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]

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.

Gone are the days of meticulously hand-cutting and pasting letters onto sheets of spiral bound lined notepad paper. Thanks to the wonders of modern technology, criminals of all skill levels should be able to boil their carefully crafted ransom notes down to an SMS, which can be received and read by the victim at their convenience. We kid, we kid -- KTF's new "Font of Your Own" service isn't actually designed to support anonymous demands for cash as far as we can tell, but will allow any user of the free service to take pictures of 33 characters with their phone to create a custom font for use in messaging. A PC-based font editor app will also be available for those hardcore font connoisseurs looking to create that perfect typeface for their next mobile communique. And no, if you're outside South Korea, you can't have this, so don't even ask.

[Via Unwired View]

Verizon has recently told its subscribers to expect a healthy bump in their text messaging rates, going from 15 cents to 20 cents this March for domestic texts to match Sprint's numbers. The change only affects postpaid customers; prepaid dudes and gals soldier on at 2 to 10 cents per, depending on plan. Incoming international texts go up from 15 to 20 cents, too, though the outgoing rate remains unchanged at 25 cents. Whether that'll hold if some random patent holding firm wins bazillions from Big Red, well, that's another matter entirely.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

At first, we sorta thought those air raid sirens (you know, the ones that are freakin' loud enough to wake the dead) were enough of an "emergency alert" as it was, but consider this: they usually don't tell you the nature of the emergency or give you instructions on exactly how you're supposed to proceed. That's not the sirens' fault -- a mind-numbingly loud "whoop whoop" really doesn't have the bandwidth to reveal that kind of information to the human ear -- but now that SMS-capable phones are ubiquitous, it's time to smarten things up just a tad. The government's Emergency Alert System has had just such a plan in the works for a while now, and Sprint Nextel is becoming the first national carrier to trial a system capable of sending targeted, location based alerts when bad stuff goes down. The trial is taking place in scenic Contra Costa, California; no word on a national rollout, but if you find out about your next tornado, earthquake, or other scary sitch via text, your area have just gotten swept into the craze.

Switzerland's three largest carriers have reported that their subscribers sent a grand total of 62 million-plus text messages on Christmas Eve and Christmas day, 5 million more than were sent in the same two-day period last year. Any way you slice it, that's a big steaming pile of SMSes -- especially considering that the good, neutral folks of Switzerland total under 8 million in population. Swisscom reports that a little over half of the messages were sent on Christmas Eve, a stat we can totally buy since we know we were too busy unwrapping phones and headsets on the 25th to bother firing off texts.

[Via textually.org]

The unlimited text, picture, and video messaging that Verizon customers on plain-vanilla plans have enjoyed for a few weeks now is moving on to spread its love to other segments of the market. Push-to-talk plans are next, with unlimited messaging running $20 above and beyond the standard plan cost -- a tad steep, yes, although it includes messaging on any network. With the new feature, individual PTT plans start at $70.

We've received word that AT&T is prepping a new package that should make texting outside of the US just a little more palatable. Right now, folks pay a stiff $0.20 to get their SMSes off our shores and $0.15 to get them in -- not bad, no, but still a good deal pricier than the domestic stuff. The new plan, scheduled for a June 3 launch, allegedly rocks 100 texts per month for $9.99, basically shaving 50 percent off the cost (for the first hundred, anyway). Still more expensive than a text to your friend next door -- and no, it doesn't include picture or video messaging -- but we'll take what we can get.

[Thanks, anonymous tipster]

Text addicts, rejoice: your plans have arrived. Verizon's unlimited messaging plans are now official, offering limitless text, picture, and video messaging to any carrier in the US on a wide variety of plans at the "America's Choice Select" level -- starting at $60 -- and above. Dovetails nicely with the release of the text-friendly u740 in black, does it not?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]