Yahoo!, one of the largest Web mail services, will now provide free mobile phone text messaging for users. Yahoo! Mail now allows users to send free text messages to mobile phone numbers in the Untied States, Canada, India and the Philippines. Instant messaging and enhanced e-mail services have also been added.

The new Yahoo! Mail allows people to connect in real-time to their contacts in Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! Messenger or Windows Live Messenger. Users can convert their e-mail messages into IM chats or switch to a text message dialogue with the click of a button, for when friends come online or go mobile.

“We have always been focused on making it easy for people to connect to those who matter most to them, and during the beta testing period of the new Yahoo! Mail, we were able to incorporate a number of enhancements based on valuable feedback from our users,” said Yahoo! Mail. “Now, with the all-new Yahoo! Mail, we’re creating a more social e-mail experience. In addition, we wanted to make sure that people have the best possible Web mail experience regardless of their geographic location, preferences or system, so we’re continuing to offer our trusted Yahoo! Mail Classic interface.”

It is too early to tell if Yahoo!’s new services will be embraced, but from where I’m sitting it sounds good. Free can’t go wrong, can it?

Yahoo!