Capitalizing on our increasing loss of memorization skills, Sprint is today launching a new product that will let users replace their usual phone number with their name. And the product has perhaps the best brand name ever: StarStar Me.
StarStar Me essentially lets you give out your name, nickname, or any word you’d like, instead of giving our your phone number. So, instead of giving you my cell number, I’d tell you to call **Jordan and you’d instantly be connected.
According to the release, the StarStar Me service will also provide an automatic custom text response to phone calls you don’t answer, a bit like the new Phone app in iOS 6, but with less flexibility. Users will also have “unique ways to share links to their blog, website, or social media accounts.” Sprint was unclear about this part, but I’d assume it means you can connect your blog or social information to your StartStar Me account and users searching for you will have access to that information.
Here’s what Sprint’s VP of Product and Technology development Kevin McGinnis had to say about it:
Sprint customers will be the first people to get StarStar Me. We expect this service to be especially popular with professionals, students and family customers, who can tailor its use to their individual preferences, lifestyles and interests with a few simple clicks.
Starting today, Sprint (NYSE:S) will be the first U.S. mobile carrier to offer an innovative new service, called StarStar Me, that lets customers use a name they choose in place of their mobile telephone number. Imagine meeting someone and instead of telling them 10 hard-to-remember digits, giving them your own memorable mobile number, like **SARAH (**72724) or **CHLOE (**24563).
Sprint has already released an Android app, that gives the user control over their StarStar Me account, with an iOS version in the works. The app will also let you block numbers, customize that automatic reply text message, and handle all that social media contact info.
In the meantime, if you’re a Sprint customer and are interested in this super cool new service, dial **63 (**me) on your Sprint phone or visit this website. The service costs $2.99 per month per StarStar Me account, and the user can have up to two StarStar Me accounts per number.
Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including two wireless networks serving almost 49 million customers at the end of the second quarter of 2009; industry-leading mobile data services; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone.
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