :( | Sad, without nose |
| :'-( | Crying |
| :-c | Unhappy |
| :-|| | Angry |
| :-(0) | Shouting |
| :-< | Cheated |
| >:-( | Very angry |
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| SMS | Meaning |
| :-O | Wow |
| :-| | Determined |
| :-* | Bitter |
| O :-) | An angel |
| :-9 | Salivating |
| :-|/:-I | No face/poker face |
| :-<> | Surprised |
| %-6 | Not very clever |
| :-( ) | Shocked |
| :-~) | Having a cold |
| :-o zz | Bored |
| :-\ | Sceptical |
| : @ | Shouting |
| :-o | Appalled |
| :-X | Not saying a word |
| |-I | Sleeping |
| |-O | Snoring |
| %-} | Intoxicated |
| :-v | Talking |
| :-w | Talking with two tongues |
| B-) | Sunglasses |
| B:-) | Sunglasses on head |
| 8:-) | Glasses on head |
| {:-) | Toupee |
| }:-( | Toupee blowing in the wind |
| =|:-)= | Uncle Sam |
| <:-| | Monk / Nun |
| :^) | Broken nose |
| -:-) | Punk |
| @:-) | Using a turban |
| :=) | Two noses |
| :-# | Razes |
| <|-) | Chinese |
| :-{) | With a moustache |
| :-{} | Lip stick |
| :-? | Smoking a pipe |
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TXT SYMBOLS (EMOTICONS) / SMS Smileys
WOW..LET ME SEE IF I CAN DO THESE TO
@@@@@:-) | Marge Simpson |
@:-) | John Travolta in 'Grease' quiff |
:[ | I am a vampire! |
((:-/
| I am bald |
£$£:-) | I am rich! |
#:-/
| My hair's matted, arghhhh! |
:-))))))) | A person with multiple chins |
D:-)
| Look I am wearing a sailor hat |
}:-(= | Dracula |
:-& | Tongue-tied |
( '}{' )
| Boy and girl kissing |
:") | Blush |
;)
| Cheeky wink |
;-)
| Flirty |
:*
| Kiss or :-x or :o* |
:x
| Secret's safe with me |
;o) | Wink |
*^_^* | A huge dazzling grin |
c|B-) | Ali G |
o:-) | Angel |
:*) ?
| Are you drunk? |
£:-)
| Bad hair day |
:-o zz zz ZZ | Bored or tired |
:-E
| Bucktoothed vampire |
})i({
| Butterfly |
>^,,^<
| Cat |
####@### | Centipede in a sombrero |
C=:-) | Chef |
C8<] | Darth Vader |
>:-)
| Devil |
};-)> | Devil |
A: )
| Dick head |
5:-) | Elvis Presley |
@:-) | Elvis Presley |
9) | Frog |
~B-) | Geek |
:-% | Get Lost |
:-]= | Goofy |
:-) | Happy |
:-) , | I have an outie belly button |
:-) . | have an innie belly button |
#;-) | I have tangled hair |
:-s
| I'm not making sense |
(-.-)Zzz
| I'm sleepy |
:'-) | I'm so happy I'm crying |
:***-)
| I'm wearing body glitter |
B-) | I'm wearing glasses ( therefore 'cool!') |
:-{} | I'm wearing lipstick |
(-:
| It's the left hand smiley! |
(_x_)
| Kiss my butt |
@(*o*)@
| Koala |
%-)
| Like my new glasses |
8(:-)
| Mickey Mouse |
<:3 )~ | Mouse |
}:-(
| My toupee is at risk from a high wind |
:-p
| Naughty |
(:-(
| Noel Gallagher |
:-O
| Oh no |
:-*
| Oops |
=^)
| Open-minded |
:@)
| Pig |
(:::[]:::)
| Plaster |
:-$
| Put your money where your mouth is |
:-(
| Sad |
:-O
| Shouting |
(8-) | Smiley (alternative!) |
/\(oo)/\ | Spider |
:o)
| Sticking your tongue out |
:-p | Sticking your tongue out |
:-D | Sticking your tongue out |
:-@!
