OpenCloud, which supplies next-generation application servers to the telecoms industry, has announced the launch of a real-time talk-by-text application for mobile devices. The company says the application, powered by OpenCloud Rhino, the JAIN SLEE standards-compliant service logic execution environment for carrier-grade implementations, will benefit organisations looking to offer revenue-generating real-time communication services to users. 
Unlike other text-based messaging functionality such as SMS, MSN or email, the new talk-by-text application works in real-time. Each letter appears on the recipients display screen as the sender types it so the recipient no longer has to wait for a complete message to be sent. The application can be loaded to a mobile device, enabling a lively and interactive form of communication while on the move. It will soon be available on PCs with Internet access, enabling users to hold a real-time text conversation with anyone, anywhere in the world. 
By exploiting real-time communications, service providers can offer richer services to a broader range of consumers and generate more revenue, says OpenCloud. Opening up the real-time communications opportunity will also encourage innovation among telecoms operators beyond telephony as they can leverage opportunities into other verticals.   
The real-time application powered by OpenCloud has been deployed at AnnieS, a charity for the deaf and hard of hearing named after Annie Sullivan, the private teacher to deaf and blind Helen Keller*.  TNO Information and Communication Technology developed the application, and KPN is the first operator to offer the service in Holland. 
The deaf and hard-of-hearing are often excluded from society because their disability makes communication and access to information difficult. AnnieS aims to provide a means of communication to the 100,000 deaf or hard-of-hearing in Holland. 
OpenCloud will work with AnnieS, along with more telecoms operators and service providers in the near future, to execute new service deployment strategies rapidly, cost effectively and independently from existing and future underlying networks, providing an evolutionary path for the delivery of revenue-generating services. For AnnieS, any profits will be invested back into the use of innovative technology to fulfil its mission of improving means of communication to the deaf community in Holland.
For the launch of the mobile talk-by-text service for the deaf in Holland, KPN is using BlackBerry handsets loaded with the real-time application. The BlackBerry device incorporates all the necessary features for the deaf to benefit fully from the mobile service, including a QWERTY keyboard, vibrating alert, long battery life, email, phone, SMS and internet access.
By supporting the real-time application in Holland, we are initially helping a disadvantaged section of society, but the potential to positively impact business and end users worldwide is huge says OpenCloud CEO Stephen Newton. The revolutionary application highlights how real-time communication needs to be exploited to offer revenue-generating and innovative services to consumers.”