iTouch is the first in SA, and one of the first in the world, to launch Enhanced Message Service (EMS), the first step towards offering multimedia services (MMS) on cellphones which is likely to overtake the phenomenal popularity of SMS.
Setting new industry standards for the content of messages sent by cellphones, EMS enables graphics to be inserted into Short Message Service (SMS) text messages and text to be formatted with bold or italic characters, for example.
iTouch SA`s marketing manager Simon Leps says EMS adds new functionality to SMS. "Users will also be able to enliven their messages with tunes, sounds, images and animations. It`s another ground-breaking product developed by iTouch`s Cape-Town based R&D operation iLabs."
EMS adds new functionality and content in straightforward easy-to-follow steps and iTouch expects rapid adoption of this new technology. EMS messages are deployed using the same GSM network technology as SMS, providing users who are familiar with SMS messaging the same control over the more content-rich EMS messages. All the enhanced features are sent through the message header over existing SMS networks and phones, which do not support the EMS features will only show the unformatted text. Leps adds that EMS will also open the door for businesses to provide fee-based products for mobile users. This could include corporate logos and icons, or subscription services from movie, music or game companies. iTouch`s EMS is available to some of the newest-technology handsets from Ericsson, Philips, Siemens, Alcatel and Motorola.
At the same time as EMS iTouch has also made a large range of picture messages available as screensavers to Nokia users.
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iTouch is SA`s leading developer and provider of wireless data services and products for both consumer and business markets, giving South Africans the freedom to be dynamic by facilitating communications that keep them in touch with their worlds of work and play.
It is part of the iTouch plc group listed on the London Stock Exchange. ITouch plc has subsidiaries operating in Britain, Ireland, Israel, Australia and New Zealand. Through an agreement with MIH it will also provide wireless data services to mobile customers in China, Indonesia, Thailand and Greece.
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