For the vast majority of us, forgetting to take our medication isn’t a big deal. We simply take it as soon as we remember, and get on with getting well. But for some people not taking their medicine can be a matter of life or death. For these individuals remembering to take their medication is vitally important. So I was pleased to read recently about the success of a trial SMS-based medication reminder for HIV patients in Kenya.

The study used more that 500 HIV patients. Some participants were given just the standard care and medication, while others received the standard care and medication, plus a weekly text message sent to their cell phone. The SMS messages were discreet and usually just asked how they were and instructed them to reply to the text message indicating that they were "fine" or had a "problem". Participants that failed to reply to the text message within a couple of days or said they had a problem received a visit from a nurse.

As a bloke, I have to admit that I am not the keenest shopper around. I tend to buy just what I need when I need it. So as you can imagine Christmas tends to fill me with dread. As I dislike shopping for the most part, I usually end up running around a large department store trying to find something for the various members of my family, having left it too late to shop online. 

What I've never understood why it is that an item can be out of stock online, but in stock when you go to the actual store. Well finally I've found a store that will let me reserve an item online, for collection in store. But the really great thing about this system is that the retailer sends me a text message with the reservation number, so all I need to do when I get to the store is go to the till, read out the SMS on my phone and pay. The shop assistants do the rest. There are no numbers to write down or email to print out ...it's all there on your mobile phone.

I've been in the mobile industry for nearly a decade now, and with each passing year I've seen the market for mobile advertising expand. So I wasn't that surprised when I saw the predictions from Informa Telecom & Media suggesting that the revenue from global mobile advertising is likely to grow tenfold by 2015. 

Certainly I've seen a sea change in the industry as mobile marketing during the past few years as it has become increasingly popular with advertisers and consumers alike. Over the past few years there have been an increasing number of very successful mobile campaigns, with many FMC brands using a mobile marketing strategy to good effect. More importantly, the number of consumers willing to sign up to a mobile campaign has risen steadily - especially, it would seem, for those brands that offer freebies and discount vouchers. The results have been that many big brands integrate mobile campaigns into their marketing strategies almost as a matter of course. 

The recent economic downturn has us all tightening our belts and changing our spending habits. And it would seem that even the police are not immune from taking cost cutting measures. In a bid to reign in spending, the police service in Dorset in southern England has asked the ''bobbies on the beat'' to send SMS messages instead of using their two-way radio. Supposedly, the punitive tariff charged by their communication network operator if they exceed their quota of calls has put a severe strain on the police budget. Police officers have been given 16 numerical codes that correspond to buttons on their mobile phone. By texting certain combination of the codes the officers can report to the control room their location, and what they are doing - be it making an arrest, taking a break or heading back to the station. The information gathered by the messaging facility is then automatically sent to the control room''s computer.

Hands up everyone that has walked into something or someone while walking and texting. I know I have created my fair share of pedestrian "crashes" (not to mention a few close shaves with cars) all because I was trying to fire off a quick text message and walk at the same time. Well for those of us that can’t walk and type concurrently there is a new iPhone app that should help put a stop to these texting mishaps - Type While Walking. This app will let you compose an email, text message or other document on your iPhone while being able to see the ground through the handset's camera. The idea is that it would do away with the need to look up from your phone periodically while walking ...that's the theory anyway. Given that it costs less than a dollar, I decided to give the app a go. Certainly typing a text message is easy with Type While Walking, as the white text is generally easy to read. Things get a bit trickier when it comes time to move the text message or email out of the app and into the appropriate feature in your handset for them to be sent.