Send text messages to landlines with Sprint

They're not even close to being the first carrier to offer this, but Sprint is giving subscribers three months to send SMS text messages to landlines at no additional cost (after that we presume they'll start charging extra for this rare privilege). Very few landlines can receive SMS text messages, so instead Sprint is using a text-to-speech converter to take what you've written and read out to the recepient (or whoever answers the phone). We guarantee that the novelty will wear off very quickly, at which point you'll probably want to find some other way to annoy and confuse those few friends you have left who refuse to get a cellphone.

[Thanks, Dan]

[GunForHire @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

That's been available for all BT customers here in the UK for some time now. It's actually quite accurate, and hearing some posh woman call you a "sweaty Mexican, cock loving gringo" is pretty damn funny too :D

[Jake T @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

I remember a site with a huge directory of recrdings from a similiar service.
Except you called them and told them what to tell someone else.
Why not just call them yourself though?

[Rey @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

GunForHire, you just made my day. That's hilarious.

[sine~language @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

This has been out for a while in Aus, offered by Telstra. And I don't know of anyone who has actually ever used the service. People without cellphones aren't loved enough to receive sms in the first place, are they?

[Mark @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

Laboriously key in a message and it will convert it to speech for you... or you could just talk.

[Dick @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

We've had this with Rogers for about 6 months - it's actually been handy for me once or twice, for doing things like passing on a message to a stone-aged friend whilst in a meeting...

And of course pranking random people and scaring the crap out of them :D

[Mike @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

Hey Sprint! Hi, it's me. You remember me, right? Yeah, I'm the guy that keeps calling you because I'm switching to some new, gadgety handset.

Yeah, so this new feature you've got - you know, with the landline SMS. Yeah. Nice and all, sure, but how about a firmware update for my new $425 phone, so I can text a landline from my phone directory instead of having to look up the number, reenter the number and then send a text?

Not to be a jerk or anything, I mean the old way sorta made sense, till now. Maybe a good project for tomorrow guys, k?

[Boss Sauce @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

#3 agreed-- MOD GunForHire UP!

[brenda @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

We've had this service in Spain too for a while. I'm bilingual so love to hear the robot's voice in English if I happen to send a message to ourselves.

[Jens W. @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

Oops - misread the title as "Send text messages to landmines..."
Didn't make much sense :)

/Jens W.

[Robert @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

I'm on BT in the UK, like most people (virtually a requirement if you want ADSL from any ISP). I accidently sent a text to my home phone, my phone rang a few seconds later with a text to speech of the emssage I sent, pretty cool. The strange thing was that my phone displayed the caller as my line telephone number (calling your own number from your phone basically). I suppose it may have some use for someone.

[Vivek @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

Hi,How do yo do?
I am fine and Iwould like to listen from you .
Please talk to me whenever you are free.

VIVEK