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GMail Sign-Ups Via Mobile
jm.one writes "In the wake of recent releases releases Google Desktop 2.0 Beta and Google Talk 1.0 Beta, Gmail (known as Google Mail for legal reasons in some areas) is finally open to everyone. Learn more in the Google Blog entry and register at the Gmail website. Please take note that sign-up occurs via mobile phone at the moment, and only U.S. citizens can register for now. Plans to add more countries are on the way."
So a person can still get on even if they aren't in the US.
Helping with organizational effectiveness is our job.
Gmail is out of beta is it? News to me, still says 'beta' in the logo and nowhere in the blog entry does it say Gmails out of beta, just that you can sign up for it without an invite in the US.
"You need to receive and enter a special invitation code in order to create an account. Currently, we are only sending these codes as text messages to US mobile phones. So you will need to have a mobile phone with text message capabilities (most phones have this) and the invitation code itself.
One of the reasons we are offering this new way to sign up for Gmail is to help protect our users and combat abuse. Spam and abuse protection are two things we take very seriously, and our users have been very happy with the small amount of spam they've received in their Gmail accounts. We take many measures to ensure that spammers have a difficult time sending their spam messages, getting these messages delivered, or even obtaining a Gmail account (spammers will often use many different accounts to send spam). Sending invitation codes to mobile phones via SMS is one way to address this, as the number of accounts per phone number can be limited.
If you want to open an account a different way, you may want to ask a friend with a mobile phone to receive an invitation code for you or to ask someone you know who already has a Gmail account to email you an invitation."
1. Extremely quick
2. Very simple, unobtrusive interface
3. Extensive search features
4. Very large storage space
For a Webmailsystem from a commercial operator it is extremely good imho.
I am on the gmail site now and it's not out of beta. Not yet. I bet it will be in a few months though. This IS the first time anyoen who goes to the site can register and for now only via the SMS text message. If you ask me, it's a ingenious way to implement a captcha. Still has issue with handicap users (unless one has a phone that can text to speech the SMS). This will only prevent spam for a short time. All the spammer needs is a pocket pc phone and a program that can read the SMS, and go to the web page and authenticate it. Easy peasy and all they have to use is a smartphone.
Gorkman
don't know about a link on gmail.com (I already have an account so it seems it redirects to google.com/accounts when I try to get to the main page, but
this link: Create a Google Account - Gmail does show up on that page.
But yeah, it does still say beta.
There is much cruelty in the universe, John.
Yeah, we seem to have the tour map.
Yeah! I guess Google added this recently.
95% of all sigs are made up.
For all those saying "huh?"
/. writeup...
From the Google blog:
Why use mobile phones? It's a way to help us verify that an account is being created by a real person, and that one person isn't creating thousands of accounts. We want to keep our system as spam-free as possible, and making sure accounts are used by real people is one way to do that.
Right now, sign-ups only work with U.S. mobile phone numbers, but we're eager to support others.
Honestly, it would have been useful to have that in the
"A week in the lab saves an hour in the library"
GMail has much more than large storage. As has been pointed out elsewhere, it has a clean interface and excellent spam filtering.
If the switch to a different e-mail address worries you, just have your mail forwarded to your GMail account and slowly phase out the old one.
Click 'Next Step >>,' and then click 'Send Verification' to complete the process. Gmail will send a verification message to your other email address to confirm that you'd like to add it to your Gmail account. You'll need to click the link in that message, or enter the confirmation code in the 'Accounts' section of your Gmail account, to complete the process. Once you've verified that you'd like to add the address to your account, you can start sending messages using your custom 'From:' address.
2. Very simple, unobtrusive interface
Simpler than Thunderbird or Outlook?
Um, to add to this You can use Tbird or Outlook (or any other pop mail client to read your gmail)
Instructions for doing this are here
Do not read this
Instead of everyone saying "Huh? The logo says Beta..." and "OMFG, why does google want my phone number?", why don't you READ their FAQs?
One of the reasons we are offering this new way to sign up for Gmail is to help protect our users and combat abuse. Spam and abuse protection are two things we take very seriously, and our users have been very happy with the small amount of spam they've received in their Gmail accounts. We take many measures to ensure that spammers have a difficult time sending their spam messages, getting these messages delivered, or even obtaining a Gmail account (spammers will often use many different accounts to send spam). Sending invitation codes to mobile phones via SMS is one way to address this, as the number of accounts per phone number can be limited.
Granted, it's not the best idea, but it's a good a way as any to stop spammers. Not that spammers couldn't just find an invite any time they wanted, though. (Anybody want one? I have a couple hundred)
Find a friend with a cellphone to sign you up. Or PM me, I'll invite you. Invites still work, nothing changed, they just added another way to get stuff done. And it does cut down on spam- the first time they find a spammer, they can see who invited him, and bam, the spam chain is broken. Bitching on /. doesn't get anything done.
Of course, bitching about google must give you some weird sense of fulfillment...
-everphilski-
The initial services available with your Google account are:
https://www.google.com/accounts/SmsMailSignup1
Actually, there's a Captcha in there, too.
So, cell phone number + a Captcha, and then you'll get an SMS with an invite code.
RTFA!
Why use mobile phones? It's a way to help us verify that an account is being created by a real person, and that one person isn't creating thousands of accounts. We want to keep our system as spam-free as possible, and making sure accounts are used by real people is one way to do that.
Nandz.
As the URL to be translated is passed using GET on just about every translation service, some filtering software (*cough*8e6 R3000*cough*) can read that.
Also, some other filtering software (*cough*WebSense Enterprise*cough*) blocks GLT and Babelfish as "Proxy Avoidance".
Try again?
Unless your cellphone company charges you to receive sms messages, it actually doesn't cost you anything.
Usually, it costs you 5 or 10 cents to send a text message with your phone, but I believe that most companies allow you to recieve them for free.
Never trust what they say, you can sign-up with a canadian cell phone number.
If you sign up for a Google account, it comes with GMail. All you need is a valid email address to confirm with. All this fuss is silly considering that such an easy backdoor exists.
https://www.google.com/accounts/NewAccount/
mod parent up. i don't understand the fuss either.
Cingular charges US$0.10 for messages sent and received. (source)
If you were grandfathered-in with AT&T however, incoming messages are free. (source)
Works for Canadian phone numbers. I just tried it using a phone in the 416 area code (Toronto, Ontario, Canada).
The article's summary is wrong too..."and only U.S. citizens can register for now" - I'm in Canada and not a US Citizen. Besides, does having a US-based mobile number make you a citizen?
By the way, the link to the sign up page is here: https://www.google.com/accounts/SmsMailSignup1
If I RT the FA correctly the text message is a one off verification, not everytime you sign in, though they are offering other services, such as password recovery via text as well.
I just signed up with a Canadian mobile phone, so the whole "US Only" thing isn't strictly true.
In my university they have US based gateway so when I login into gmail it shows links to registration on front page; but at home my gateway is local so it does show me 50 invitation inside the account as well as info to this new feature.
The important thing is not to stop questioning --Albert Einstein.
Of course, it might be out of date, but...
2. Does creating a Google Account give me a Gmail account?
Unfortunately not. Gmail is currently in a limited release, so you need to get invited by another Gmail user in order to sign up. If you're interested in Gmail, you may want to check the About Gmail page periodically for updates. If, on the other hand, you already have a Gmail account, you can use your Gmail username and password to sign in to your Google Account.
http://www.google.com/help/faq_accounts.html