Facebook attacks the SMS with messaging app

MG Siegler says SMS is under attack:

One thing is more clear than ever before: between iMessages, Beluga, GroupMe, Kik, Google’s new Huddle feature of Google+, and now Facebook Messenger, SMS is under complete and utter assault. Yes, most of those service are compatible with SMS, but only so they can be parasitic off of it.

As a standard that works across all mobile devices, SMS isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. But with the rise of tablets and the continued use of other computing devices, cross-device messaging is going to come into its own one way or another. And SMS, which is more or less a racket that has been run by the carriers for far too long, is not the way forward.

I agree.

It has taken a little longer than I thought, but between Apple’s new iOS 5 push notifications center, its iMessage app, and today’s new Facebook app, I might be turning off my SMS account this fall. That’s more than $100 a year saved by software. That’s disruption. (And I wonder if it will eventually have an effect on smartphone subsidies.)

Meanwhile: AT&T customers spending more than ever on data, despite cheaper plans and free texting apps