TABLE OF CONTENTS Voice communication via cell phones in public places is very often annoying to other people. We have all heard someone talking too loudly on a cell phone on a bus, on an airplane, in sports stadiums, in a movie theater, in a classroom, and so on. On many occasions, people need to communicate with others in a non-intrusive way, other than by direct voice communication. Sometimes people prefer text-based communication to direct voice communication. What is needed is a means of communication that is not annoying to others yet allows real-time effective communication. Mobile messaging is the solution to this problem.
Text-based short message services (SMSs) offered by mobile service providers have enjoyed phenomenal growth worldwide. As a quick and reliable way to deliver text information, SMS provides cost-effective person-to-person communication and provider-to-consumer value-added services. Picture messages are on the rise due to the unexpected popularity of camera phones. With the advent of 3G cellular services on the horizon, multimedia messages carrying video clips are likely to follow the trend. These traditional messaging services have been leveraged by content providers or service providers to facilitate an assortment of applications. For example, a phone user may subscribe to an SMS-based news and weather service. In some countries, using SMS to spread jokes and ring tones among friends is commonplace and has generated huge revenues for content providers and mobile network operators. In addition to plain messaging exchange, cell phone or smart phone users...
