| Watch any teenager these days and you will see their fingers flying across the key pad of their cell phone. At first glance, you may think that they are frantically searching for a much needed phone number. Probably not. Most likely are making use of their cell phone text messaging feature. Text messaging is a feature of cell phones that allows a person to type out a message on the key pad to be delivered to another phone number.
Since most cell phone’s key pads are not friendly to typing, many people use a type of shorthand to cut down on number of keys used when getting their message across. So txt msg (text messages) can be filled with snippets such as LOL for laughing out loud, IMHO to mean in my humble opinion, or GRL to mean girl. There are hundreds of shortcuts for text messagers to use that can help save their fingers from cramping.
Another way of entering text into text messages is through the use of CamelCase, or NerdCaps. This method merely compounds all the words of a sentence and uses a capital letter in place of a space. Text messaging for all becomes TextMessagingForAll. Technology has also helped resolve hand cramps from texting. With Predictive Text technology, most phones have a dictionary that predicts what the person is trying to type. The user can accept the suggestion to save time or ignore it and continue typing.
Text messaging can be quite costly. Cell phone service providers charge on average 15 cents per text message. That includes messages sent and messages received. Cell phone plans can include a certain amount of text messages per month, again messages sent and received count against this total. After the maximum is used up, charges begin to incur. If you have a teenager, it may be wise to look into a plan that incorporates text messaging or even unlimited text messaging. Remember that you can limit the number of messages they send, however they are still charged when their friends send texts to them.
International text messaging is another popular way to communicate with relatives and friends overseas. This works in the same manner as text messaging however the cost structure is much different (sending international text messages cost more). One way to cut down on international text message charges is to look into an international long distance plan for your phone.
Like text messaging, video messaging is another popular means of communication. In order to send message videos, a phone must be equipped with the right technology. A video messenger phone allows users to record short video snippets and send that video and audio to other phones that are compatible. These video messages are also called multimedia messages and generally average 25 cents per message. Most cell phone providers offer certain plans or add-ons where a customer can add media services to their phone. Video, picture, and audio messaging to some degree is often included in these types of packages.
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