Google tries to unify advanced carrier messaging on Android, starting with Sprint
Google saidon Friday that Sprint will be the first domestic wireless provider to adopt Rich Communication Services (RCS), an upgrade to the aging Short Message Service (SMS) standard. RCS enables a host of enhancements not possible over SMS including high-resolution photo and video sharing, confirmation that a recipient has read your message, group chat and freedom from that annoying 160 character limit. RCS isn’t exactly a new concept (it was conceived in 2007 with the initial release pushed out in 2012) nor are the features it delivers. Roughly a decade ago, the wireless landscape looked nothing like it does today. Wireless carriers, which for years had made their money selling service plans that focused on metered talk minutes, were now marketing unlimited text messaging as their key perk. It wasn’t long before services like BlackBerry Messenger and Apple’s iMessagecame along, offering users a way to circumvent carrier texting and rendering SMS-focused service plans useless. A...
