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GMail Sign-Ups Via Mobile

Posted by Zonk on from the finally dept.

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."

12 of 427 comments (clear)

  1. Invitations Still Work by under_score · · Score: 5, Informative

    So a person can still get on even if they aren't in the US.

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    Helping with organizational effectiveness is our job.
  2. A New Feature by voodoo_bluesman · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I just noticed that I'm now able to send email out with addresses other than my gmail account.

    VERY cool from a business standpoint.

    1. Re:A New Feature by brajesh · · Score: 5, Informative

      Yeah! I guess Google added this recently.

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      95% of all sigs are made up.
  3. Not yet, it isn't by GauteL · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It is still clearly marked "Beta" and no links to registration is found on the gmail.com website.

  4. Aha... by irn_bru · · Score: 5, Interesting

    So they want your mobile phone number as well

    **Strokes chin...**

  5. Re:mobile phone? by mzwaterski · · Score: 5, Informative
    From Google's page:

    "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."

  6. Re:Great! by GauteL · · Score: 5, Informative

    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.

  7. Re:no longer compelling? by arudloff · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The most visible feature of GMail is the extra storage

    I think it's safe to say that 99.9% of the people who use GMail will tell you it's the interface, not the storage.

  8. Re:Great! by rbarreira · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Quicker than Thunderbird or Outlook?

    Depends on the speed of your computer and internet connection.

    Simpler than Thunderbird or Outlook?

    Sure.

    Better than Thunderbird or Outlook?

    Much better! It's as if you were searching the web with google!

    I already keep every mail that's not spam or duped in the replies, it's not nearly 2TB yet.

    It's not TB, it's GB.

    Plus; it's not backed up! If keeping e-mails is important, don't you think it should be backed up?

    Google employs redundant storage. I've heard that data is stored at least 3.5 times, but I'm not going to search for a source for this right now...

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  9. OH NO! by museumpeace · · Score: 5, Funny

    I was planning on using my 150 GMAIL invitations as christmas presents! Now they won't be very valuable.

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  10. Re:mobile phones? by metalmaniac1759 · · Score: 5, Informative

    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.

  11. you don't need an invite at all by cjasonm · · Score: 5, Informative

    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/