PCS Mail -- a rarely used service which provided Sprint customers with an @sprintpcs.com email address -- is officially going away in 2009. The carrier has just posted up an informational site announcing that the service will be discontinued on December 31st, and there's even a few helpful links if you're struggling to understand how to move on with your life and train yourself to utilize another e-mail client. First Voice Command, now this -- anything else you're planning to shutter, Sprint?

[Via RCRWireless]

Indosat customers (or folks traveling through Indonesia) may be interested to know that the carrier has teamed with RIM to launch "BlackBerry On Demand," a prepaid option for fetching BlackBerry Internet Service in the country without a multi-year contract. Available in 7-day and 30-day packages, the on demand service is available to customers with prepaid and postpaid voice plans, though there's no word on pricing just yet.

We're not sure what sort of mind-altering tricks Bell and Telus pulled on him, but Canada's minister of industry, Jim Prentice, is taking an entirely less confrontational tone after meeting with the carriers following their decisions to start charging 15 cents for incoming text messages. He'd originally sounded pretty fired up over the plans -- which involved absolutely zero collusion whatsoever, we're sure -- but now says he "would encourage consumers dissatisfied with existing plans to seek alternatives" after being assured by both Bell and Telus that customers charged for spam texts would be able to get the charges removed. Given everything we know about billing issues and customer service calls, that's... shall we say, not exactly reassuring.

[Via MobileSyrup]

Telus clearly knows what's up. College kids aren't much on talking this day and age, but they sure love to text and surf. A pair of Student Plans (good 'til September 30th) have just emerged, one for phones ($35 per month) and the other for smartphones ($50 per month). Both rate plans offer up just 200 minutes of talk time but include nationwide unlimited talk, text, picture and video messaging with your Fave 10, unlimited nights and weekends starting at 6:00PM and unlimited web browsing. If you're hemming and hawing, maybe the $50 GAP gift card you get when purchasing the $35 plan with an LG KEYBO will be the deciding factor. No? Okay.

[Via mobilesyrup]

Just like the original, AT&T now has a so-called TAP (Text Accessibility Plan) all set up for the iPhone 3G that'll offer unlimited messaging and data to folks with disabilities. Interested parties do need to fill out a qualification form, meaning that your average able-bodied customer isn't going to be able to get in on the service -- and unfortunately, it's undergone the same $10 facelift that the regular plans have suffered, meaning subscribers will now be paying $50 a month ($65 for enterprise use) instead of the $40 that was being charged previously. By the way, we're shaking our fists at the heavens right now, cursing inflation, market forces, and corporate greed.

Using little more than book knowledge, experience from previous projects, and a healthy shot of elbow grease, a Kenyan kid has constructed a nifty (and perhaps just a little scary) box that attaches to your car to provide a number of unique remote-control features that you're not going to find on your average OnStar setup. The flagship function seems to be the real-time lockout, which can call you as the car is being started; only if you confirm that it's not some baddie trying to jack your ride will the ignition request be granted. That's not all, though -- it'll also let you dial into the car and listen in on any conversations going on within. The young man says he's seeking additional funding to take his project to the next level, but in the meantime, don't even think about making off with a white Mitsubishi the next time you're in Mombasa. Follow the break for a video of the system in action.

[Via AfriGadget]

Really now, who hasn't had a moment where they celebrated mightily after no one picked up on the fourth / fifth ring? Rather that trusting Lady Luck to lead your phone calls to voicemail, Slydial's giving you a main line in. Said company enables any US post-paid wireless customer on any major carrier to dial someone in a similar situation and drop a message in their voicemail box without having to actually speak to them. Folks interested in taking advantage simply dial (267)-SLY-DIAL from either a landline or mobile telephone, enter in another mobile number and either listen to a short advertisement or pay up in the form of a subscription fee or $0.15 per call. Give it a go and see how it turns out.

[Via DownloadSquad]

Raising the stakes, are we LG? If you'll recall, the first ever LG National Texting Championship concluded last year by giving the winner some $25,000 to spend on finger strengtheners, backup handsets and ridiculously priced texting packages. This year, the proud victor walked out with double that. 20-year old Nathan Schwartz from Cleveland State swiped the grand prize as he pumped out "Does everybody here know the alphabet? Let's text. Here it goes ... AbcDeFghiJKlmNoPQrStuvWXy & Z! Now I know my A-B-C's, next time won't you text with me?" within a minute with zero mistakes. Apparently Mr. Schwartz utilized an LG enV to key in the winning message, though he did call the iPhone and BlackBerry "superior products." Better cash that LG-signed check fast, buddy -- ever heard of a "stp pymnt?"

