already use BEEJIVE for this :)

flunkycarter

Was there some restriction on sending SMS through email before? If so, what an arbitrary and lame restriction.

Anyone can send directly to SMS, or use something like teleflip.

SomeAudioGuy

This is like Teleflip, which is DEAD.

I work as a meth lab technician

Wow, tough crowd. If it is like the tethering program if you buy it before AT&T starts whining Apple will let you keep it. Once it is off the store, no longer available to new users.

IngridCookies

Giz, cover the 10,000 apps news story :]

iAirmanshirk

Let's see how long this one stays in the app store.

schrosa

yay, it's an app that can do what the browser already does.

Captain Nobody

When Apple bans this, will I get my money back?

dorylomorphs

Thats nice and all, but 5 dollar fee? no thanks, not that important.

Kocrachon

This works through email already
[en.wikipedia.org]

FuzzysFriedChicken

@Captain Nobody: I know, right? And besides, I tried all of the free-text webapps and they all blew. Texting the natural way is more streamlined, which is one of the qualities that Apple-users tout.

michaelwiggins

Unavailable in Canadian store.

5cents

I don't even want to get started on how retarded it is that I have to pay for SMS when I have the $30/mo unlimited data plan on my AT&T HTC Fuze. What do we have to do to stop them from getting away with that highway robbery?

jiveabillion

0-o

I'm confused, why pay $5 for something already supported on every single AT&T device anyway (Includeing iPhone)?

Seriously, you can already do this without the app...what is the app actually doing, superficially removing the @txt.att.net? Or keeping a database of those extensions?

Also, does it work with the carriers that do not support email as sms?

Xelinor

Whoa - I need this for my BlackBerry Storm!

mpapaj

Eh, I dunno about this. I think it's too much work worrying about the file sizes of my messages. I can't say I'm a fan of paying at&t for texts at their highway robbery price of $20 a month but this doesn't look like all that great of an app. So I think I'll stick it out paying at&t for regular text messages provided by Apple's great interface.

Also, if many people where to do this, at&t's text messaging rates would only increase. The reason why companies are able to bring consumers more innovative products and services for a cheaper price is because they are making income off of the consumers and therefore have the money to put out better innovation at cheaper prices to the consumer.

Mr. Hi-Definition

@FuzzysFriedChicken:

Very useful link on how to send SMS via email to a cellphone user. Thanks for sharing :)

imagine-engine

For those long drawn out text conversations I just switch over to AIM on m iPhone, just for the screenname put a "+xxxxxxxxxx"

ab3

@imagine-engine: I have been doing this for years. I don't text from my iphone ever. just have friend SMS-email address stored

FuzzysFriedChicken

@iAirmanshirk: The fact that you're jerking it to that idea is just so disturbing to me.

supercollider

@Mr. Hi-Definition: You sir, live in a dream world if you believe that. Companies like ATT and the like charge exorbitant fees like that because the customers put up with it.

Omadon

@supercollider:

Why?

iAirmanshirk

Charging to receive a text. That, is never, ever, going to be right.

Onouris

but with an iphone, you go all out. so not getting the unlimited texting is just plain stupid. and plus, i'm one of those iphone users that can txt correctly and rly fast on the iphone without looking at the keyboard. i know, i deserve a medal.

soccerpro100cn

I would buy this if I was on ATT/had an iPhone. Yes, you can just add an extra email for everyone you know with their SMS gateway email as FuzzyzFriedChicken already pointed out. Been using that for years. But with this you never have to ask what someone's carrier is, it gives you a landscape keyboard for texting, and handles the back end. Seems like a deal to me.

Mr_Maze

The difference between just using email and using this app is that the app automatically determines which carrier the recipient is on and generates the email address. You could ask all your friends which carrier they are on and then look up the corresponding email address and then enter it into your contacts, but this app does it automatically. I am not going to ask everyone I know which carrier they are on so that I can save a couple bucks on texting, but I would buy this app to keep from having to ask.

IngridCookies

@iAirmanshirk: Did you actually say why? That's truly disturbing.

Qwertyfreak is jumping on the bandwagon

@Xelinor: yeah, i was thinking the same. I'll spend here [ [fivedollarcomparison.org] ] instead.

arke

And what happens when the iPhone sleeps and your iPhone stops checking for e-mails...

You stop getting txts [emails] - thats what.

I had taken this picture before I returned the iPhone:
[www.flickr.com]

Anyone know if the 2.2 OS fixed this email checking problem ?

DustinFinn

You guys are the cheapest freaking people I know.

dharasick

@jiveabillion: um, how about stop paying them for text messaging by getting a program that allows you to SMS via email? Or just switch to email altogether so that nobody has to pay for SMS?

weatherman

@IngridCookies: but once it's out of the app store, it won't be upgradeable so you're stuck with whatever bugs are there from the beginning.

weatherman

@dharasick: I think the majority of the people that want to get around the SMS fee are more annoyed by the fact that texts are very very small packets of data being sent at a huge premium. It's more of the principal of paying for something that shouldn't cost so much, then actually paying the amount. The fact that texts when they first came out were $5 a month for unlimited (with AT&T) and now are $20 shows you that the only reason the price went up is because everyone gives in and pays it.

Shawnladd

This is pointless. All it does is wrap outgoing email into an iChat looking interface. You could just use the email application to do the same thing.

bms

@DustinFinn: I believe it didn't fix the problem. Mine still doesn't fetch while asleep. I think you bring up a good point about the futility of this app as long as the iPhone doesn't want to do work while asleep.

Shawnladd

@Mr. Hi-Definition: do you even know how much it costs to ACTUALLY send a text message, or what those data rates translate to? It's astronimically high for 40-140bytes of data.

Gridneo

i think its worth it, even though I already have a couple of my friends set up already on my address book with number@(vtext.com or whatever carrier) on a second email (with custom label) named Text.

you can already do this using mail if you know your friend's carrier's text server (ex. 5554443333@txt.att.net or w/e)

but... when you don't know the person's text extension then you have a problem. So at-least this program can help find it for you. That's basically what it does I think... it's true you can use AIM too, but you would only get a text if you stay logged on AIM, I prefer receive it on my mail in that case this way I don't miss any text received.

alexpr

What does the message show up as on the receiving end though? Will it show up as an SMS message from Joe Blow or as ##########@att.txt.net? Also, when people aren't replying to a message you've sent, you will receive it as a regurlar SMS, not an e-mail, and be charged the standard fee, right?

While I agree with everyone else that the rates we pay for SMS are ridiculous, this App won't really get around it completely. Landscape texting would certainly be a welcome addition, but until Push is working, this isn't really a reasonable replacement. And even then, we'll still be charged for new SMS messages.

Gix0r

I wish Apple would just give us the option of doing all text input in landscape mode already.

Kiamat