Odeo released Twttr today, a new tool which helps you stay in touch with your friends through SMS. Currently open only in the U.S. and Canada, the idea is fairly simple. You can send updates on your self (your location, what you're doing, etc.) to a centralized phone number (40404 in the U.S. and 415-283-8611 in Canda) which those on your friends list will then recieve, and they can choose to do likewise, in a way never losing touch.
I think the idea is adequately competant in this general teen/young adult market of minutely txt'ers, although I'm a bit unsure of how revolutionary this really is. Most phones these days have the ability to make 'lists' of friends to which you can send messages to, and Twttr only seems a more focused, organised and centralised version of this.
What interests me most about Twttr is their business model. Currently, it's completely free as it is although they might end up adding premium services which they charge for later on. This is the general route for most applications in Web 2.0, but does it really work? Dodgeball, Twttr's closest competitor which Google acquired last year have worked with a similar plan and even though have the users, it's still unclear how they think of making money.
[...] It’s been clear recently that Odeo is one confused company. They do podcast playing, cell-based social networking, video recording and playing, and for the next few days phone-based audo recording and podcasting. It’s noticeable that they while they’re trying to do it all, they haven’t been able to find their focus in the market. As the old quote goes, trying to be the Jack of all trades they’ve ended up as the master of none. [...]
[...] Odeo, the 9 month-old San Francisco startup founded by Evan Williams of Blogger fame, has announced that it will be buying itself back from its investors. Odeo, Inc., the parent company of Odeo (the product) and Twttr (now called Twitter) is now dead. Both products are now owned by Obvious Corp, started by Evan Williams, Biz Stone, and associates to initiate the reclaim of Odeo and take it to new heights. [...]
Can anyone recommend me?
I need an free sms service for my homepage.
I am seeking one with the option to change the design(for a bit).
Thanks a million!