If you walked by it in a bookstore or magazine stand, you probably wouldn’t even notice it was dynamic; but that doesn’t mean that this isn’t the premonitory turtlehead of something very, very cool…

Let’s back up.

I’m talking about the eInk cover of Esquire’s October issue:

Sponsored by Ford, and using the same paper as the Kindle, the cover image isn’t the jazziest thing I’ve ever seen (it’s pretty much just some basic black/white/gray text with blinky thumbnail images), but they’ve kept it simple enough so it still presents as pretty darn sleek. [To clarify, the plastic overlay contains the color thumbnails, which are then illuminated by the underlying eInk.]
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Yep… more than half of teens consider their cell phone the “key” to their social life. Surpassing jewelry, watches, and shoes, teens say a cell phone is a prime indicator of social status – falling only to clothing (WHAT? Tiny dogs didn’t make the list?!).

And where does texting fall into this whole social strata? Well, 47% of teens say that their social lives would seriously suffer without text messaging. SRSLY?

What’s more… 47% say they can text with their eyes closed. Hey waaaait a minute, is this the same sample set as above? Are we talking Social SMS Survival of the Fittest here?

Check out the full rundown of stats from the new CTIA/Harris Interactive Survey, Teenagers: A Generation Unplugged, including the chart below (courtesy of Harris and CTIA).

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Clearly, banking (in all of its topical permutations) has been top of mind “from Wall Street to Main Street” as of late (seriously, if I hear that phrase one. more. time.)

But what of mobile banking?

Mobile, as a broad media segment, couldn’t get any hotter right now. (I’ll quickly cite that Americans sent 1.6 billion text messages a day in December 2007, and that they talked for two trillion minutes for that year, aaaand that both of these figures continue to grow… you get the idea.) Toss that data in with the fact that most consumers say that they would like the ability to access their bank accounts and carry out transfers via their mobile phone, and this seems like a market primed for success…

But.
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It seems so.

According to the LA Times, the LAPD has launched a new system that allows citizens to send anonymous crime tips via SMS. Upon sending in a tip, the user will receive a textback message assigning him an alias, which he can then use for subsequent communication with the police.

[Sidenote: I'm VERY curious to know more about these aliases... Are they awesome, like BatTracker or FrenchBulldog or JamesBondIsMyDad? Or are they totally lame, like Anon345 or User62? I must know.]
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And LocaModa lays claim to one of them!
(or he lays claim to us??)

In any case… We’re excited to announce that Stephen Randall will be a panelist at the upcoming event put on by Harvard Business School, TechMedia Club, and Mobile Monday Boston. The event will connect Boston’s premier mobile thought leaders with 15 tech and entrepreneurship groups from Bentley, BC, BU, Harvard, HBS, MIT, Northeastern, WPI and Tufts, as well as local tech enthusiasts and Mobile Monday’s 80+ member companies. [More after the jump]

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