While signed in to your Gmail account, you can send SMS to mobile phones. Add your mobile buddies by clicking the Add Contact on the embedded chat client. Type in your buddy’s mobile number followed by "@chikkatalk.com" (for example: 63917xxxxxxx@chikkatalk.com). Your mobile buddy will then be included in your Google Talk (GTalk) buddy list. Double-click your buddy’s name and fire away with your text messages.

This feature is powered by Chikka, the creators of the popular gateway to texting mobile phones from a PC via a mobile instant messenger (IM). Chikka actually announced their Chikka Messenger’s interoperability with GTalk last year. Thus, one may now also "Chikka" from GTalk and vice versa. Messages sent from Gmail or GTalk will be received by a Chikka chat buddy on his mobile phone as SMS when he’s logged off from his PC.

GTalk, Google’s downloadable Windows application is preferred by millions of online users to talk or send instant messages over the Internet to their friends for free. Meanwhile, Chikka’s mobile instant messaging service is in wide use by a community that likes to send text messages to mobile users in countries like the US, UK, Spain, India, Japan, and the Philippines.

The Chikka Google Talk interconnection is made possible under a federation of communication service providers promoted by Google, to interconnect with Google Talk and bring popular messaging communities together.

To learn more, visit www.chikka.com.