We don’t see it in our Gmail settings (yet), but Webmonkey reports that Gmail Labs has added a very useful opt-in feature for sending text / SMS messages to mobile phones using the built-in Chat functionality.
Update: the Labs team found a glitch and is pushing the release back a bit (’probably within two weeks’).
Update 2: make sure you read the open letter the Webmail team at AOL writes to Google. It’s supposed to be funny, I guess, but it’s really not and quite unprofessional to boot.
Turning the option on in your Gmail account settings apparently enables you to send an SMS as soon as you start typing a phone number into Chat’s search box. When you enter new phone numbers, it will save the digits in your contact entries as well. This means that when contacts go offline, the chat window will give you the option to switch to SMS.
Our invitation for a live demo was lost in the mail, but Webmonkey has been given a demonstration of the experimental feature by Gmail product manager Keith Coleman and adds:
The first time you send a text message, it will appear on the person’s phone as coming from a number in the 406 area code. Google has made several thousands of these numbers available for Gmail users, and once a number is associated with your account, all of the text messages you send through Gmail will come from that number.
The 406 number works both ways, so your friend can reply to you via text message. Also, your friend can save that number in their phone as belonging to you, and they can even use it to initiate new chats with you.
We haven’t been able to try this out ourselves yet, but Google does list the text messaging feature on its ‘What’s new in Gmail Labs‘ page (only for US phones, for now).
This is probably one of the first results we’re seeing from Google’s acquisition of GrandCentral (dating back to June 2007 already).
No official word yet on the Gmail blog (the GrandCentral blog has been silent since last April), but we suspect an announcement and general roll-out to follow soon.
(Image credit: monkey_bites)
Comments
A suggestion. Start a new blog in your network which contains the feature updates of all existing well-known good products. You will get 3-4 posts per day I think. And you can then focus more on analysis, M & A and other breaking news type of stories
I think a better feature would be a way to push useful stuff into a private canvas page in a persons Facebook account. Right now your FB app is well sort of blah. Make it more useful by allowing people to save stories and articles in private folders because a lot of times you read about new tech and you are like I could use that, just not now. Just add the share button in Facebook which lets you send the article to friends if people want to do that.
Is there a way to use this with Twitter?
Possibly by sending a text message to yourself to get the 406 number then to set that number as an SMS number for Twitter to send you updates?
What about Google adding incoming SMS to Grand Central?
You should cover the problems people useing Google Apps are having getting the Gmail Labs feature enabled in the first place. All these cool tools are only any use if you can enable them. See http://groups.google.com/group.....79a2b391d8
why do you think it is related to Grandcentral purchase?
give me one reason..
Because of the phone number allocation. Google is issuing a specific phone number for each gmail address/ Cell number pair. That’s the only reasoning I could see. I hope I can tie my GC number to it in the future.
Can I access SMS via Adium?
GrandCentral gives you a phone number that “instead of being tied to a device or a location, is tied to you”. They were working on an SMS feature before they were bought, and they probably continued doing so within Google and brought it to Gmail.
http://www.google.com/support/.....opic=13506
It is related to Grandcentral as you are getting one telephone number which is your central point of contact from google. At this time this is only for Gmail SMS and that too in USA.
Are you there Jah?
It’s me, Ras Costanza!
Yahoo! Mail has had this ability for over a year now at least.
The difference is that I never know who sent me a text from Yahoo or MSN unless they ID themselves in the msg body.
Google is allowing the unique phone number from which the SMS comes to be identified by my phone as related to a specific gmail address.
In order for Yahoo SMS to work the discussion has to be initiated from Yahoo, and it is only relevant for that session.
Yahoo and MSN have failed to incrementally innovate on top of a feature they’ve had forever.
Try sending a text msg to your friend’s Yahoo email account from your phone right now. Then get back to us. KTHXBAI
Paul is right, Yahoo beat Google to this one by a mile. However, I still would use Google’s because Gmail is my primary email.
But google is too much claver.Google can tie-up with Mobile operators and for receiving can cut the charges of SMS.But just wait & watch.
http://www.iboozi.com
Nothing makes great news like a big company finally catching up with others 6+ years late. For example, AIM has had a mobile interface for text messaging since 2002 or earlier, though desktop AIM might not have had the ability to send text messages until 2003 or so. And, as noted by someone else, Y! has had it for quite awhile, too.
Better late than never!
Ok, so we don’t know each other. List your AIM s/n and I’ll try to send you an SMS. Oh wait, that won’t work unless you send me an SMS from AIM first…
/facepalm
It used to be T-Mobile only back in 2002 or thereabouts, but I think you can use it on any carrier in north america now - it’s called AIM TXT. I’ve never needed to receive an SMS from the PC first to use it.
http://mailblog.aol.com/2008/1.....r-costume/
You mean that company that made me cancel my credit card because *they couldn’t* stop charging me for dial-up access in 2003?
Let’s not get into the transgressions of AOL over the years, but keep in mind most of us have not forgotten and will not forget. Google is still trustworthy in my book, and until that changes I will use Gmail for anything remotely serious.
“Or, if he is hit by a bolt of lightening, then I do not forgive”
This will be somewhat useful when it comes out. But, if I want to send someone a message that is less than 160 characters, then I’ll probably just pick up my phone and text someone. I am stoked with all of the new applications that Google is picking up though.
Is this option available for Indians
I love that video. Are you there Jah? It’s me Ras Trent!
that’s a very exciting feature.
真爽！
sound good! cant wait to see that!
I do believe that probably every cell phone provider in the United States assigns an email address to each cell phone account. The email address is usually the cell number @ the domain of the provider. When an email it sent to the cell phones email address, it appears to the receiver as a text message and the message can be replied to as a text message back to the source. Therefore, everyone already has the ability to text between gmail and cell phone already.
The process works best when the exchange of messages is started from the email side, I wouldn’t be surprised if many phones are not capable of texting directly to an email address because of a software limitation. However, once the cell phone receives such a text message, there are usually no problems replying directly back to the source, be it an email address or ten-digit phone number.
Skype already does this. You can use your cell phone number as the sender alias so that replies go to your cell.
There seems to me a little catch to this arrangement….
when google has your cellphone number they & 3rd party’s approved by them… will probable also be sending you special offers straight to your cell phone
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