Zipit Wireless has added a text messaging option to the Zipit 2, an instant messaging device that utilizes Wi-Fi hotspots to send messages via Yahoo!, MSN, and AOL's AIM.

For a fee, but the South Carolina company says the $5 a month it will charge for up to 3,000 monthly text messages is a better deal than what phone companies charge. Of course, you can only use a Zipit 2 where there's a wireless broadband connection, while you can use a cell phone anywhere, provided cell phone service is good.

The idea is to provide tweens and teens with a gadget that will help them keep in touch with their friends but give the in-demand family PC and expensive monthly cell phone bills a break.

When I reviewed the Zipit 2, the company's co-founder Ralph Heredia said more features were on the way. And this one makes sense. Kids who like to IM would love to text message their friends who have cell phones if they don't have cell phones. But the texting feature still seems to satisfy a pretty small niche: kids who don't have enough access to a PC at home to IM their friends as much as they want and kids who don't have a cell phone but have friends who do. Or, I suppose, text-happy kids who don't have unlimited texting plans and can use the Zipit, or Z2, to supplement their cell phone texting. (You can do the same by texting from the PC.)

In a follow-up email, Heredia noted that teens interviewed by Zipit Wireless said they watch their monthly text-message counts so they don't go over plan allotments. Texting from the Z2 while home would help their cause.  

The Zipit 2 is $150 and the texting feature is free from Dec. 20 through Jan. 31.

LINK: Zipit Wi-Fi device adds text messaging [AP via Yahoo! News]

Related: Hands-on Review: Zipit 2