Yahoo unveiled a new Web-based mail service Monday that offers the capability to send text messages or instant messages through the mail client. The service had been in beta testing for several months before being released on Monday. Although Google also offers instant messaging through its Gmail service, Yahoo is the first major Web mail service to carry text-messaging functionality, the company said.

Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO) Latest News about Yahoo launched a new version of its Web-based mail service Monday, incorporating advanced communication functions it says have not been offered before.

The new version of Yahoo Mail includes "real-time communication" in the form of instant messaging and SMS Latest News about SMS (short message service) text messaging as well as several other performance enhancements that will mainly benefit those with up-to-date computers.

Users of Yahoo Mail, a Web-based mail service first launched a decade ago, can now send free text messages to cell phones in the United States, Canada, India and the Philippines, said Yahoo. They are also capable of firing off instant messages (IMs) to people who use the Yahoo Messenger and Windows Live Messenger IM services.

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