Yahoo has announced changes that might put it ahead of Google in the free email game.

Yahoo Inc. will introduce new features Monday for its popular Web-based e-mail program, including software that allows computer users to type text messages on a keyboard and send them directly to someone's cell phone.

The enhancements make it easier to send e-mail, instant messages or text messages from a single Web site — no need to launch or toggle between separate applications or devices. The features will be available to users in the United States, Canada, India and the Philippines.

The most obvious beneficiaries will be parents, who will be able to use their keyboards to type messages sent to their children's cell phones — no thumb-twisting typing on a dial pad, said Yahoo Vice President John Kremer.

"We're giving you the right way to connect at the right time with right person," said Kremer, whose two preteen sons vastly prefer text and instant messages to e-mail.

I'll be honest -- I don't text, because i don't like using the little keypad on my phone. This move could be enough to get me to start -- although I have become so wedded to my Gmail address that I can't imagine making the switch. So I guess I'll wait for Google to introduce the feature.