What is SMS 2.0?

A couple a month ago Airtel India using Affle solution launched what industry called SMS 2.0

The SMS 2.0 claimed as next generation SMS with rich-user-generated, social networking capability, IM, colored screen, emoticon, colored text, SMS to email, SMS to IM, search engine, support mobile advertising engine - meaning that personalization is one required aspect of this SMS 2.0 service.

User mobile phone expected to be the same while the SMS 2.0 need to downloaded and installed into user's mobile device, likely start with Nokia brand phone with Symbian OS first.

Why this is good:

* It creates an interactive channel for the non-intrusive delivery of relevant content and advertising on the SMS window. The consumer chooses his interest area, and the latest information is delivered unobtrusively, while he composes or reads an SMS message.

* The mass-media interactive technology is developed by Affle and only two companies the world over have exclusive rights to this nextgen SMS service

* For advertisers, it’s a killer application that will ensure their message is carried to an audience that’s all ears for it. SMS 2.0 is an eyeball-assured media where content is free.

User experience:

Taken from Airtel related website, expected experience:

How to Install?

Ensure that the software installation option in the settings of your mobile phone’s Application Manager is turned on. In general this step is not necessary, however if the application fails to install, the user should check to ensure that the Application Manager allows the installation of downloaded applications.

Follow the steps below to install SMS2.0 in the Nokia phone of Airtel subscribers.
Type SMS2 and send it to 543210 (For Airtel users). You would receive a message with a web link to download the SMS2.0 application.
Open the link and launch the web browser on your phone. A page is displayed with the text “You are just a click away from upgrading to SMS2.0. Begin Download!”. Click the Begin Download link.
A pop up with the text “Install SMS2.0 Installer?” is shown. Select Yes. Next select Install.
You may then be displayed a message “Unable to verify supplier. Continue anyway?”. Select Yes.
Next, a pop with the text “Install SMS2.0?” is shown. Select Yes. Next select Install.
You may then again be displayed a message “Unable to verify supplier. Continue anyway?”. Select Yes to complete the installation.