Send Free SMS To US Numbers with Firefox

I don’t know how it is in the states but SMS are a phenomena in Europe. It’s a very easy foolproof way to send someone a short message without having to call that purpose. The limited space seems to have a huge impact on the language used while sending those messages with abbreviations that most adults cannot decipher anymore. If you are living in the United States or know a few people over there you might like the Google Send to Phone [via Tech Yard]extension for Firefox that lets you send free SMS to US numbers with Firefox.

The extension will add a cell phone icon after installation to the browser. If it does not appear automatically you need to customize the toolbar layout to drag and drop the icon into an appropriate place. A click on the cell phone icon opens a form where you enter the cell phone number, the carrier and the text that you want to send. Text that has been marked before clicking on the cell phone icon will be automatically entered as the message that will be send.

Not all US phone carriers are supported yet, only the largest are. You can email Google to ask them to include another US-based cell phone provider.

The service could also be used to send, more or less, anonymous SMS. It’s not completely anonymous because of server logs but there is no direct connection between the person who is sending the SMS and the phone number that appears on the recipients phone.