Text message

Communicating with friends using online tools and services is a common activity nowadays, but sometimes one of the older ways of keeping in touch can be more facile than others. Sending SMS messages is one of those methods and its popularity doesn't seem to decrease.

One of the utilities you can use to send such messages to your contacts comes in the form of a desktop gadget. Called Text message, this tiny tool will be added to your sidebar as son as you install it and using it is a breeze.

Compatible with most mobile network service carriers from Canada and USA, the gadget can cover quite an impressive geographical area. You can simply input the phone number, a subject (which is not a mandatory condition) and then type the message.

You should note that there is a length limit for the SMS body (just like when composing messages on older phones) and you can only type up to 140 characters before pressing the 'Send Now' button.

Keeping Text message in your sidebar means that you are only one click away from contacting your friends. This is particularly useful if the person you are trying to reach is in an area where there is no Internet connection available and the mobile phone might be the only solution for a quick chatter.

Tu sum it all up, provided that you manage to get it to work and have many friends across the USA and in Canada, this gadget is a valuable addition to your utility belt. Also, it's a good idea to remember that Text message needs the Windows Sidebar, therefore it may not work on some systems.