SMS for Windows Live

The Windows Live team has just announced a new feature that will definitely appeal to heavy users of SMS as well as those of you whose phones don’t feature a good web browser for using online services: it’s SMS for Windows Live! Now, those of you in the U.S. and U.K. (sorry, others) have access to many Windows Live features all via text message.

For example, you can now check your Windows Live Calendar, invite people to join your network, and get contact info for people in your Windows Live contact list. You can also update your Windows Live status by starting your text with the word “update.” To invite people, the command is simply “invite” and to view calendar info, just text “today” or “tomorrow” to get a message with that lists the date, time, and subject of each event. To get details on any particular event, just reply with the event number. To find contact info, text “srch” followed by the name of the person you’re trying to find.

To start using this feature, you’ll need to first register your mobile phone’s number on the Windows Live mobile website. To start texting, you’ll need to use the appropriate shortcode for your region:

• If you’re in the U.S. and your mobile operator is AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, or Nextel, your shortcode is MyLive or 695483.
• If you’re in the U.K. and your mobile operator is Vodafone, Orange, T-Mobile, O2, or Virgin, your shortcode is 88804.