Global Alerts - 66466 in the US

This is an alerts provider with coverage in countries on five countries. Impressive but remember, this is the US Short Codes WHOIS. I did not put 55655 in the Title because that is their Canadian short code.

So what alerts can you get through 66466: Astro, Fun, Joke, KO, Love, Lord, Health, and Mango. Are they missing anything? I don't know.

I sent 'astro' to 66466 as they said on http://www.glomobi.com/index.php?c=us&s=astro. It is $1 per message or $30 per month according to T&Cs on the website. I didn't get a message after 2 minutes and I don't feel like waiting, before posting this entry. I wasn't going to reply 'Y' anyways to subscribe. I was just curious.

Space Launch Alerts - 65279

Here is another service that doesn't interest me personally. You get alerts on space launches. No, it's not to make sure you don't miss your flight. You can see instructions on how to subscribe at $2.49 per month at http://www.space2phone.com/join.html.

Even better, you can see a three month launch schedule at http://www.space2phone.com/launchschedule.html. It's too big to fit in an SMS message. Ok, go and enjoy.

Style ME - 30130

WE: Women's Entertainment provides style tips via sms. It's free and it's fun. It's a creative tie-in to Rachel Hunter's Style Me every Monday at 10pm. You can sign up at at http://styleme.mobile.we.tv/. I signed up, to test it out, and received an alert yesterday inviting me to call 619-308-5053 and listen to the tip. A creative way around the 160 character limitation of SMS.

Mobile Candy Dish - 22639 (CANDY)

When I first saw the vanity short code, I was sure it was 'adult' content. Turns out it's movie search via sms. There is also a Java version, but this blog is about short codes.

The sms search will cost you $0.50 per message or $1.00 per month for a subscription. I guess they want you to subscribe.

Check it out at http://www.mobilecandydish.com/movie_candy_sms.html or send 'help' to 22639.

There is also something about Sports, but I was confused on that one.

Lots more chat

When it comes to chat, I don't use it so I don't what to say about each provider. Here is a few I added to www.usshortcodeswhois.com on 20 January.

36000
85858
44121
44123

Unlike in the UK, 69 or 89 does not have to be part of the number. It is America after all, we don't want to talk about sex.....maybe chat about it.

ESPN Sports Alerts - 43776

ESPN provides sports alerts through short code 43776. Check out www.espn.com/wireless.

Frito Lay - INNW (46691)

InNw stands for "If not now, when?" And I always thought it was something Rabbi Hillel said.

In our mobile age, it is "where teens can win unique prizes including "breaking into the music industry" as a production assistant, get free music and video game downloads, and much more." Check out the press release at http://hipcricket.com/PR/1-march-05_innw.asp, or go to http://www.innw.com/

Radio Text Messaging (97373)

ClearChannelBroadcasting and Hipcricket provide a text message service. Listeners can use cell phones to give their feedback or participate in surveys, quizzes and give-aways. Seems to be same service as Fox Sports Radio, but for different station.

RACER Mobile (72237)

Another shared short code came on the market in January. They support premium campaigns built around "Mobile Clubs." Find RACER at http://www.racermobile.com/

Stephen King - Cell (75464)

Here's a first in the US, as far as USShortCodesWHOIS knows. A publisher is promoting a book with a text messaging campaign. Maybe it's because the book is about cellphones, and the horror that they unleash. Is this fiction?

WNEP TV - School Alerts via Short Code (65577)

All the school alerts systems I have seen, and there are quite a few providers, utilize smpp to send an alert to a mobile phones email address. Why is that? Must be because it's free for the sender. Sending text messages via a short code cost the sender money.

WNEP TV alerts are sponsored by: Toyota, ESSA Bank & Trust. I imagine because it is sponsored (paid by advertising) they decided to use a short code instead of free smpp. The smpp alerts seem to be all non-commercial and therefore tolerated by the carriers. That's just my guess.

Burger King Launches Super Bowl Sweeps (25946)

Let's face it, these sweepstakes are fast and fun. I don't see Txt-to-Win going away.

SpicyMint, Another Chat Service (69069)

Here is another chat service with 69 in the short code, twice no less. Enjoy, if you like this sort of thing.

UPOC Networks (8762)

That's right. A four digit short code. We assume that this short code must pre-date the current common short code system that provides five digit short codes.

An interesting claim: "Now in its fifth year, Upoc Networks ...... currently is solely responsible for more than 4% of all text messaging traffic in the United States"

Voter Registration and Mobilization via Text Messaging (80837)

Now here is something intended to improve our lives through greater participation in the political process. 'Mobile Voter' is sort of modern times equivalent of 'Motor Votor.' Maybe this will get text messaging into US history books.

Mobile Voter told us that "Mobile Voter is a non-profit non-partisan organization utilizing mobile technology to make registering to vote easier and more accessible to youth. At present, we’re conducting a campaign which allows citizens to request forms via SMS. Our long-term goal is to make registering to vote as easy as calling a friend."

KCRA 3 GOES MOBILE! with short code 52723 (KCRA3)

KCRA 3 GOES MOBILE!
KCRA 3 NEWS: On-Air, Online And Now On Your Mobile Phone!

Check out http://www.kcra.com/station/5374527/detail.html to see how you can get breaking news alerts and local information from the greater Sacramento area. What I found interesting is that they are using a dedicated vanity code and not a shared code. I expected to see send keyword KCRA to short code 46397 (4NEWS). By the way, checking www.usshortcodes.com, I see that 46397 is not available, but it's also not live. I texted 'help' to 46397 and received no response.

Google requires use of short code 46245 (GMAIL)

Google has included SMS in the creation of a Gmail account. Check out https://www.google.com/accounts/SmsMailSignup1. According to Google, "You need to receive and enter a special invitation code in order to create an account. Currently, we are only sending these codes as text messages to mobile phones." They say this cuts down on email spam. They also say that "if you choose to, we can save your mobile phone number in your Google account, so that you will be able to use it for upcoming Google mobile services like secure password recovery and SMS alerts. In accordance with the Gmail Privacy Policy, your number will never be sold or shared for marketing purposes without your permission, nor will we contact you using this number without your express permission."

Calling All Comics Fans - GoComics Launches Mobile Storefront

There is a new addition to the US Common Short Code WHOIS directory.

"GoComics, a leader in wireless content, launched their new online store at www.GoComics.com. Mobile phone users will find an impressive lineup of wallpapers and animations." "Fans can also visit the store directly from their phones by texting COMIC to 26642."

From my Cingular phone, I texted COMIC to 26642 and recieved service message to download a mobile storefront. There were animations and wallpapers to download. I looked up, but did not download, a $2.49 Japanese manga wallpaper. There was a category for games, but no content under that.

Is this news worth posting

Does anyone care to read about ringtone news? Virgin Mobile USA and Bad Boy Records Offer Exclusive Content from The Notorious B.I.G. It doesn't really interest me.

M:Metrics: November 2005 Statistics

M:Metrics announced monthly statistics for November 2005 on 27 December 2005. See IF YOU BUILD IT, THEY WILL COME: M:METRICS FINDS THE RIGHT DEVICE CAN DRIVE MOBILE CONTENT USAGE. The highlight I am interested in is that 32.2% of mobile subscribers, or 58.3 million people, used text messaging. Compare that to 5.8% who used Mobile Instant Messaging and 10.2% who retrieved news or information via a browser.

It would be nice to know what percentage of mobile subscribers sent and received messages from one or more short codes, and for what purpose.