We recently explained how the new iChat allows users to share their screen over the internet with other Mac OS X 10.5 users but that isn’t the only nice feature about iChat. One less known iChat feature is the ability to easily send SMS txt messages to your friends and family’s cell phones.

It seems that as mobile phones have become more and more common for people of all ages, so has the use of txt messages between individuals of those cell phones. With iChat, you can carry on a conversation with your txt messaging contacts without the phone.

After logging into an AIM iChat account, click File and then Send SMS. A new window will pop up and ask for the number you’d like to send a message to (US phone numbers only).

Be sure to include the area code of the phone number and click OK. A traditional chat window will appear. Type your message and send it. The SMS txt message will be sent to the phone number you entered. Any response from your friend or family member will appear in your chat window as if you were sending instant messages over the computer.

If you continually go over your allotted number of text messages, you may want to start sending some of them from your computer.

One of the greatest enhancements to web browsers over the past few years has been the addition of tabbed browsing. It has helped organize my web browsing experience and allowed me to easily keep track of the sites I was exploring.

But, even though tabbed browsing is a feature I use often in Safari, there are times that I find myself with a number of separate open Safari windows that seem to be taking over my desktop. I’ve often wondered how I could solve this problem after I’ve already created it….

Thanks to Safari no matter how many windows you have open you don’t have to loose hope of keeping control over your browsing experience. Safari lets you retake your desktop from the browser windows!

In just two clicks you can take the endless number of open browser windows and merge them into one. A tab will appear for each website that you had opened in separate windows and you’ll once again have control of your desktop.

To merge the Safari windows into one, select Window from the menu bar and finally select Merge all windows. Then witness the seamless transition as the windows merge into one with a tab set apart for each website.

Interestingly enough, the ability to pull a tab in Safari out to its own window often exists (But who really wants more windows?). To pop out a tab, select Window from the menu bar and then select Move Tab to New Window

The current tab will pop out to a new window and quickly clutter up your desktop!

Check out our other Safari Hints and Tips

Now that Maciverse.com author Dan is the proud owner of a Macbook Air (MBA for short), he’s also been going without his favorite DVDs. We’ll overlook the fact that he also owns a large HDTV and pretend he would really prefer to watch his movies outside in the shade on a beautiful spring day. Not only does the MBA suffer from not having a DVD drive, it also doesn’t have a lot of space for a movie collection. But don’t let that stop your fun.

For about the same price (depending on the model) as the MBA Superdrive, you can buy a slingbox. This lovely little device connects to your normal Cable/DVD/DVR output and to your network and lets you watch whatever is playing over your network with its SlingPlayer software. Depending on the brand of DVD/DVR/Cable Box, you can even control it from your computer as if you were pointing the remote at it. It can even be connected to an Apple TV. However, it doesn’t have wireless networking capabilities and that might be a drawback if your wireless router is on the other side of the house (or on a different floor). Also, once your movie is over, you will have to get up from your shady spot, go to the DVD player and put in another DVD just as if you were watching in your living room. So it doesn’t give you any type of media library (unless you connect it to your DVR or Apple TV). But all in all, a Slingbox is a very simple way to keep watching on your super slim Macbook Air. We’ll have a few more recipes for turning Dan’s MBA into a movie machine in future articles.

Many of you know that Apple recently announced their SDK for the iPhone and iPod Touch. During their announcement they also took time to announce that Kleiner Perkings Caufield & Byers will be investing $100 million of venture capital into companies that will be developing applications for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

FUNDING INNOVATION

$100 million dollars is a lot of money, especially since developers will be essential building applications for one mobile device. The fact that KPCB is willing to put so much capital behind the iPhone/iPod Touch is that they see an amazing Future with these Apple Mobile Devices.

With a true mobile computing device a completely new market of potential applications and technical solutions will start to be explored. Over the past few years the GPS system has become more and more popular as it was a device that provided people with information and service from anywhere.

This is something the iPhone and iPod Touch will be doing but unlike the GPS which just sends a location signal, the iPhone and iPod Touch have the ability to prompt the user for information, act on it, and send it out to servers across the world.

WHAT COULD CHANGE?

Imagine what Car shopping will be like when you have the ability to pull up the inventory, safety report, and price that other dealers in the area, State, or Country are selling the car for. With an iPhone application optimized to provide such information the customer has all the information needed to make knowledgeable purchasing decisions.

Additionally, imagine sitting at a Major League Baseball game when you get the urge for a hot dog. Instead of waiting for the inning to end to walk to the concession stand, you could use the iPhone or iPod Touch to pull up the Stadium concession’s menu, select your food, and pay for it with your credit card all while enjoying the game. Then the food could be brought to you at your seat.

A customized iPhone App could allow you to enter your Ticket ID number which would identify your seat location. Then professional sports teams could also provide fans with statistics about how often foul balls are hit to that section of the stadium, which parts of the stadium are providing the most vocal support for the home team, and provide additional stats to the fans about the game and players they’re watching.

Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, recently touched on one way that the iPhone/iPod Touch can be used while viewing events at the American Airlines Center during Maverick games and other sporting events. He even sent out inquires to his IT Head to investigate ways that the platform can be used before, during, and after events and by leveraging the WiFi signal in the Arena.

CONCLUSION

The future possibilities of how the iPhone/iPod Touch can be used and applications that developers can provide are truly endless. From purchasing on the go, to being provided with interesting and new information, the iPhone/iPod Touch may have just started to change the way we experience media and entertainment. It seems certain that great things are coming for the iPhone/iPod touch and it looks like the user has everything to gain.

Over the past few weeks we’ve posted a number of articles on ways you can enhance your Mac experience.

Some of the most popular posts have been about how to make your Mac a phone, what we really wanted with an enhanced AppleTV, and how to take advantage of screen sharing in OS X 10.5 Leopard.

Other popular articles discussed how to combine a Mac, Wii, and HDTV to get a new media experience in your living room.

If you missed any of these articles, now is your chance to catch up!