Now that the userbase of (and companies' dependence on) such services is pretty huge, mobile terminated texting is kind of inevitable. In other words, all the SMS-dependent companies can't live without reaching Verizon's customers, so Verizon is in a position to pretty much charge whatever they want. And that's exactly what they're doing, because they're very classy. [RCRWireless via BGR]

UPDATE: Verizon is telling us that this is only a possibility and not a fait accompli. Here's more:

Specific information in one proposal, which would impose a small per-message fee on for-profit content aggregators for commercial messages, has been mistakenly characterized as a final decision to implement. We don't envision this type of change to in any way affect non-profit organizations or political and advocacy organizations.

Noriaki lowered the B&D's cost by building it's chassis out of cardboard (the entire thing can be put together yourself), and by running its braille lettering program off an open source platform. I'm not completely sure how this technology helps deaf people any more regular phones, but it's a cool concept for helping out the visually impaired. [B&D Messenger via Tuvie]

The suit, which targets AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, Alltel, U.S. Cellular, Cellular South and Virgin Mobile (T-Mobile was targeted in a similar suit last week), seeks "recovery for actual and compensatory damages sustained by plaintiffs and others similarly situated. At this time, plaintiffs are specifically seeking recovery against the defendants for unauthorized charges, wrongful collections and unjust enrichment." Its peg is based on charges that people receive from unsolicited texts even if they don't want to have a text message plan at all, but it could have ramifications that reach beyond that. Or not. Something tells me that the carriers won't be giving up their beloved ripoff text plans without a serious fight. [RCR Wireless News via Engadget]

The texting will take place during World Youth Day in Sydney, Australia in July. The Pope, or at least a collection of his more tech-savvy minions, will send "daily messages of inspiration and hope" to the 225,000 attendees over the five-day festival.

Just be forewarned, if you get one of these messages and respond, the Pope might invite you over to the Vatican to help him figure out his TiVo. [Reuters]

Actually, the way the system will work is by triggering one of 100 pre-defined scents on a chip in the phone, which seems less exciting and precise than what people would want to use it for. Yeah, being able to send a generic watermelon scent to someone is cool, I guess, but what if you want to send the specific scent of a dish you're eating to someone? Or, you know, a fart you're particularly proud of? It's a nice thought, guys, but until you figure out how to get the subtleties of my farts expressed with a proper amount of nuance, I'm not interested.

Now, just because I can, here's my favorite comedy sketch relating to farting, from the classic Mr. Show.

[The Local via Slashdot]

The Finnish press got a hold of a few text gems sent by the minister, including this vague pick up line that may or may not be related to musical waterbeds: "Would you like to do it in an exotic place? Where could it be?" When asked if 'it' meant sex, Kanerva said it was obvious that the message was an answer to an earlier inquiry from Tukiainen.

We at Gizmodo are inclined to believe the minister; he was probably referring to their upcoming coffeehouse debate about the subtle differences between the Centre Party of Finland and the more even-handed (although no less capable) approach to governing taken by the National Coalition Party. Or maybe he was just trying to get laid with the exotic dancer, and her sister. We think her name's Debra.

[HELSINGIN SANOMAT]

2G2BT [Too good to be true]
4EAE [Forever and ever]
4U [For you]
AML [All my love]
D8 [Date]
FTBOMH [From the bottom of my heart]
GNSD [Good night, sweet dreams]
H2CUS [Hope to see you soon]
ILU [I love you]
IMU [I miss you]
ISLY [I still love you]
IWALU [I will always love you]
KOTC [Kiss on the cheek]
KOTL [Kiss on the lips]
MUSM [Miss you so much]
QT [Cutie]
TY [Thank you]
TOY [Thinking of you]
URH [You are hot]
UW [You're welcome]
XOXOXO [Hugs & Kisses]

I realized I was getting old when not so long ago I ordered a pizza via the web for the first time and waited nervously for it to come. It reminded me of tales from Amazon's launch, when customers didn't trust entering their credit cards into their computers...so they instead told the numbers to strangers at Amazon call centers who would write the digits on loose leaf. [reuters/I4U]

66%

So is this a situation of "we know it's for our own good," or, "those other people can't text while driving, but my super multitasking powers make it safe for me"?

I'm guilty of the non-crime. And yes, it's because I believe myself to have heightened (some may say spider-like) reflexes. Should it be banned? Probably. [prnews]

Despite not banning things like eating in the car, fiddling with the dial in the car, or pulling the old "stop short" maneuver, banning texting could actually do something. Both as a deterrent or as a punishment, this may bring down the cases of people texting in cars. Just as long as they don't ban playing with your junk while driving, we're pretty okay with this. – Jason Chen

Legislators Aim At a New Misdeed On the Road: DWT [WSJ via News.com]

Would You Read a Book via SMS? [Gizmovil via Mad4MobilePhones]

If that wasn't enough, they've also created a specially formatted locator to fit on the small screens of web enabled devices like Treos and Blackberries. The store locator link on their website will reformat automatically for your screen and show you nearest stores, closest WiFi stores, maps, directions, etc. This service is also linked to in-car GPS navigation systems.

Starbucks is promoting this new service by offering a free cup of mediocre coffee to all customers in US stores between 10 am and noon on March 15^th.

Here are some slightly disturbing stats about the ever-ubiquitous Starbucks:

Number of web searches for nearest Starbucks in 1/07 = 3 million
Number of locations in the US = 9,400
Number of new Starbucks stores opened every day = 4

'JAVA' SCRIPT TO TEXT NEAREST *BUCKS CAFE [NYPost]

Text Messages Lands Teacher in Hot Water [USA Today]

What was Cheney crackberrying during the State of the Union? [Foreign Policy - Thanks Travis!]