Although virtually unknown as a form of communication only 15 years ago, text messaging has become an important part of many people's lives and is regularly used to keep in touch with friends and colleagues around the world. Indeed, people in the United Kingdom send over 100million text messages every day, and on New Year's Eve alone over 290 million texts were sent.

As a result of our new-found love for text messaging, mobile operators have developed a plethora of text-based services that enable subscribers to keep a close eye on everything from their finances to the latest news and sports scores, as well as with regular updates as events unfold. The list of benefits is endless with new ideas constantly being added and changing the way we receive and digest our information.

A recent study carried out by Sheffield University looked at whether gender was a factor in the type and length of text messages sent. Unsurprisingly, according to the report authors, women spent the most time texting and their messages were longer in length. The research showed that men tended to write short notes to each other and only about one particular issue whereas women were more likely to have several issues on the go at once and messages often had a beginning, middle and end.

Further analysis showed that women to women communication yielded an average 82 words per message and men to men dialogues used only 60 words. Communication varied slightly between the sexes with women to men messaging averaging 80 words, whereas men to women recorded slightly less at only 74.

The content of the messages were also examined and it was found that men were more likely to use expletives, include sexual connotations and be sarcastic in their text messaging, whereas women were more likely to be affectionate and supportive.

The research on usage was particularly interesting with men more likely to use text messaging when in public as it seemed more private than talking on their mobile phones. The mobile data Association "State of the Nation" reported that the British public continue to text and mobile internet has increased in popularity.

Companies are devising ever more inventive ways of adding value to their business by using text messaging and history was made on an Air France flight from Paris to Warsaw on December 17, 2007. The passengers were the first ever to be able to text using their mobile phones whilst in the air. For years passengers have had to turn off their phones whilst on board, but now operators such as Air France have installed new technologies making it safe to use phones and laptops on board.

There are so many uses for text messaging today. Alerts are sent for buses and trains timetables, reminders for medicines and many other useful services are all available at the touch of a mobile keypad. Even better, text messaging can now be sent to mobile phones from PCs and laptops, and in many cases, cheaper than the normal mobile phone rate.

It seems that there is no end to text messaging innovation!

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