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The problem with doing it this way is SMS spammers have actually been using this technique for awhile now. Basically they guess at your wireless number and carrier in hopes of hitting a match.

While I haven't gotten any sms spam yet, your mileage will vary and I predict this kind of spamming is going to get a lot worse in the future. AT&T and Verizon let you block messages that originate like this to take care of the problem so if your friend has turned the block on, unfortunately they'll never get your message.

I was getting a deluge of SMS spam and paying for it until I turned off SMS messages from email clients. It sounds like people who would want to SMS me using this workaround won't be able to.

Pass.
 
I'm still confuse. How does it help from not wasting text messages? I understand the recieving part of it but how about when I want to send a reply? I will have to send it via a text message, right? :confused:

yea. using an email service thingy to save txts seems like a hassle. thats why i use aim to txt all the time...

its very simple and easy to use... lol. and the reciever can always txt back but just pressing reply...
 
do other email providers [particularly in reference to gmail] have plans to release push email apps on iphone, or will push be an exclusive feature to mobile me?
 
do other email providers [particularly in reference to gmail] have plans to release push email apps on iphone, or will push be an exclusive feature to mobile me?

Yahoo. Already has it.

If you really want, try adding your gmail to your yahoo account on the yahoo web interface. I don't use it, so I don't know if it works.
 
Why not just use MobileMe (.Mac soon) or Yahoo for push mail? Same thing, but better.

Because the person on the other end probably doesn't a have a cool iphone with email or unlimited data like you do. But they probably do have a crappy phone with unlimited sms/mms messaging. Duh?

yea. using an email service thingy to save txts seems like a hassle. thats why i use aim to txt all the time...

its very simple and easy to use... lol. and the reciever can always txt back but just pressing reply...

Your buddy would be getting normal sms messages and would simply hit reply. You'd be operating from your mailbox, and they'd be operating from the sms messaging.
 
not sure how teleflip works, but the message I sent my girlfriend through the tmomail service doesn't show who the text is from. Just had a 4 digit number that had NO relevance to my phone number.

as long as the other party knows what's up, this shouldn't be too big of an issue though.

JS
 
iPhone SMS messaging

The problem is, I enjoy retaining a complete history of conversations, all contained within spiffy 3D conversation bubbles. SMS is worth it, in this regard.
 
only problem is you have to know which carrier every one of your contacts is... not very practical

Can't you tell from the phone number? Granted I'm not from the US, but over here you just look at the first three digits to determine the carrier:

021 Vodafone
027 Telecom
029 TelstraClear

Does it not work that way over there?
 
Can't you tell from the phone number? Granted I'm not from the US, but over here you just look at the first three digits to determine the carrier:

021 Vodafone
027 Telecom
029 TelstraClear

Does it not work that way over there?

nope... only thing that tells you here is where the phone number was purchased... for instance 917 is a New York area code... 608 is a Madison area code etc... doesn't work here Im afraid

not sure how teleflip works, but the message I sent my girlfriend through the tmomail service doesn't show who the text is from. Just had a 4 digit number that had NO relevance to my phone number.

as long as the other party knows what's up, this shouldn't be too big of an issue though.

JS

yeah teleflip ,does the same thing but it also shows your email address
 
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.

It's even worse when you consider the information they ask for to "sign up for" their services --

IF you click on "Signing up for Flipmail -- Step by Step" in your link, you get the Flipmail help:

"...How the sign up process works
The sign up process takes most people about three minutes and includes the following steps:

First, we’ll ask for your email address, the password to the e-mail account you want to get e-mail from on your phone and your cell phone number (the number you want e-mail flipped to). This will create an account on our site and will help us configure the service for your needs. This account allows you to access and customize your flipMail settings for added convenience....

... If you’re using an e-mail account for a school, government agency, organization or business, we may also need to get some information about your incoming e-mail server and other advanced email settings. They should be visible to you in your toolbar – check around for email options. If you have trouble finding your settings, ask your email administrator or internet service provider for this information....

... Simply type or copy and paste the email addresses you want to allow flipMail to send to your phone. Some users find it useful to copy and paste from a .CSV file of their contacts which can be downloaded from most email programs. ..."


O.k, so they only want my email address, my email PASSWORD, my ISP info, my phone number, my contacts' email addresses, and my contacts' phone numbers. And, like you said, they may SAVE any info I give them, share it, or change their privacy policy totally. Umm .. think I can afford the $5/month, or whatever after all.
 
It's even worse when you consider the information they ask for to "sign up for" their services --

IF you click on "Signing up for Flipmail -- Step by Step" in your link, you get the Flipmail help:

"...How the sign up process works
The sign up process takes most people about three minutes and includes the following steps:

First, we’ll ask for your email address, the password to the e-mail account you want to get e-mail from on your phone and your cell phone number (the number you want e-mail flipped to). This will create an account on our site and will help us configure the service for your needs. This account allows you to access and customize your flipMail settings for added convenience....

... If you’re using an e-mail account for a school, government agency, organization or business, we may also need to get some information about your incoming e-mail server and other advanced email settings. They should be visible to you in your toolbar – check around for email options. If you have trouble finding your settings, ask your email administrator or internet service provider for this information....

... Simply type or copy and paste the email addresses you want to allow flipMail to send to your phone. Some users find it useful to copy and paste from a .CSV file of their contacts which can be downloaded from most email programs. ..."


