SMS sneaks up as mobile technology of choice among users.(Technology Information)

THE TELESCOPE THAT much of the IT world has aimed at emerging GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) and third-generation (3G) mobile data services may be overlooking a less glamorous technology that's evolving into one of the biggest services on the horizon.

SMS (Short Message Service) has been available for years on GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) phones and has become a prevalent form of communication in some countries. It's a hotbed of activity as new services, interconnection, and technology extensions are bringing benefits to cell-phone users in many countries. In light of disappointment among many users and service providers with WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) over current circuit-switched mobile networks, SMS is becoming an increasingly popular medium for mobile data services.

"These days, with the disillusionment of WAP, people are looking more into SMS," said Eno Tsin, chief technology officer of Media60X, in Hong Kong, which develops software for creating GSM-based Internet services on WAP as well as …