| Swearing |
@:-) | Wearing a turban |
:-"
| Whistling |
¿8-| | WWF superstar the Rock (people's eyebrow) |
:-(*)
| You make me sick! |
:------------) | You're a big liar! |
X-( | You're mad! |
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SIMPSON SYMBOLS |
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(_8^(l)
| Homer |
@@@@:-)
| Marge |
3 :-)
| Bart |
{ :-)
| Lisa |
{ :-* | Maggie |
8(/)
| "Doh!" |
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POPSTAR SYMBOLS |
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{;^d)
| Robbie Williams |
&:-)
| Justin N*SYNC |
{{:-)
| Ben A1 |
[:-c))
| Craig David |
;:-c>~
| Shane Boyzone |
-:-----
| Kylie |
di:[ | Eminem |
:) Original smiley | :-) Classic smiley | ;-) Wink | :-)) Very happy | |-) Hee-hee |
:-D Laugh loud | :-o Amazement | :^D" Great! I like it! | :-* Kiss | <3 I love you |
:-s Confusion | {} No comment | :-C Totally unbelievable | :-X Big wet kiss | :-9 Licking lips |
%-) Confused | *:* Fuzzy face | :-@ Screaming | :-7 Wry remark | :-p Sticking out tongue |
:-( Frown | :> Develish grin | (:-|K- Dressed to kill | :-|| Angry | ::=)) Seeing double |
:-> Hey | |:-0 No explanation | #:-) Hair in a mess | >;-(' I am spitting mad | #-) Partied all night |
:-| Hmmm | :-& Tongue-tied | ~#:-( Bad hair day | :'-( I am crying | :*) I' tipsy |
:-o Oh | O:-) Innocent | &:-) Sender has curly hair | (:-... Heart-broken | %-) I'm tipsy but happy |
#:-o Oh no! | :-# My lips are sealed | 8-) Sender wears glasses | :+( I'm hurt by that | :*)? Are you drunk? |
<:-0 Eeek! | :-e I'm disappointed | (-: Sender is left-handed | <:-) Dumb question | ~o~ Bird |
:@ Ouch! | :-(*) Sick comment | (:-) Bald | :// Frustrated | :3-< Dog |
d:-) Hats off to your great idea | :-$ Put your money where your mouth is | :-{) Sender has moustache | |-| Going to sleep | :@) Pig |
\o/ Praise the Lord | *<:o) Clown | :-{)} Sender has moustache and beard | :=8) Baboon | 8^ Chicken |
SMS / TXT LINGO
WHAT DO ALL THESE ABBEVIATIONS MEAN?
AFAIK | as far as I know |
ASAP | as soon as possible |
B | be |
BCNU | be seeing you |
BRB | be right back |
BTDT | been there done that |
BUZZ OFF | buzz off |
BTW | by the way |
C | see |
CID | consider it done |
COZ | because |
CU | see you |
CYA | see you |
DA | the |
DYLM | do you like me |
EZ
| easy |
FOTFLOL | falling on the floor, laughing out loud |
F2T | free to talk |
GAL | get a life |
GTG | got to go |
GR8 | great |
HAND | have a nice day |
HOT4U | hot for you |
H8 | hate |
IYQ | I like you |
IMHO | in my humble opinion |
IMNSHO | in my not so humble opinion |
IM2GUD4U | I'm too good for you |
K | okay |
LOL | laughing out loud OR loads of love |
L8 | late |
L8ER | later |
LV | love |
M8 | mate |
MMFU | my mate fancies you |
MTFBWU | may the force be with you |
NE | any |
NETHNG | anything |
NE1 | anyone |
NO1 | no one |
NP | no problem |
OIC | oh, I see |
OMG | oh, my God |
PAW | parents are watching |
PLS | please |
PPL | people |
R | are |
RTFM | read the flippin' manua |
RU | are you |
RUOK | are you okay |
SOZ | sorry |
STFU | shut the fuck up |
SUM1 | someone |
THANQ | thank you |
THX | thanks |
TMB | text me back |
TTYL | talk to you later |
TXT BAC | text back |
TYVM | thank you very much |
U | you |
URAQT | you are a cutie |
URA* | you are a star |
WAN2 | want to |
WBS | with |
WIV | write back soon |
W/O | without |
W/E | whatever |
WKND | weekend |
WUD? | what you doing |
WYGOWM | will you go out with me |
XLNT | excellent |
Y | why |
YR | your |
YYSSW | yeah yeah sure sure whatever |
1CE | once |
2DAY | today |
2MOR | tomorrow |
2NITE | tonight |
26Y4U | too sexy for you |
:o | surprised |
;/ | confused |
;& | tongue-tied |
\_/\_/ | drinks for two |
-/-/SOX | cool socks |
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