As people in other countries already know, Google have created a way for to carry on chatting with friends via Gmail, even when they are away from their computers.

They have added functionality to Gmail that allows users (worldwide) to chat over SMS with phone subscribers in Uganda (MTN, Uganda Telecom and Orange), Tanzania (Vodacom), and Malawi (Airtel, TNM).

These countries join other African countries for which this feature has been added in the past year - Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, Ghana and Zambia - see full list here.

As a Gmail user, you can send SMSes to your friends for free, and when your friends reply, they will be charged the same as a regular SMS.

Note: if you do not see the SMS interface in your Gmail, go to Settings then click on Labs and enable both labs that contain the word “SMS”.

news thanks to : Google Africa blog