Google Nuking Infinite SMS App for iPhone
Michael on Facebook sent us link to this announcement on innerfence, which says Google is shutting down the Infinite SMS App.
According to the developers:
Google has claimed no grievance with Infinite SMS other than its success. Their given reason for the block isn’t abuse or wrongdoing; it’s that we brought too many users (and thus too much cost) to an experimental service.
Google’s official statement reads:
Infinite SMS is a third party app that has been using Google technology to provide free SMS for users, while we were paying for the cost of the text messages. While Google is supportive of third party apps, we've decided we can't support this particular usage of our system at this time. SMS chat is still just an experiment in the early testing stages in Gmail Labs. We're blocking all external XMPP clients from sending SMS; we're not singling out Inner Fence.
SMS, of course, uses the carrier channel to inexpensively send short 160 byte text messages which the Telco's then exorbitantly price gouge users $0.20 per message (do the math, thats thousands for megs) or offer bundled in large or unlimited numbers. They've even priced them so high for businesses that companies like Twitter -- and apparently more so Google -- can't or don't want to pay for them, especially for international users.
Are you an Infinite SMS user? If so, what are your thoughts on Innerfence, Google, experimental services, and SMS charges?
There are 22 comments. Add yours.
Innerfence the makers of Infinite SMS wrote an incredible program that put it squarely on the map. So incredible it immediately left AIM and Yahoo services in the dark and probably left their own developers fighting and scrambling to compete. It's success should have taken the
sms in text straight out of the labs and into the spotlight. Google should have taken advantage of their success and used it to their advantage. NOPE! What did they do? They acted like a 5 year old child
and took the service away from iPhone users. They cut off their nose to spite their face. Typical of little kids. C'MON GOOGLE. EITHER BUY THE PROGRAM OFF THESE MEN OR HIRE THEM!!! Jeleous or stupid> Right now you are acting like both. Turn this around. You have made a serious,costly mistake. The power of the iPhone and the app store, whether you like it or not, is a powerful beast to reckon with.
I could be wrong but it seems like Google is upset because someone else (in this case Innerfence) is making a helluva lot of money on the program that they wish were theirs. It seems like by doing this Google is coming across money hungry or just simply jeleous. Maybe both?
Does anyone reading this blog have any info on the claim by ATT that the "carrier channel" (the same channel that calls are signaled on) is a limited resource which can be overwhelmed by text traffic to the point that calls can't reliably be signaled?
@Michael: @Dale:
What was wrong with the official explanation?
SOMEBODY was paying those charges. Were you?
Why should Google pick up the tab for a bazillion twenty cent message for people that don't even visit their webpages so they can run a few ads under your nose?
Do you guys work for free?
I don't think there is any validity in the claim AT&T has made. Anyone know how much it costs the telcos to transmit a text.... Absolutley nothing the text piggybacks on the existing cellular technology. Which in a sense may explain at&t's claim but I highly doubt the small amount of information transmitted in a text overloads any network. Although we all will admit at&t does need to increase the robustness of it's network.
The blame does not lie with google on this one it rests squarely with the exorbitant charges from AT&T.
Honestly, I must be too damn old because I could care less about this.
Why does anyone even use SMS?
Crap... I just bought this app, lmao. XP
@icebike:
Doesn't a lot of BlackBerry data "push" via the carrier channel (email, proxied web requests, BB messenger). Even compressed, wouldn't that be fairly heavy traffic compared to SMS, if AT&T is really concerned strictly about traffic.
Also, unlimited plans would create a load as well.
That they want money, if they're not investing that money directly into increasing carrier channel capacity, rather than reduction of traffic makes it an interesting question...
@Scottb:
Why use SMS? Because I don't want to start a call and get involved in a discussion when all I need to say can fit in 5 words or less.
I can text right in the middle of the meeting to ask a question from the job site. It would be very disruptive to start a call.
@ Rene:
As I understand the rim technology:
Blackberry does not push via the carrier channel. They signal the hanset with (IIRC) about 6 bytes saying they have Mail (or what ever) and the handset calls home over the normal 3G or Edge (or what ever) data channel to fetch.
Their push is really just signaling. The mail is actually fetched. That's why they could do this stuff way before there was GSM. In the early days they actually PAID cell operators to add extra signaling transmitters to towers.
I don't really understand it, because you can still send sms messages via google talk. Google just doesn't want to share with an outside company it sounds like. I hope that the developers try to find a work around or some other option though, because truthfully I didn't send or receive enough text messages with the app to get my money out of it. I don't have text service and I was hoping that this would be a way for me to respond to those people who send me text messages without thinking if it is costing me money to receive them. They had a great interface, maybe they should try to route it through AIM and see how long that lasts!
Its a matter of time before we get free SMS messaging and email over the carriers network. Its already happening in China.
I've been using the WebText iPhone app. It's not just limited to one SMS provider; you can choose from various SMS providers around the world.
I can send free SMS from my country, but for other users you can use Clickatell or VoipBuster to send messages for cheap ($0.03).
http://www.33eels.com/webtext/
I had a feeling that this would happen. When I first saw Infinite SMS in the app store I thought it was a good concept. I held off on buying it though mostly because I would have to text each of my friend's separately and it would be with a different number assigned by Google. I have come very close to buying it to lower my SMS plan to 200 or and save some money.
But I had a feeling this would happen. I don't blame Google, obviously having what could be millions of iPhone and iPod Touch users using this was going to start adding up huge additional costs outside of the normal Gmail Chat that people use.
It would be cool if Google hired the developers of Infinite SMS to help enhance Google's service and maybe they could strike a deal with some carriers for cheaper SMS alternatives. You never know, this could lead to some cool stuff down the road.
@ icebike,
AIM, IM, email?
Am I missing something???
@Scottb:
Yes, you are missing something.
AIM, IM, require the BOTH parties to be running that app in the foreground on their iphone.
Email too slow unless everyone is running push, and then you have a spam problem.
@scottb:
No, you're not missing anything. People will claim over and over that they use texting as a convenience, when in fact, they are the very same people who use 1,000 texts per month, or far more. They don't just send twenty or so quick-and-to-the-point messages during meetings, classes, or other situations where texting is justified (and more convenient)... they also carry on lengthy conversations and chats with others rather than just calling and speaking to them. Sure, to each his own... but they're in serious denial if they think 1,000 texts or more is a more convenient way to communicate... and to argue the point simply makes them appear extremely foolish.
Get Borange instead: http://bit.ly/borange
Borange for iPhone sends free group SMS and email invitations from iPhone and iPod touch, and can route replies back to your email or phone SMS. It's not a generalized SMS replacement solution, but it's often just what you want, and works on the Touch.
Example group message: "Meet me tonight in San Francisco? We're getting drinks at the pub ." http://www.borange.com/demo
@Steve
You're kidding, right? If I'm in class all day and work in the evenings then texting is way more convenient than calling someone. I carry on text conversations that stretch across multiple days at times. If I want a quick answer then I'll call, if I don't care how long it takes to get a response then I'll text. I can carry on conversations with quite a few people at a time and still go about my day. To each his own I guess. Some people hate dealing with text messages, while others, like myself, hate it when I have to leave a room to take a call and chat about the usual butter-me-up nonsense before they spit out their reason for calling which could have easily been a non-disruptive text.
Innerfence released a product that relied on beta (google labs) software? Interesting. I'm not sure that was such a smart business move.
Faketext is a hot new app that allow you to hide your real text messages on your iPhone. Check it out at faketext.com, you can go there straight from your iPhone since it is a webapp and is free.