Google SMS Launches

Google’s Android represented a big step in the mobile market; it’s meant to run on the newest devices and keep up with the best competing operating systems.  Yet $400 smartphones aren’t really all that affordable, and so for people in Africa, Google SMS has been introduced.

A post on the Official Google Blog points out that more Africans own phones than computers, and that Africa boasts the world’s highest mobile growth rate, too.  Google SMS should prove much more useful than any sort of optimized website, then.  And here’s an important note: it’s free.

As for what Google SMS is, the post explains that it’s "a suite of mobile applications which will allow people to access information, via SMS, on a diverse number of topics including health and agriculture tips, news, local weather, sports, and more." 

Also, "The suite . . . includes Google Trader, a SMS-based ‘marketplace’ application that helps buyers and sellers find each other.  People can find, ‘sell’ or ‘buy’ any type of product or service, from used cars and mobile phones to crops, livestock and jobs."  And something called Google SMS Tips should use search technology to offer responses to text queries.

Google SMS is only available through the telecommunications company MTN Uganda right now, but the suite’s likely to spread before long.