Money

Barcelona –  The research and development arm of Spanish telecom giant Telefonica has developed a faster and more affordable mobile messaging service that is scheduled for rollout in Latin America in the second quarter of 2011.

Developed in collaboration with Huawei Technologies, Telefonica's network services provider in Latin America, the new system - dubbed "Tokes" and billed as a "new way to communicate through SMS" - allows users to quickly send short phrases with an accompanying icon.

Far fewer keystrokes are needed to send a toke saying "I've arrived," "I'm busy" or "Hello" than are needed to send a traditional SMS conveying the same message, while the cost per toke is just one euro-cent (less than 2 cents).

The head of the project at Telefonica I+D, Daniel Garcia Fernandez, said Thursday that this new mobile messaging system was developed because 30 percent of all calls are missed and many of them were made to get a person's attention.

In a press release, Telefonica said that when tokes are received on a handset in which the application has been installed, they are played according to the preferences of the user receiving the message.

"When a user receives a toke, the handset vibrates in a specific way, making it possible to know which message has been set without having to look at the mobile."

If the application has not been installed on the phone receiving the message, "an SMS will be sent notifying the user that it has been sent and inviting him to download the application," the press release said.

Studies indicate that Tokes, which can be used on mid-range and low-end mobile devices and even on the oldest cellphones, will be well received in Latin America, where Telefonica has a strong foothold.

Telefonica said it hopes to reach agreements with other operators so that subscribers to different wireless service providers can use Tokes in the same way as traditional SMS.

The tokes featured on the current application include a teddy bear with the message "good night," a "Yes" with a thumbs-up icon and an "I love you" with the image of a heart.

Based on a mobile application developed for Java-compatible medium- and top-range mobile handsets, the service will initially include only pre-programmed messages, although Telefonica is considering allowing users to create their own personalized tokes.

"The possibility of partly or fully subsidizing the service in exchange for tokes containing advertising images also is currently being considered," the Telefonica press release said.

In the future, young people will be able to swap tokes just as they now swap trading cards, Garcia Fernandez said.