Instant Messaging

Did you know that each of the three major forces in instant messaging--AOL Instant Messanger, Yahoo Messenger, and Microsoft Messanger--allow you to take this powerful tool to your phone. The service keeps you connected to your friends even when you're away from your PC by allowing you to sign-in to your favorite instant messenger program from your phone.

The handset providers and carriers are now beginning to include mobile messaging clients on the phones so if you already have an IM account, you can just log in and start messaging. If your phone is not already equipped with an IM cleint, you may still be able to IM your friends by downloading a client, using the web client or using SMS.

If you have a Windows Mobile device this is the way to go otherwise, support for IM seems limited. Your mileage may vary depending on your handet.

Yahoo Mobile is a great resource that offers lots of features for most phones and carriers. One particularly nice feature is the ability to sign in to Yahoo IM from your phone and send instant messages to any friends who are logged in. If you already have a Yahoo IM account you can go directly to the Yahoo IM phone client (mm.yahoo.com) from most web enabled phones.

AOL Instant Messenger comes built in on several phones which makes it easy to get started. If its not built in you can access it via the wireless web or via SMS. One cool thing about AIM is that they offer IM Robots for when you have no one else to chat with. Some of these robots are useful like th AOL Buddy Informer which can answer questions about movie times or coffee shops.