<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto">Dear Jane and njtechdiv,<div><br></div><div>If this roll out occurs down the road what will it mean for blind and DeafBlind accessibility?<div><br></div><div>Alice <br><br><div dir="ltr">Sent from my iPhone</div><div dir="ltr"><br><blockquote type="cite">On Oct 27, 2019, at 8:02 PM, Jane Degenshein via NJTechDiv <njtechdiv@nfbnet.org> wrote:<br><br></blockquote></div><blockquote type="cite"><div dir="ltr">
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<div style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial'; COLOR: #000000">
<div style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial'; COLOR: #000000"><font color="#000000" size="4">Here is an article I got on Friday and thought I would
share with my list serve</font></div>
<div dir="ltr"><font face="Times New Roman"><font style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">By
Mike
Peterson </font></font>
<div><img class="ff-og-image-inserted" src="https://cdn.idropnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/25125343/iPhone-Texting-SMS-Messages.jpg" data-unique-identifier=""></div>
<p class="has-drop-cap"><font face="Times New Roman"><font style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">The U.S.’s big four carriers announced a new
partnership
to push a next-generation messaging standard that could eventually replace
SMS
text messaging.</font></font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman"><font style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">AT&T,
Verizon,
T-Mobile and Sprint announced the “Cross-Carrier Messaging Initiative”
(</font></font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><a style="href:
"https://www.verizon.com/about/news/att-sprint-t-mobile-and-verizon-form-joint-venture-transform-messaging-experience""><font face="Times New Roman">CCMI</font></a></font><font face="Times New
Roman"><font style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">) in a joint press release on
Friday.</font></font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman"><font style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">That
initiative
focuses on the RCS messaging protocol — which could simultaneously replace
SMS
and put pressure on iMessage. Here’s what you should know.</font></font></p>
<h2><font face="Times New Roman">Replacing SMS with RCS</font></h2>
<p><font face="Times New Roman"><font style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">In a nutshell,
the
</font></font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><a style="href:
"https://www.idropnews.com/news/googles-working-on-an-imessage-killer-for-android/108985/""><font face="Times New Roman">RCS (Rich Communication Services)
protocol</font></a></font><font face="Times New Roman"><font style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> will bring internet-based messaging features — like
those seen on WhatsApp or iMessage — to standard text
messages.</font></font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman"><font style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">SMS is an
objectively terrible messaging standard, especially when compared to the
aforementioned internet standards.</font></font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman"><font style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">If carriers
actually do end up adopting RCS, it could mean better group chats, typing
indicators and higher-quality images and videos, among other benefits.
Basically, everything that iMessage does and SMS doesn’t. (RCS is not
currently
end-to-end encrypted like iMessage is, however.)</font></font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman"><font style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">But RCS is
also
extremely complicated, both technically and politically. The bottlenecks
associated with actually adopting the standard are likely why you may never
have
heard of it.</font></font></p>
<h2><font face="Times New Roman">What the Carriers Announced
Today</font></h2>
<p><font face="Times New Roman"><font style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">CCMI is,
essentially, a coalition of the </font></font><font style="FONT-SIZE:
12pt"><a style="href:
"https://www.verizon.com/about/news/att-sprint-t-mobile-and-verizon-form-joint-venture-transform-messaging-experience""><font face="Times New Roman">biggest carriers</font></a></font><font face="Times New Roman"><font style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> in the U.S. The joint
venture’s main goal is to “create a single seamless, interoperable RCS
experience across carriers, both in the U.S. and globally.”</font></font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman"><font style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">While the CCMI
has
a long way to go, it did announce a new RCS-based Android app that will ship
sometime next year.</font></font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman"><font style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">The CCMI will
also
work with device manufacturers to ensure that the messaging standard is
interoperable across various smartphones and systems. Though, at this point,
Google, Samsung and other OEMs haven’t commented.</font></font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman"><font style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Lastly, the
CCMI
also positions RCS as a potential win for businesses, allowing customers to
interact with brands and support staff much more easily than they would over
SMS.</font></font></p>
<h2><font face="Times New Roman">What This Means for Apple</font></h2>
<p><font face="Times New Roman"><font style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">It’s not clear
what this means for Apple, particularly since it’s very early in RCS’s
potential
adoption.</font></font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman"><font style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">But, of
course,
there have long been problems with SMS text messages, particularly on
iPhones.
You may be familiar with the whole </font></font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><a style="href:
"https://www.idropnews.com/news/samsung-hopes-these-bizarre-gifs-will-make-you-feel-better-about-not-using-imessage/115038/""><font face="Times New Roman">green bubble / blue bubble
debacle</font></a></font><font face="Times New Roman"><font style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">.</font></font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman"><font style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">A universal
RCS
standard would essentially do away with the </font></font><font style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><a style="href:
"https://www.idropnews.com/news/why-apple-gives-android-users-green-bubbles-in-imessage/107038/""><font face="Times New Roman">differences between Android and iMessage
protocols</font></a></font><font face="Times New Roman"><font style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">. But that is, of course, dependent on whether or
not
Apple actually adopts it on its iPhones.</font></font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman"><font style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Apple, for its
part, has offered no comment on the RCS standard. That’s likely because it
<em>already has iMessage</em>, so its users may not benefit the same way
Android
users will.</font></font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman"><font style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">But, like
WhatsApp
or other internet-based protocols, a universal RCS standard could go
toe-to-toe
with iMessage and put quite a bit of pressure on Apple. If iMessage loses
its
advantages, then Apple may have a stronger incentive to bring iMessage to
Android, for example.</font></font></p>
<h2><font face="Times New Roman">Bottom Line</font></h2>
<p><font face="Times New Roman"><font style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">The universal
adoption of RCS is likely quite a while away. But today’s announcement does
indicate that SMS’s days are numbered and a better messaging future may be
on
the horizon.</font></font></p></div><br>
<div style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial'; COLOR: #000000">Keep
Smiling,<br>Janie Degenshein<br>Happiness isn't having what you want, but
wanting what you already have!<br>Facilitator of ECHO (Eyes Closed Hearts
Open)<br>state affiliate board member<br>President of the senior division of
the
National Federation of the Blind of New Jersey<br>to join the senior list
serve:<br>https://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbnj-seniors_nfbnet.org<br>President
of the Technology division of the National federation of the Blind of New
Jersey<br>To join the tech div list
serve:<br>http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/njtechdiv_nfbnet.org<br><br>NFBNJ
Newsline
co-ordinator<br>jdegen16@comcast.net<br></div></div></div>
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