O.k, so they only want my email address, my email PASSWORD, my ISP info, my phone number, my contacts' email addresses, and my contacts' phone numbers. And, like you said, they may SAVE any info I give them, share it, or change their privacy policy totally. Umm .. think I can afford the $5/month, or whatever after all.

strange I was never asked to sign up for their service? I just started sending messages and had no problem?
 
strange I was never asked to sign up for their service? I just started sending messages and had no problem?

Yeah, but they WANT you to go to their website and sign up -- I think you can use this to do the opposite of what iPhone users want -- to "flip" an email into a text message -- which is why they say they need your password.

All I know is that scared me that they were asking for all that (even without reading the security policy)

(a pop-up window underhttp://01efe85.netsolhost.com/teleflipblog/support-faq/#a, so couldn't give link)
 
so wait. let me get this straight.

i, too, can get free, unlimited SMS messages by not sending emails instead of SMS-ing?

BRILLIANT!

sigh.
 
AT&T: [ten-digit phone number]@txt.att.net
This is a forum for people obsessed with their Macs. How many iPhones have been sold? Who doesn't have one?
:rolleyes:
Can't you tell from the phone number? Granted I'm not from the US, but over here you just look at the first three digits to determine the carrier:

021 Vodafone
027 Telecom
029 TelstraClear

Does it not work that way over there?
Not only that, you may be amused to learn (if you don't already know) that here, the wireless customer, and not the person placing the call to the wireless customer, pays the airtime cost of a received phone call.

At least there's a benefit to not having carrier-specific area codes: We don't have to inform our contacts when we switch carriers.
 
All my friends (including me until I get an iPhone) currently have Verizon unlimited texting and use it quite a bit. In regards to using the tendigitnumber@vtext.com, does any one know if this is part of the "in-network" for verizon people? As in, is it free for them to receive those text messages, or are they charged for them as if they are receiving them from a different carrier like ATT or something. (A quick google search and verizon website browse gave me nothing.) Thanks.
 
Can't you tell from the phone number? Granted I'm not from the US, but over here you just look at the first three digits to determine the carrier:

021 Vodafone
027 Telecom
029 TelstraClear

Does it not work that way over there?

Over here, our phone numbers are formatted like (AAA) BBB-CCCC.
(AAA) indicates the area-code (region). This pary is optional if dialing another phone number in the same area-code.
And when it comes to phone numbers, a law (I believe it was a law) was passed which forces phone carriers to allow anyone to keep their phone number if they decide to switch to/from another carrier.
 
Over here, our phone numbers are formatted like (AAA) BBB-CCCC.
(AAA) indicates the area-code (region). This pary is optional if dialing another phone number in the same area-code.
It's not optional for every area code (e.g., New York City area codes).
And when it comes to phone numbers, a law (I believe it was a law) was passed which forces phone carriers to allow anyone to keep their phone number if they decide to switch to/from another carrier.
I think you can also transfer your landline number to a mobile carrier, and maybe vice versa.
 
Universal Number Portability

It's not optional for every area code (e.g., New York City area codes).I think you can also transfer your landline number to a mobile carrier, and maybe vice versa.

Yep - its a law. The phone companies MUST allow you to take your phone number with you, and they can't charge prohibitive fees or take prohibitively long to do the transfer. Last time I checked it takes about 3 days to move a phone number from one mobile carrier to another. And mobile-carrier to landline-carrier (and back again) should be quite possible.

I don't know if it has happened yet, but eventually the "area code" will also be part of your phone number and can be moved with your number. So, eventually, the area code will NOT indicate where you live, only where you originally were allocated your phone number (kind of like the first three digits of the US's Social Security Number).

And, ten-digit dialing is quickly becoming the standard across the U.S. I have just started using it everywhere and it works for me.
 
I would like to use Teleflip, but there's no way I'm giving out my email password to anyone, no matter how much they promise to keep it safe.

For communicating between iPhones, there's no reason why you couldn't just email each other instead of SMS, is there? With push email, your recipient should receive the email almost instantly, and you receive their reply almost instantly. Is there a disadvantage to doing it this way, besides not having the SMSes listed separately from your email? (I don't currently use SMS often enough to have real conversations anyway.)

When sending from an iPhone to a non-iPhone (which in most cases won't have easy, free access to email), you can easily email someone an SMS message for free and they'll receive it as an SMS, but receiving their SMS reply would be the problem. Is there any way around this besides TeleFlip? There's no such thing as reply-to on SMS, and I don't think you can enter an email address as a recipient in an SMS...

I don't know if $5 a month per iPhone is justified for just 200 SMS.
 
I would like to use Teleflip, but there's no way I'm giving out my email password to anyone, no matter how much they promise to keep it safe.

Sorry if I wasn't clear: you CAN use the service just (about) like it says in the MR article. You don't HAVE TO sign up for their service. But in that case, there's still the issue of replies -- they just see your email address. I'm a little paranoid, and after testing it with my real email address that contains my full name sent to my iPhone (it worked) I was worried that I had just given some unknown site my name, email address and cell phone number. So I went to their website, and looked at the instructions for signing up for their service, and to SIGN UP for all their services, they require your email password. Since I'm paranoid anyway, just made me more paranoid. (and then the post about their security policy decided it for me -- but that's me. Some people use online keychain services with ALL their passwords including banking) Like I said, it seems for people without email on their phone (but unlimited texting) to get emails as texts.

Yes, it's just as easy iPhone to iPhone to send email, I don't know how the notification will change, though -- text notification is easier to hear and see at the moment, and you can see who sent it without going into the app. People here have posted how to do texts back and forth via email and texting without going through any outside service -- I've never done it.
 
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