Macs to gain MMS-esque texting ability?

An error message in the Lion version of Mail may have revealed a heretofore undisclosed new feature in Mac OS X Lion modelled after the iMessage feature coming to iOS devices with the release of iOS 5. The Spanish-language site Macquecitos reported that a reader had seen a dialog box advising the user to update a Mail plug-in to a version that was "compatible with Mail 5.0 and Message 5.0."

The previously-unknown "Message 5.0" could be a program or service that offers texting and file-sending options similar to iMessage, which promises to allow iOS device owners to bypass expensive texting charges by messaging each other through Apple's servers for free instead. The iMessage service supports text, video, images, locations and contact between iOS 5 devices, and -- if the "Message" program turns out to be a real feature -- between Lion and iOS 5 devices.

The error message appeared notifying the Macquecitos reader that Mail had disabled GrowlMail, a Mail-specific version of the popular Growl system notification service. It is not unusual for third-party plug-ins to be disabled when a new version of OS X appears, but the fact that it was Growl that sparked the notice about "Message 5.0" suggests that it might conflict with a new system-notification service. [via Macquecitos]

by MacNN Staff