SMS is a commonly used acronym for Short Message Service, also known as text messaging. With the evolution of mobile services, cell phones are increasinly being used for data transmission, including short text messages.

Text messages can be used as an alternative to short phone calls, sending yourself alerts via the web, keeping track of the stock market and passing notes back and forth between friends in places where talking on the mobile may be considered rude or uncalled for.

As text messaging has grown in popularity, so has the market for it. It's not always free to use this simple service on your provider's network, so you should consult your plan before going all out in using this handy little feature. At the moment, SMS service is usually billed for per-message at inbetween $0.10 and $0.20 per message. Some plans also include unlimited usage or a set amount of messages sent and/or received per month.

Free SMS Service

Bell Mobility Free SMS Service:
http://www.txt.bellmobility.ca/

Offers free short message service from the Internet to Bell Mobility mobiles.

Fido Free SMS Service:
http://www.fido.ca/

Service is able to send free SMS to GSM mobile phones in Fido coverage zones. It seems to also work with Rogers Wireless.

Page-Me Free SMS
http://www.page-me.com/

This web site has the ability to send free text messages to various providers across the country by connecting to various other gateways.

Rogers Wireless Free SMS
http://www.rogers.com/

Rogers Wireless High-Speed text messaging service gives you the ability to send free text messages via the Internet for free.

Telus Mobility Free SMS
http://www.telusmobility.com/

Send free sms via the Internet to any Telus Mobility telephone anywhere in Canada!

TheMobile.net Free SMS Service
http://www.the-mobile.net/

Send free text messages to Bell Mobility, Fido, Rogers and Telus. You also have the option of leaving a reply email message, effectively creating a 2-way conversation over the Internet between a mobile and an email application.

MMS, Multimedia Message Service

MMS is also known as Multimedia Message Service. With this service, one can send multipe media formats to recipients. With this, camera phones have the ability to send messages which include picture snapshots, include sound clips including your own voice, simply added ordinary text to your message as you would with typical SMS service.

Multimedia Message Service is becoming a popular feature for use in colour screen phones capable of 256-colour or full colour. They are quite handy for screen phones.

MMS is a developing technology, it has not yet reached it's peak and you will probably see more and more usage of this technology as the use of screen and camera phones emerges. You can find detailed information about the exact usage of your mobile in the userguide included with your purchase.