SMS Text Messaging is widely popular, and new technology that improves smartphone bandwidth will make Multimedia Messages the new preferred communications method.

Exchanging SMS text messages, technically identified as Short Message System (SMS), but typically referred to as “texting”, is a straightforward, effortless, and convenient way to communicate among mobile phones.  Not just a very good way for people to keep in touch, SMS can be a handy method for software applications to exchange simple messages, and even setup instructions, to and from  cell phones.  SMS doesn’t need a direct connection between cell phones; the communications infrastructure for the system is already prepared, and it works across most cell service providers. One feature of SMS text messaging that makes it particularly valuable for mobile software applications is that it relies on mobile fixed identity, the phone number. This aspect presents a distinct benefit over other technologies that utilize IP addresses because a mobile phone IP address will vary depending on current network.

Short Message Service (SMS) is a communication service component of the GSM mobile communication system.  It relies on uniform communications rules that allow sending and receiving short text messages between mobiles. SMS texting is the most widely used data application around the globe, boasting almost two and a half billion active users, or three quarters of all cellular phone subscribers.

SMS text messaging as used on modern mobile devices was initially defined as part of the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) series of protocols in 1985  as a method of transferring texts of up to 160 characters, to and from GSM mobile handsets.  Since the mid-eighties service support has expanded to include other mobile technologies such as ANSI CDMA networks and Digital AMPS, as well as satellite and landline networks.  Most SMS messages are mobile-to-mobile text messages, though the standard supports other kinds of broadcast messaging as well.  Computer to mobile phone SMS capabilities are also expanding rapidly.

Global System for Mobile Communications was originally called Groupe Spécial Mobile.  It is the most popular standard for mobile telephone systems in the world. The GSM Association, the promoting industry organization of mobile phone operators and manufacturers, estimates that approximately 80% of the global mobile market uses it.  GSM is enjoyed by over 3 billion people across more than two hundred countries and territories.  Its ubiquity  allows international roaming agreements between mobile phone operators, offering subscribers the benefit of their smartphones all over the world.  GSM differs from its forerunner technologies in that both signaling and speech channels are digital.  This means GSM is considered a second generation (2G) mobile phone system.  Additionally, this  facilitates the wide-spread deployment of data communication software.

The ubiquity of GSM implementation has been a benefit for consumers that are given the option to roam and switch carriers without having to replace their mobile phones, and also to carriers, who can select equipment from a variety of equipment suppliers. GSM pioneered affordable deployment of SMS text messaging, which is now supported on other mobile phone standards.

Recent versions of the standard work with the original GSM system.  Release ’97 of the standard added packet data capabilities using General Packet Radio Service (GPRS). Release ’99 launched higher speed data transmission using Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE).

General packet radio service (GPRS) is a packet oriented mobile data service available to users of the 2G and 3G GSM. In 2G systems.  GPRS data communication is usually billed per megabyte of trafficsent and received, while data communication using traditional circuit switching is billed per minute of connection time, without consideration of whether or not the user actually is using it or if it is idle. GPRS is a best-effort packet switched service, as opposed to circuit switching, that has assured quality of service during the connection for non-mobile users.

2G cellular systems combined with GPRS are regularly referred to as 2.5G.  2.5G is a technology bridge between the second (2G) and third (3G) generations of smartphone telephony. It provides moderate-speed data transfer, by using unused time division multiple access (TDMA) channels. Originally there was some thought to broaden GPRS to cover other standards, but these networks are converting to the GSM standard.   GPRS is integrated into GSM Release 97 and newer releases.

GPRS was developed as a GSM reaction to the earlier CDPD and i-mode packet switched cellular technology.  Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD) was a wide-area mobile data service which used unused bandwidth normally used by AMPS mobile phones.  The service was dropped along with with the discontinuation of the parent AMPS service.
CDPD was developed in the early 1990’s, and was seen as a future technology. But, it had competition from existing slower but less expensive Mobitex and DataTac systems.  CDPD never gained general acceptance and in time newer, faster standards such as GPRS earned widespread acceptance and started dominating.

For consumers CDPD had little to offer.  AT&T Wireless first offered the technology in the United States under the brandname PocketNet, one of the very first consumer wireless web service products. Cingular Wireless later offered CDPD under the Wireless Internet brand (as opposed to Wireless Internet Express, Cingular Wireless GPRS/EDGE data). AT&T Wireless PocketNet was generally considered a failure.  But, CDPD was used  by a number of enterprise and government networks.  It was especially popular as a first-generation wireless data solution for telemetry devices (machine to machine communications) and for public safety mobile data terminals.

Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) (also referred to as Enhanced GPRS (EGPRS), or IMT Single Carrier (IMT-SC), and Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution) is a backward-compatible digital cell phone technology that provides superior data transmission rates on top of standard GSM.  EDGE is considered a 3G radio technology.  EDGE provides  more than three-fold boost in both the capacity and performance of GSM/GPRS networks by utilizing advanced ways of coding and transmitting data, that produce higher bit-rates per radio channel.  EDGE delivers broadband performance and supports high bandwidth data applications such as Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS).

A very interesting software program that uses the connectivity between the mobile device  and the internet to capture and archive MMS Multi-Media Messages, GPS location,  SMS messages, and Call Event Logs is PhoneBeagle Mobile Monitoring.  Follow this link if you are interested in    Mobile Monitoring Software that is compatible with BlackBerry  and  Android  Smartphones,.    Visit this link for more information regarding the latest software for  Parental Monitoring and Employee Monitoring of Mobile Phones .