An incredibly useful feature is coming to Gmail. Starting today (if all goes well), you’ll be able to send your friends and contacts text messages via the integrated Gmail chat. You’ll be able to save phone numbers to contacts and Google will give you the option of sending them a text should they go offline. It sounds very beta right now though, with Google using 406 area code numbers to push the texts out.

The first time you send a text message, it will appear on the person’s phone as coming from a number in the 406 area code. Google has made several thousands of these numbers available for Gmail users, and once a number is associated with your account, all of the text messages you send through Gmail will come from that number.

The 406 number works both ways, so your friend can reply to you via text message. Also, your friend can save that number in their phone as belonging to you, and they can even use it to initiate new chats with you.

Google never ceases to amaze.

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While the DOTS gloves looked to be the ultimate texting gloves, there’s now a new pair of mittens in town. The Freehands Glove features removable thumb and index fingertips, perfect for wintertime activities. No twirling your meat with these babies but texting should work out A-OK .

Fleece goes for $20 with some other fabric going for $30 and leather costing $40. The fleece ones seem like a good buy.

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Verizon is digging deep in to the pockets of its corporate users by charging an additional three cents per text message sent to its customers. This won’t affect you when you’re texting your friends, however it will affect standard-rate and premium programs of mobile terminated messages.

That includes text alerts, interactive voting notifications, SMS search responses and pretty much anything else that would’ve charged you anyway. Those Jamster commercials on late night television? Yup, those will cost them $0.03 every time they send you a message about Ne-Yo. Now, you’ll just have to add 3 cents on to your EZ Flirt bill, thanks to Verizon. Geez, can’t a guy get a lucky break?

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I spoke with my peeps at T-Mobile today and was informed about the pricing plans for the G1. You’ll be able to get 400 text messages and unlimited Internet + data for $25 a month. For $35 a month, you get the same with unlimited texting. Not too shabby but considering that you need a voice plan for the phone, expect to spend $80 or more a month as a G1 owner. Worth it? We’ll see come October 22nd.

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Come winter, I will not wear a standard set of gloves. I am a texting machine and I need my fingers ready to pound on that “S” key all day long. So I wear cut off gloves. It sucks but it will have to do. Women? They’re lucky. They can wear DOTS gloves. At $13 to $18 a pair, they’re not only affordable and warm; they’ll also let you text with ease.

Thanks to miniature touch-sensitive buttons on the fingertips, you’ll be able to actually use your iPhone without getting frostbite. Bodacious!

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Technology helps prevent crime. That’s a no-brainer. London’s use of CCTV has turned the city into a near police state and GPS has led to more arrests for car theft. As of yesterday, New Yorkers will be able to send text messages, picture messages and video to 911 and 311. This will enable citizens to report crimes of all types, as well as provide evidence so the police ultimately have less work to do. By next year, images and video sent to 911 will be pushed to patrol cars and will be used as evidence in trial. All in all, the technology only took about 18 months to develop and cost $250,000.

While I find this to be a great improvement to public safety, it also makes me weary of my privacy. What if someone is drinking in public and they get snapped by an angry friend? Not good.

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Discovered on someone’s Tumblr yesterday, I found this link to Wonkette that explains how you can send a fake VP announcement to your friends. Why is this a riot? If you follow politics, you’d know that Barack Obama is announcing his vice president via SMS. Text message. Phone rants. So with a little Verizon Wireless trickery, you too can tell your friends that Obama has picked Ryan Ash as his VP, a choice sure to please the nation. Now go fuck with your friends and don’t rat me out.

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