OR.... You can avoid using the third-party teleflip...
Decent service, but if you're not in a hurry you can just send the email from your iPhone directly to the other person's phone WITHOUT going through teleflip.
Most carriers provide an email extension to your cellnumber, some just don't tell you what it is. (or don't make it very easy to find that info out!)
Google helps for that though.
The top 6 most popular service carriers:
T-Mobile:
phonenumber@tmomail.net
Virgin Mobile:
phonenumber@vmobl.com
Cingular:
phonenumber@cingularme.com
Sprint:
phonenumber@messaging.sprintpcs.com
Verizon:
phonenumber@vtext.com
Nextel:
phonenumber@messaging.nextel.com
In comparison to teleflip, I find this to be easier and FASTER since the message doesn't need to be processed my teleflip first.
You can add the address to your phonebook as well.
All teleflip does is automatically determine the carrier extension and maintain the list of phonenumber to extension.
Personally, I'd rather not give mine or my friend's phone numbers out to third parties. Who knows what'll happen to their associative list if the company goes belly-up. :-\
Additionally this makes me wonder, considering that their service could be pretty transparent in terms of use (no need to go to a site and see any revenue-generating ads etc) they MUST (as a business) have a method of making money SOMEHOW.
(Further investigation)
From their
privacy policy:
1.
(iii) "
Teleflip reserves the right to change all or a portion of this Privacy Policy at any time with or without individual notice to you, and your continued use of the Services or the Site constitutes your binding acceptance of any such changes. You may always review the most current version of our Privacy Policy."
2.
(i) "
Teleflip may gather personal information about you that is provided or transmitted by Users of the Site and/or the Services. We may also gather aggregated tracking information regarding overall usage of the Site and the Services, such as but not limited to tallies of page views and click-through activity and/or the number of messages sent via the Services. This information is used to help us understand how Users are using the Site and the Services."
(f) "
Retention of Messages: To the extent permitted or required by applicable law, Users acknowledge and agree that Teleflip may, at its sole discretion, make and preserve copies of any and all Messages transmitted via the Services for internal back-up and other legal or business purposes."
3.
(iii) "
Teleflip reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to disclose, sell or otherwise release your personal information to any Affiliate, but the Affiliate will be bound to this Privacy Policy as existing at the time of such event." (see Section 1.iii )
So basically, as I understand it, it's possible that if you use their service they can save ALL information you send and the maybe sometime in the future change their privacy policy THEN sell or disclose and/all of that information to whomever they choose for whatever reason they wish (probably for profit).
:-\
Not to be cynical, but I'm definitely glad I actually read THAT privacy statement.
