MMS

The 404 114: Where all we drink is SPACE BEER

Cheers to the Space Beer Guy, who makes another appearance on the show today to help us debut our new Analog Pants video. We also talk about TBS's intrusive ad placement, Joy Division's upcoming Zune, naked multimedia messages, and why PS3 owners are quickly destroying our planet. EPISODE 114 Download today's podcast

Microsoft Online adds some big-name customers

For quite a while now, Microsoft has been managing the desktops as a service provider for Energizer Holdings and XL Capital. Last year, Microsoft announced it was expanding the effort, offering large businesses the option of getting hosted Exchange and SharePoint directly as part of a program called Microsoft Online.

Executives had said that Microsoft's customer list had expanded, but has declined to say just who is on the roster.

The company is finally naming some names. Among the customers are Autodesk, Blockbuster, Coca-Cola and Ingersoll-Rand, all of whom have glowing things to say about the Microsoft service.

Microsoft … Read more

Kadoink's phonecast lines officially open for texting

On Thursday, Kadoink, an audio-messaging service, officially announced its beta Web site. The audio-delivery service, summarized at the Under the Radar Conference, sends MP3s, and voice and text messages to individuals or groups from your phone or the Web, harnessing one of seven widgets to automate updates.

Kadoink's phonecasting audience takes in social butterflies, particularly the party-going set. Ka...doinkers (?) are encouraged to send voice and music clips from gatherings, concerts, and other too-cool-to-be-true events. It does require an initial time investment to create friend groups online or by phone, the latter method that requires texting-specific messages to Kadoink'… Read more

ShoZu introduces MMS you pay for once

ShoZu (coverage) recently added a new dimension to its multimedia messaging service--the ability to post photos and video clips to a preset cadre of destinations, while only paying for a single data transfer.

On the Web site, ShoZu users select from 30 popular sites their multimedia submissions will auto-update each time they upload an image or video. The sites include Facebook, Flickr, Picasa, YouTube, plus the usual trove of blog hosting sites like TypePad, WordPress, and LiveJournal. Also fair game are personal e-mail and FTP addresses.

The new service also incorporates a tagging architecture that lets users assign tags to … Read more

YouTube mobile now available for everyone

YouTube's mobile site has been live and available as of a few days ago. The service offers a hand-picked selection of videos users can watch on their mobile devices. Users have access to just the bare essentials, such as running time, rating, and a link to a video's page with more details. There is, however, no community aspect--no user comments, ratings, or video responses--the kind of things that make YouTube so interesting. Also missing is a dedicated video uploader, as mobile users are still required to submit their mobile videos via MMS messaging.

Instead of running in Flash, … Read more

Take me out to the ball game

The Washington Nationals may not have the best record, but they're ahead of the game in creating new ways to use your cell phone. As of April 26, the team is letting fans use digital tickets on their handsets to gain admission to games. After buying a ticket from the team's Web site, you can request to have it sent directly to a phone in a multimedia message (MMS). You then take your phone directly to the admission gate where they scan the bar code from your handset's screen. Then it's off to enjoy the ball … Read more

Compulsive classifieds with Iqzone

Iqzone is a new service announced at Demo 07 that allows you to post classified ads to the Internet using the camera on your cell phone. Users can create text-only postings or add pictures. The entire process is done by sending your photo and item description in a mixed media text message.

Iqzone is free, and all listings end up on the Iqzone's classifieds Web site. I'd like to see Iqzone build in some sort of integration to post to Craigslist and eBay. The service is being promoted as a quick way to sell things, but I can'… Read more