[Via textually]

Heads-up, INpulse users! Okay, sorry for calling you out like that, but Verizon Wireless has a new messaging plan on the horizon that may please those of you texting your bill straight to absurdity. Beginning on July 14th, VZW prepaid customers can choose to get unlimited text, picture and video messaging to all other Verizon customers nationwide in addition to 250 messages to anyone else for $10 per month. Huzzah?

[Via phoneArena]

Though it's a common practice in the US, charging customers for incoming text messages isn't terribly common up in Canada. Don't worry though, Canadians -- your days of being chronically undercharged are drawing to a close thanks to suspiciously closely-timed announcements from Bell and Telus that they'll start chalking up 15 cents per inbound message for anyone not on a messaging plan starting in August. The country's industry minister is none too pleased about the change (the dude must get like a thousand texts a day, after all), sending out letters to Bell and Telus' head honchos requesting meetings before the new charges take effect. We'll see where this goes, but we certainly wouldn't get our hopes up.

Read - Bell, Telus customers to pay for incoming text messages
Read - Ottawa moves to forestall texting revolt [Via Smart Mobs]

While there has been quite the kerfuffle about banning texting while driving and educating Australian youngsters on text speak, a new survey shows that the vast majority of us haven't even sent a single SMS. Research firm Ipsos MediaCT polled individuals in a variety of countries and came to one general conclusion: If folks are using SMS, "they're using it frequently." On the flip-side, those who aren't savvy with text messaging aren't apt to just dabble in it. For instance, 82% of respondents in America said "that they never used text messaging, while 3% said that they used it monthly or less" and 15% reported using it "every week or even more. Who knows what that figure would be if carriers stopping charging an arm and a leg for per-use messaging.

[Via Textually, image courtesy of ugo]

Just a little over a year after going to 15 cents per message, T-Mobile's at it again, bumping the rate to 20 cents for those who go over their monthly allotment. For anyone with an unlimited messaging plan, it's obviously not an issue -- but many folks aren't, so this could end up stinging the pocketbook just a bit when it goes in effect come August 29. For what it's worth, T-Mob just seems to be responding to the 20 cent trend that's going on in the industry right now -- but it still hurts something fierce, and it's a pretty solid reminder that even casual texters are better off on a legit messaging plan these days.

[Thanks, Ryan J. and Mike]

This ain't your grandpappy's My Circle. Well, actually, it pretty much is, with one small change: customers signing up for a My Circle messaging plan of $7.99 or higher on Alltel will now get unlimited messaging within their Circle, while the non-Circle bucket starts at 400 per month. The $19.99 "All Access Pass" is still available too, which rocks unlimited messaging to everyone regardless of whether they're cool enough to be in your Circle -- and it includes mobile web access, to boot. The new plans are available immediately.

Between this, voice-to-text, and text-to-voice systems, the lines between talking and texting are getting very blurred indeed. NEC used the NXTcomm show in Las Vegas to show off its "Bubble Text" technology, which is really nothing more than voice SMS -- record a quick snippet of talking, send it off, and the recipient gets a note in his or her inbox with your sonorous speech attached to it. At a high level, it's no different than attaching a sound clip to an MMS, but NEC appears to have streamlined the software to the point where setting up and sending the message is no more difficult than sending a traditional text -- and depending on your circumstances, it can actually be quite a bit easier since there's no actual texting involved. NEC claims that seven carriers have already deployed Bubble Talk, and it's in talks (bubble talks?) with several others. Follow the break for a video of Bubble Talk in action.

[Via Unwired View]

Fiddlesticks, did you just leave your precious iPhone in the bathroom of that gas station back there? Why yes, we're pretty sure you did! If you're looking to verify that with a little more certainty, though, Navizon has just the answer. The company -- already no stranger to positioning apps for the iPhone -- has released its "Mobfindr" feature which allows you to text a key phrase to your beloved companion and have it reply with its current location. Great for finding a lost or recently-stolen phone, tracking children, or perhaps for tracking man's best friend should you decide to strap an iPhone to him in lieu of a Garmin DC 30. The feature's currently available exclusively for the iPhone, but Navizon expects BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, and S60 versions in the near future. Follow the break for a look at Mobfindr getting its track on.