travelin_cat - 2:57 pm on Jun 7, 2011 (gmt 0)

As part of iOS 5, apple will launch iMessages, a free service that will allow unlimited texting without SMS. The downside is that it will only be available to users of iOS 5. The upside? There are over 200 million of them.

This is huge. Can you imagine the savings families will have on their phone bills if they all use iPhones? AT&T and Verizon make millions off of SMS and they have no recourse.

But it’s not just that iMessages kills SMS because it’s free. It kills it because it’s better. While the sending of photos, videos, and text matches SMS (and MMS), it’s better with iMessage because it’s streamlined and simplified. Plus you can now send contacts and locations. And you can see in real time when someone is typing, responding to your message. And there are delivery receipts. And optional read receipts (so you know if someone has actually read your message). There’s group messaging. Encryption. Etc.

[techcrunch.com...]