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Tech NewsGoogleLooks Like Google Messages Might Finally Be Getting End-to-End Encryption
End-to-end encryption for RCS appears to finally be in the pipeline for Google’s messaging app. That’s according to code spotted in an upcoming version update by the folks at APKMirror, as first reported by 9to5 Google this weekend. Rich communication services, or RCS, is a type of messaging protocol that puts its predecessor, SMS, to … Continued
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Tech NewsNewsWhy Are People Suddenly Getting Mysterious Text Messages?
Early Thursday morning, people all over the U.S. and Canada began receiving strange text messages that didn’t make a whole lot of sense. The texts were from people they knew but they lacked context and appeared to have been sent months ago. And it really freaked some folks out! Mercifully, there is an explanation for … Continued
By Rhett Jones -
Tech NewsYup, the President Can Mass-Message Everyone in the Country Any Time
The President of the United States can mass-message the entire phone-carrying nation at the same time whenever he deems it necessary, as a Wall Street Journal video reminded us today. Unless you’re carrying around a very old device, your phone has a specified capability* that makes sure official POTUS messages can always go through, no … Continued
By Kate Knibbs -
Tech NewsPrivacy and Security
Hackers Can Force ATMs to Spit Out Money With a Text Message
It’s getting remarkably easy to hack ATMs these days, and security researchers say that Microsoft’s aging Windows XP is making the problem worse. This week, security analysts at Symantec blogged about a new technique popping up in Mexico that uses text messages to give hackers access. It’s as wild as it sounds. The method does … Continued
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Tech NewsApple
This iPhone Prank Tricks People Into Thinking They’re Getting a Text
You know the feeling. You and a friend are having a conversation via text and the little bubble with the blinking dots shows up indicating that she’s typing. So much anticipation! You’d stare at those dots for hours waiting for a text, wouldn’t you? Wouldn’t it be funny if the dots just kept blinking? Well, … Continued
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io9
LCD contact lenses could beam text messages right to your eyeball
Displays that appear right in front of your eyeballs is a popular trope in science fiction, and thanks to new developments in microsystems technology, those displays are one giant leap closer to becoming a reality. Researchers at Ghent University have developed a curved LCD display that can display text and images on the tiny surface … Continued
By Lauren Davis -
Tech NewsFacebook
The Future of Texting Is a Mess
SMS messaging turned 20 years old yesterday, and feels even older. It’s decrepit, though, wildly overpriced, and too limited to be our long-term texting solution. https://gizmodo.com/the-first-text-message-was-sent-20-years-ago-today-5965121 But all the up and comers trying to replace it? They’ve got plenty of problems of their own, and the transition to iMessage, Facebook Chat, or whatever wins out … Continued
By Kyle Wagner -
Tech News
The First Text Message Was Sent 20 Years Ago Today
On December 3rd 1992, a 22-year-old Canadian test engineer sat down and typed out a very simple message, “Merry Christmas.” It flew over the Vodafone network to the phone of one Richard Jarvis, and since then, we just haven’t been able to stop texting. Texting is a major staple of communication now, and by far … Continued
By Eric Limer -
Tech News
What’s the Worst Accidental Text You’ve Ever Sent or Received?
The above photo is a real example of texting gone horribly wrong. Morbid and hilarious for us, but uncomfortable for the him (or her). And it just brings up so many questions. Maybe you can relate with your own texting mishap. Either you mistakenly sexted the guy you bought a blender from on Craigslist or … Continued
By Leslie Horn -
Tech News
Why I Never Want To Get a Text Message Ever Again
A few years ago texting was the bomb. It was quick, easy, way better than having to open yourself up to an actual back-and-forth conversation with someone, and perfect for surreptitious communication in class or meetings or whathaveyou. That said, I’d be glad to never get a text message ever again. It’s not the principle … Continued
By Eric Limer -
Tech News
Do You Care About Punctuation in Text Messages?
Text messaging is arguably the most casual form of communication available—and, back when we all first began to text on our dumbphones, the sort of shorthand style that developed was perfectly reasonable. Why strain to type out full words, when a universally understood abbreviation could do the job just as well? Now that smartphones are … Continued
By Molly Oswaks -
io9MoviesThe Best (And Worst) Texting Scenes in TV and Movies
Text messaging is new enough that movies and TV shows haven’t landed on a consistent way to show viewers what their characters are saying. Done incorrectly, an on-screen text session can look immediately dated or weird. But with the right visuals, the effect can be sublime, as Every Frame A Painting shows us. Tony Zhou … Continued
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Tech News
17-Year-Old Speed-Texting Champion Does it Drrrty (UPDATED)
17-year-old Justin Bieber look-alike Austin Wierschke, of Rhinelander, Wisconsin (and a native of the United Kingdom?), is $50,000 richer today—thanks to his speedy-quick thumbs and unfailingly accurate dexterity. He’s a two-time prize-winning SMS champion, ladies and gents, the fastest in our great nation. A noble talent undeniably deserving of large piles of cash. The eight-round … Continued
By Molly Oswaks -
Tech News
Tens of Thousands of People Receive Same Text Message Death Threat
A text message from a self-proclaimed hitman was sent to thousands of people in Australia. It warned them to not contact the police, under threat of death. So naturally they all called the cops and caused a mini-panic. It’s an old scam, but this is a kind of impressive scale. Here’s the message: “Sum1 paid … Continued
By Kyle Wagner -
Tech NewsA Way To Organize Your Phone’s SMS Text Mess
Even with iMessages, BBM, Google Talk, and the other mobile IM clients out there, most of us still use plain old SMS text messages to do the bulk of our, well, texting. MySMS is a new service that gives texting a lot of the benefits of higher tech forms of communication. It’s pretty simple: You … Continued
By Kyle Wagner -
io9
Glowing text messages spill out into the real world
In Lee Jung’s lovely photographs, text messages have escaped the confines of the phone screen and scattered across the real world, illuminating various landscapes with their questions and declarations of love. Creating neon letters, photographing them, and sending the photos to another person’s phone seems like a lot of effort to go to when sending … Continued
By Lauren Davis -
io9
When we uplift dogs, these are the text messages they’ll send
For now, dogs are man’s best friend, but what happens once they gain sentience and an unlimited data plan? Text from Dog is a collection of interspecies communications between our canine pals and their human companions, who don’t know where Mr. Duck is and aren’t hunkering beneath the couch to look for it. Text from … Continued
By Lauren Davis -
Tech NewsFacebook
Has Facebook Been Reading Your Text Messages? (UPDATED)
Let’s take a healthy sodium-dose here, but London’s Sunday Times is alleging that Facebook has admitted to reading users’ text messages. People at Facebook supposedly read the private SMS messages of users who downloaded the Facebook app on their smartphones. This was allegedly in preparation for Facebook launching their own messaging service, but it is … Continued
By Brent Rose -
Tech NewsApple
AT&T’s New Text Plan Overcharges You by 10,000,000 Percent. Literally.
AT&T’s killing their $10/1,000 text plan. Now, you’ll have to choose between $20 for unlimited, or forgo a plan and pay $0.20 per message. AT&T calls this “streamlining.” We call it what it is: an outrageous, gigantic scam. It’s important to note, before considering anything SMS, that text messages are essentially free. Not for you, … Continued
By Sam Biddle
