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>To develop Chat, Google has worked with more than 50 mobile networks including Vodafone, T-Mobile and Verizon and manufacturers such as Samsung, LG and Huawei.

>To develop Chat, Google has worked with more than 50 mobile networks including Vodafone, T-Mobile and Verizon and manufacturers such as Samsung, LG and Huawei. Why? This is a proposal for a protocol that works over the internet. What do networks and hardware makers have to do with this? In practice the only entity they would have to talk to for a SMS replacement would be Apple. The world does not actually need a universal SMS replacement however. The world needs a universal instant message protocol that works everywhere; not just on phones.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
IshKebab 9y ago
To be fair, for the only things that SMS is still used for (outside the US) this could be quite useful. E.g. parcel tracking SMS's could now include a map. Bank statement texts could be in a proper tabular form. That sort of thing. But that's only if networks don't charge as much as they charge for SMS and I'm not holding my breath.
- philliphaydon 9y ago
  All this stuff is done on what’s app and line outside of the US...
  - Double_a_92 9y ago
    Switzerland here. My creditcard bill access code is still delivered by SMS...
  - josteink 9y ago
    Does your bank send you messages on WhatsApp? Ofcourse not. They use SMS. This whole initiative is about extending the base-protocol (SMS) which everyone is currently limited by. While not universally good (carriers are still given too much power, w.r.t. billing, etc), it's main advantage over any other platform currently available is that this is a protocol-standard suggestion. It's not a walled garden like iMessage or any of those other IM services (which is why no banks or similar use these services, but still use SMS). This is something completely different, and I honestly wish more tech-startups would think in terms of standardized protocols instead of closed services. Creating and developing standardized protocols is what once made the internet great and infinitely innovative. Recently the rise of closed services is what has caused this innovation-curve to almost completely drop down to zero. Basically we need more protocol-development. EOT. Maybe next time we can draft a standardized protocol which wont give or even include carriers. But for now this is a good start for creating a standard IM platform available for everyone to replace SMS. Apple should have done this ages ago with iMessage, but didn't. Props to Google for actually putting in the effort this time around!
    - limeblack 9y ago
      I wouldn't call it extending the SMS protocol when it uses your data plan[1]. [1] https://youtu.be/PCh-qRYMAKk?t=3m39s https://youtu.be/PCh-qRYMAKk?t=3m39s
    - FutureSpec 9y ago
      > But for now this is a good start for creating a standard IM platform available for everyone to replace SMS. Or it's just a bandaid on a hobbling, old protocol that we should move past. I think Google errs here in being too concerned about backwards compatibility. That there are so many alternatives (WhatsApp, iMessage, Signal) shows there's demand to move on from SMS. And Google of all companies should know how crappy it is to have to rely on carriers (look at the years-long Android updates debacle). I hear what you're saying about standards being helpful on the Internet, but SMS is a shitty standard from 1984 that even then was built on compromises and hacks (basically fudging things by using an area of GSM that was never designed for messaging): * "The GSM is optimized for telephony, since this was identified as its main application. The key idea for SMS was to use this telephone-optimized system, and to transport messages on the signalling paths needed to control the telephone traffic during periods when no signalling traffic existed. In this way, unused resources in the system could be used to transport messages at minimal cost. However, it was necessary to limit the length of the messages to 128 bytes" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS#Initial_concept https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS#Initial_concept
    - JumpCrisscross 9y ago
      > Does your bank send you messages on WhatsApp? Was setting up an account in India (Yes Bank, I believe). Banker messaged me on WhatsApp.
      - djrogers 9y ago
        Your banker messaging you is completely different from your bank's systems sending you messages for overdraft, balances, etc. This will likely still happen over sms...
        9y ago
- zAy0LfpBZLC8mAC 9y ago
  How couldn't that be done with an instant messaging service? Nothing prevents companies from sending parcel tracking notifications to XMPP addresses, except for their own incompetence.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

IshKebab 9y ago

To be fair, for the only things that SMS is still used for (outside the US) this could be quite useful. E.g. parcel tracking SMS's could now include a map. Bank statement texts could be in a proper tabular form. That sort of thing. But that's only if networks don't charge as much as they charge for SMS and I'm not holding my breath.

philliphaydon 9y ago
All this stuff is done on what’s app and line outside of the US...
- Double_a_92 9y ago
  Switzerland here. My creditcard bill access code is still delivered by SMS...
- josteink 9y ago
  Does your bank send you messages on WhatsApp? Ofcourse not. They use SMS. This whole initiative is about extending the base-protocol (SMS) which everyone is currently limited by. While not universally good (carriers are still given too much power, w.r.t. billing, etc), it's main advantage over any other platform currently available is that this is a protocol-standard suggestion. It's not a walled garden like iMessage or any of those other IM services (which is why no banks or similar use these services, but still use SMS). This is something completely different, and I honestly wish more tech-startups would think in terms of standardized protocols instead of closed services. Creating and developing standardized protocols is what once made the internet great and infinitely innovative. Recently the rise of closed services is what has caused this innovation-curve to almost completely drop down to zero. Basically we need more protocol-development. EOT. Maybe next time we can draft a standardized protocol which wont give or even include carriers. But for now this is a good start for creating a standard IM platform available for everyone to replace SMS. Apple should have done this ages ago with iMessage, but didn't. Props to Google for actually putting in the effort this time around!
  - limeblack 9y ago
    I wouldn't call it extending the SMS protocol when it uses your data plan[1]. [1] https://youtu.be/PCh-qRYMAKk?t=3m39s https://youtu.be/PCh-qRYMAKk?t=3m39s
  - FutureSpec 9y ago
    > But for now this is a good start for creating a standard IM platform available for everyone to replace SMS. Or it's just a bandaid on a hobbling, old protocol that we should move past. I think Google errs here in being too concerned about backwards compatibility. That there are so many alternatives (WhatsApp, iMessage, Signal) shows there's demand to move on from SMS. And Google of all companies should know how crappy it is to have to rely on carriers (look at the years-long Android updates debacle). I hear what you're saying about standards being helpful on the Internet, but SMS is a shitty standard from 1984 that even then was built on compromises and hacks (basically fudging things by using an area of GSM that was never designed for messaging): * "The GSM is optimized for telephony, since this was identified as its main application. The key idea for SMS was to use this telephone-optimized system, and to transport messages on the signalling paths needed to control the telephone traffic during periods when no signalling traffic existed. In this way, unused resources in the system could be used to transport messages at minimal cost. However, it was necessary to limit the length of the messages to 128 bytes" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS#Initial_concept https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS#Initial_concept
  - JumpCrisscross 9y ago
    > Does your bank send you messages on WhatsApp? Was setting up an account in India (Yes Bank, I believe). Banker messaged me on WhatsApp.
    - djrogers 9y ago
      Your banker messaging you is completely different from your bank's systems sending you messages for overdraft, balances, etc. This will likely still happen over sms...
      - 9y ago
zAy0LfpBZLC8mAC 9y ago
How couldn't that be done with an instant messaging service? Nothing prevents companies from sending parcel tracking notifications to XMPP addresses, except for their own incompetence.