[grappleberry]

for one, what is the deal with the 160 char max on sms? now im not going to be the ignorant person who says "rim is stupid they should do/change whatever.." but i would honestly like to know why they do this. its obviously not a technological setback, my cheapass audiovox from 2004 could do this. is it some sort of business/international/something i have no idea about? does anyone know the real reason? and same goes with the inability to have vibe and ringtone at the same time? maybe for money for apps that enable these..? just looking for someone to shed some light on this..

[TheSultan]

I'm sure they don't see either of these "issues" as a priority. They've got their fan base complaining about having a stable OS. I doubt they're concerned about being able to ring and vibrate at the same time.

[Michael Hepples]

The 160 character limit is a carrier based limitation, not RIM. As for the vibe/ring, that has been addressed in later builds of the 5.0 OS that will eventually be released for a large number of devices.

Hope that answered your question.

[ashenfang]

the 160 character limit isn't a RIM thing, its a carrier/technological reason. The limit has something to do with how SMS messages are placed between ping calls from the cell towers. All phones have an SMS limit of 160 characters. However, if you use MMS, there is no limit.

[Card Storm]

for one, what is the deal with the 160 char max on sms? now im not going to be the ignorant person who says "rim is stupid they should do/change whatever.." but i would honestly like to know why they do this. its obviously not a technological setback, my cheapass audiovox from 2004 could do this. is it some sort of business/international/something i have no idea about? does anyone know the real reason? and same goes with the inability to have vibe and ringtone at the same time? maybe for money for apps that enable these..? just looking for someone to shed some light on this..

It isnt just RIM though.....Isnt that something that is also affected by Carriers?

Maybe they make more money off of people by limiting the amount of text input within each text message, so then you end up sending multiple text which add up against your text messaging plan if you arent unlimited.

[xsm]

Well this is my guess but,

Normally when you have your phone on vibrate, it is because you are in a place where you can't have the ring on since it would be rude. So having the vibrate and ring at the time same time seems kinda contradictory. Although I agree, this is one thing I do wish could be fixed since I like my ringtones but I sometimes can't hear my phone especially if I go to crowded places.

I'm guessing the 160 characters max is because of the fact texting is suppose to be for short, quick msgs. If you want more of a steady short msg'd convo you have bb messanger. If you have to write something lengthy, it is better to do it over email. Not sure but I guess that's my guess and I agree, I hate this limit cause I mainly text rather then call ppl
edit: ah well the 160 limit is answered above x). Though dunno, makes somewhat sense

[Card Storm]

the 160 character limit isn't a RIM thing, its a carrier/technological reason. The limit has something to do with how SMS messages are placed between ping calls from the cell towers. All phones have an SMS limit of 160 characters. However, if you use MMS, there is no limit.

eh......I was close with the "carriers" suggestion lol. But I learned something new!

[willyg44]

Well this is my guess but,

Normally when you have your phone on vibrate, it is because you are in a place where you can't have the ring on since it would be rude. So having the vibrate and ring at the time same time seems kinda contradictory. Although I agree, this is one thing I do wish could be fixed since I like my ringtones but I sometimes can't hear my phone especially if I go to crowded places.

There are apps (I believe free ones) that take care of the vib while ring issue. I know it would be nice to see that feature come with the phone to begin with, but in case you didn't know there are indeed apps for it.

[grappleberry]

no i mean the "field full" message. why not just break the message up into multiple seperate texts? someone was in charge of that, i dont see how somethng so basic could just be "overlooked."

[vangvace]

160 characters will fit on one line of a printed page. (Old typewriter style that is )

[theanswer3]

Why text messages are limited to 160 characters | Technology | Los Angeles Times this article shows the guy who created sms and why he felt 160 characters was sufficient

HowStuffWorks "How SMS Works"

Why 160 Characters?
SMS was designed to deliver short bursts of data such as numerical pages. To avoid overloading the system with more than the standard forward-and-response operation, the inventors of SMS agreed on a 160-character maximum message size.

But the 160-character limit is not absolute. Length limitations may vary depending on the network, phone model and wireless carrier. Some phones don't allow you to keep typing once the 160-character limit is reached. You must send your message before continuing. However, some services will automatically break any message you send into chunks of 160 characters or less. So, you can type and send a long message, but it will be delivered as several messages.

[kingzee]

As of right now, the limit is certainly a RIM software issue. He's not referring to the length of the transmiited message, but the limit in typing the message. Currently its says "field full" when you hit 160 char.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[theanswer3]

That is the way verizon and sprint want it designed. I had a Curve 8900 before my tour and had the limit but could type out up to 6 messages with a 160 characters each. and they were all sent out at once. My curve 8330 bfore this had the 160 limitation as did my motorola q both on verizon.

[danoh]

As of right now, the limit is certainly a RIM software issue. He's not referring to the length of the transmiited message, but the limit in typing the message. Currently its says "field full" when you hit 160 char.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

OS 5.0 will fix, sort of, this issue when it is released. It has threaded SMS which acts just like an instant messenger program. Meaning you can type your SMS out, and when it says that the field is full, just press enter to send that message and start typing your next message.

The only difference would be that the receiver would have to wait for you to type the 2nd or 3rd part of your message before they could read it. All 3 (or however many) parts of the message would not be delivered at the same time, as Beyond160 application does.

[xsm]

There are apps (I believe free ones) that take care of the vib while ring issue. I know it would be nice to see that feature come with the phone to begin with, but in case you didn't know there are indeed apps for it.

I'm aware of the apps but I was just stating a possible reason on why they haven't really made it possible or why it might just not be so important I guess. Though yes, lots of easy ways around it so if you must have vibrate and ring together, then do so.

[danoh]

I'm aware of the apps but I was just stating a possible reason on why they haven't really made it possible or why it might just not be so important I guess. Though yes, lots of easy ways around it so if you must have vibrate and ring together, then do so.

OS 5.0 will have ring+vib option in your sound profile settings.

[silverspeed]

I don't know... just the way it is I guess. It would be nice to have more than 160 but oh well, not gonna win that battle with Big Red

[redman213]

well txts were made to be short and simple but yea there are alternatives like the MMS someone mentioned and calling the person...

[saintjah]

At least we can copy paste fast on smart phones to switch from sms to mms when we can't fit that last emoticon in

Vibe and ring at least is free app but these are business phones so it was not a priority I suppose. (Less ringtones in big meetings the better).

The one that bugs me is no blinking led after missed call! Had to buy app oh well love the bb still

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[danimal1968]

That is the way verizon and sprint want it designed. I had a Curve 8900 before my tour and had the limit but could type out up to 6 messages with a 160 characters each. and they were all sent out at once. My curve 8330 bfore this had the 160 limitation as did my motorola q both on verizon.

Why would Verizon want RIM to have a hard 160 character limit when the Moto Q, Q9c, and (I presume) other WinMo devices will automatically break longer messages into multiple texts?

[danimal1968]

I don't know... just the way it is I guess. It would be nice to have more than 160 but oh well, not gonna win that battle with Big Red

Odd that RIM can't win it when every other smartphone maker can.

[noaim]

As of right now, the limit is certainly a RIM software issue. He's not referring to the length of the transmiited message, but the limit in typing the message. Currently its says "field full" when you hit 160 char.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

when you unlock the tour or the storm and put it on at&t you get text/pages which allows you to go above 160 . its a carrier thing sorry