Flexta : SMS

Justin Oberman on Personal Democray Forum reports on the conflict in the Middle East and how mobile technology is now being used to rally people around the world during those 15 seconds.

As rockets fired by Hamas continue to fall into the Israeli city of Sederot where countless of innocent victims have 15 seconds [...]

Web-based ebook store, BooksOnBoard, is bringing more than 30,000 eBook titles in the eReader eBook to the iPhone/iPod Touch. They [BooksOnBoard], however, are not releasing their own dedicated iPhone app. Rather the ebook store relies on the existing application, Stanza, which should be used for accessing BooksOnBoard’s offering.
For those not familiar with Stanza,it’s a [...]

The Israeli army has forbid its soldiers taking part in Operation Cast Lead from making cell phone calls amid all-out aggression in Gaza. press TV reports.
Six hours before the Israeli ground incursion into Gaza on Saturday, thousands of infantry and armored forces were ordered to hand over their cell phones, an official has told AFP [...]

The war in Gaza is the first to be broadcast in 140 characters or less, writes Social Entrepreneurship.
In the late 1960s, Walter Cronkite and the television news broadcast the horror of the Vietnam war, American servicemen’s coffins and all. At the same time, the Nigeria-Biafra civil war became the first televised humanitarian crisis. [...]

Hospitals in the UK have been told to allow more patients to use mobile phones on their wards. Silicon.com reports.
Updated government guidelines, issued today, say hospitals should encourage patients to use their mobiles wherever possible, by putting up signs indicating where handsets can be safely used.
… However, the changes have sparked anger among the NHS [...]

According to Macnn, developers have expressed frustration with the App Store review process recently, receiving canned messages that claim “unexpected additional time for review.”
Apple will reject apps that duplicate existing iPhone functionality, violate the SDK rules or cause reliability issues. Although a straightforward rejection is not desirable, the developers would at least have [...]

With the launch of Skype integration, Truephone’s mobile VoIP service is fast becoming a unified client for other VOIP and messaging services, reports TechCrunch
As well as the ability to make low-cost calls over Wi-Fi or GSM networks and send cheap SMS, it is now supporting Skype and other messaging services via its application for [...]

Over the past several months, a new phenomenon has been sweeping the world of mobile advertising and marketing. In addition to traditional banners, text links, and videos, Mobile Applications have won a major place in the hearts of brands and agencies alike. MobiADNews reports via MocoNews.
Why an app? Because it allows brands “to engage [...]

SlingMedia, the company behind the popular (and very cool) settop boxes that allow you to stream cable from your house to your computer, looks like it has outdone itself.
At this week’s Macworld the company will be showing off its upcoming iPhone application, which effectively gives iPhone owners instant access to their Cable TVs and [...]

Apple has filed a patent for iPhone glovess that have an extra inner layer which would enable the screen to recognize the touch of a gloved finger.
[New Launches via Mashable via Engadget]

On inauguration night, Barack and Michelle will make their first stop – and dance their first dance – at a ball that will be Webcast to living rooms and community centers around the country as part of the Presidential Inaugural Committee’s plan to make this the most accessible swearing-in in history. Politico reports.
Some [...]

Getting tweets from the war zone is so 2008. The latest social media advance combines tools like Twitter, test messaging, and online mapping to gather up first-hand reports, straight from Gaza. Wired reports.
The effort, from Al Jazeera Labs, just got started; the reporting is still spotting, and the technology is very much in [...]