Father of the text message Matti Makkonen dies at 63June 30, 2015 - 17:38 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Matti Makkonen, an influential engineer who helped popularise the text message, has died at the age of 63 following an illness, Digital Spy reports. The mobile technology pioneer is often referred to as the father of SMS, but was always quick to point out that he did not invent the medium alone. Makkonen pitched the idea for SMS in 1984 while working as a civil servant, although he credited his former employer Nokia with popularising it. The engineer was working with Finnish telecoms group Finnet Association at the time of his death. "It's very sad. He was just going to retire and he should have had many years ahead," the company's managing director Jarmo Matilainen told BBC News. "We liked to talk about SMS and that kind of thing, 3G and so on. He liked to talk about this all the time." Trillions of SMS texts are still sent worldwide every day, but the rise of instant messaging services such as WhatsApp has seen their use decline in countries like the UK. Top stories Yerevan will host the 2024 edition of the World Congress On Information Technology (WCIT). Rustam Badasyan said due to the lack of such regulation, the state budget is deprived of VAT revenues. Krisp’s smart noise suppression tech silences ambient sounds and isolates your voice for calls. Gurgen Khachatryan claimed that the "illegalities have been taking place in 2020." Partner news Most popular in the section | Narek Manasyan wins European Boxing Championships silver for Armenia Armenia’s Narek Manasyan (92kg) won Armenia’s second silver medal at the European Boxing Championships 2024 on April 28. Blinken urges Azerbaijan to continue negotiations with Armenia Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken has urged Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to continue negotiations with Armenia. Pashinyan, Blinken talk Armenia-U.S. ties over the phone Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had a phone conversation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on April 28, Pashinyan’s office reports. Titus, Bilirakis lead legislation to sanction Azerbaijani war criminals Representatives Dina Titus (D-NV) and Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) have introduced the bipartisan legislation. |