As from today,
Twitter no longer deliver SMS updates via +447624801423. Some countries may be given a new number some time in the future - but until then, affected users have to use alternative mobile solutions which don't alert them when a new Direct Message arrives in their Inbox.
My interim proposal:
Twitter should implement a non-answerable so-called
ping call for +447624801423 as used by
cellity in their
cellity freeSMS and
cellity Communicator mobile Java applications. This would be inexpensive and easy for
Twitter to set up.
This is how the
ping call works with
cellity applications:
I've added
cellityPING to my cellphone's phonebook, and given the number an SMS-like ringtone.
When a new
cellity freeSMS arrives, my phone rings briefly and then displays a
Missed call from
cellityPING.
Then I start the
cellity freeSMS Java app. on my phone, and head for my inbox.
I'd like to add
TwitterPING +447624801423 to my cellphone's phonebook in the same way, and be alerted whenever a new DM arrives.
Of course,
Twitter needn't limit this to Direct Messages. Some of my Twitter contacts update only a couple of times a week, and I'd want a ping alert to their public messages, too.
When I'm without PC access, I start
cellityTweeter (16kB) maybe 2 - 3 times a day to view my Twitter timeline. Since
cellityTweeter, like all 3rd.-party applications, can access only the last 20 tweets of any timeline, I could easily miss something interesting if my timeline been unusually busy.
The
cellity site is not easy to navigate, so here are some
links:
Some cellity FAQ (but none on
cellityTweeter!)
cellity Communicator (ca. 140kB.
Does "everything", and incorporates all
cellityTweeter and
cellity freeSMS functions - but won't work on my oldish (2003) Siemens MC60 cellphone).
cellity freeSMS (30 - 37kB, according to phone model - works on my cellphone).
Info about cellity freeSMS on
www.GetJar.com.
cellity Tweeter (16kB - excellent on my cellphone).
Info about cellity Tweeter on
www.GetJar.com.