A man is known by the company he keeps - Aesop
|
|
|
Safe text is dating aid
A SYSTEM that enables senders and recipients of text messages to remain anonymous has just been introduced by Loaf. It will enable young singles to become contactable without revealing their actual mobile phone number.
The idea is to create a Loaf 'handle' which participants give out to potential dates. All the potential suitor has to do is send a message via Loaf's service using the company's short code - 8845.
It's a simple matter of prefacing the text with the recipient's Loaf handle - such as Windymiller. The recipient receives the text without being able to discover the sender's mobile phone number.
Better still, when replying to the text, the sender remains totally anonymous until he or she decides it's safe to reveal his or her true telephone number.
Both parties need to sign up to Loaf's service online, a process that takes no more than two minutes. The trick lies in grabbing a 'sexy' and short loaf 'handle' before all the good ones disappear.
The INQ tried the system out and there's a slight delay after Loaf's servers validate your phone number before messages go through. Loaf notifies you if a message can't be delivered.
The service costs 25 pence per text, which on many tariffs is only 13 pence more expensive than sending a standard text message.
There's another useful facility hidden away. That's the ability to divert texts sent to your Loaf handle away from your handset to your own pre-defined mailbox address. That service requires you to log into your Loaf account and turn the redirection on.
There's also HTML code capability available to enable you to insert a graphic and URL into a mail message that takes email recipients straight to the relevant part of Loaf's service.
The only catch is that the email's sender needs to sign up and join Loaf too, so that the cost of texting can be added to their mobile phone bill.
Loaf is a good idea and just might possibly catch on. µ
Share this:
Share
@mschira I dont think you can have a go at the inquirer for reporting this I am in the UK comms industry and I find it interesting and if they didnt disclose the name and website of this company the story would be pretty lame dont you think ?
Plus I think it could be useful for not only dating and giving out to strangers but also for ebay and craigslist ads where you want people to be able to contact you but not have your mobile number.
Since when does the INQ do advertising in it's articles?
I have a bad feeling about this.
Yahoo! Messenger offers this already. All you need to do is create a throwaway Yahoo! account and then "sign out to mobile" You can send texts to another Yahoo! ID and receive texts sent to yours.
All you do is include the Yahoo! ID you are sending to as the first word of the message and send it to Yahoo. If you get the format wrong the immediate reply is a help file.
This should also work with any other instant messenger that can be used from a mobile.
Well it looks Blightycentric. A few questions: where is the Privacy policy section? How do I know it won't increase my email spam and text spam? How long will it be before Microsoft offers forty million for it? Like that GiftReal.com, I want to see some testimonials. Some reputable journo endorsements, etc. I took note of the Facebook group. Will it be used to connect strangers to strangers? Will they also add voice mail capabilities? Geo-mobile tracking? A little leaven? willyferrit seems available, so I'm guessing it hasn't caught on that much as yet.
Hi-Ultee' CodeBreaker Here. Often My TellerTypist style is code of sorts, just tell typists how much to teller. Well it seems doubtful if bunch o' fake giant lowgrundge gorilias, looking for person to jump out upon, be slowed by address switch,an original CheeseBox Scheme. You probably telEm your name/address or vital info or your dedicated position would, by having actual number, after all they are false blue with terrible record at lying & excess. Use Your Moms Phone, Heck who cares. Drashek