We text it 4 granted

As I was driving home late Saturday night, I took a unique look at the world around me. I suppose I had one of those "insightful moments" that come few and far between. For me at least.

As I perused my surroundings, I realized how completely encircled we are by technology, and how much of it we take for granted. After all, I’m sure we never really give much thought to the software that operates traffic lights at intersections, although we certainly notice that they never seem to turn green for us fast enough. Nor do we even consider how complicated the web of technology is that it allows us to turn on the radio in our cars and tune in to different stations. In fact, we probably take notice of the radio only when it plays our favorite song.

This is the irony of the tech world. The best indication that any innovation has made a difference is when it can be taken completely for granted. Take Philippine-developed Chikka.com for instance.

Chikka is a downloadable program that allows PC users to send text messages to any GSM phone in the Philippines. It does so by combining the salient features of Short Messaging Service (SMS) with Instant Messaging (IM). It even allows users to "see" whenever their buddies are online, much like the "presence detection" feature of other IMs.

When Chikka was first launched exactly a year ago, it came as great news to those who have friends and relatives abroad. Suddenly, overseas Filipinos could send short messages to people in the Philippines without so much of a bother. No telegrams or overseas phone calls were required. Jokes and sweet nothings could be sent in real-time with a click of a mouse.

Shortly after its inception, Chikka offices were swamped with letters of thanks and praise. While these were accepted quite graciously by the local team that conceptualized the application, the engineers at Chikka still kept their fingers crossed and their hopes high. After all, most of what they were doing had never been done before. And since the Philippines is actually the "texting capital of the world," generating as much as 20 percent of the total SMS volume worldwide, there were no models to benchmark or examples to follow. This was simply groundbreaking stuff.

Now after one year of service and no major upsets, the Chikka team can look back and see how they have affected people’s lives with mobile Instant Messaging. For example, Chikka has done more than keep our kababayans abroad in touch with friends and relatives; they have enabled them to participate in the Philippines’ great texting revolution. That’s one full year for Chikka – 365 days of leading the texting evolution worldwide, 525,600 minutes of urgent bilins, reminders and a lot of small talk that have kept people texting. Today, Chikka has 1.5 million subscribers for a full range of value-added services designed in cooperation with Philippine GSM carriers (they who really changed the way Filipinos "talk"!). Hey, we’ve taken text evolution for granted! Be proud Chikka, from innovation to a way of life enjoyed by Pinoys worldwide. Happy Birthday!

Check out www.chikka.com now or send "I-chat" to 277 from a Smart mobile phone or "IM" to 2371 for Globe subscribers.

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I don’t usually mind the junk e-mail that circulates since almost all of them are concocted fairy tales, but I do like to correct one particular e-mail that contains hilarious misinformation that I am familiar with. The e-mail I am referring to alleges that our company "tampered" with the results of a particular SMS promo last month. Truth of the matter is, we actually caught a wise guy subscriber cheating, and thus, he was disqualified. No harm done. As to the insinuation that our company gets "preferential treatment" from telcos, maybe it’s so just because we do a better job of wireless development compared to others. Would it not be just logical to stick with your reliable developers and not have to worry about bugs and missed deadlines? Also, let’s give our world-class telcos some credit that they partner based on performance. Just look at how they have successfully constructed a robust wireless infrastructure capable of handling a fifth of the world’s global SMS volume.

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Patrick Garcia is managing director of Bidshot Wireless Services. For comments or suggestions, text your message to 233011(Globe) or 243011(Smart) or e-mail [email protected].