Ex-Google employees Maneesh Arora and Amit Sangani may no longer be with the company, but their app MightyText is meant to give Android users a substitute to Apple's iMessage. The service syncs Android text messages across devices, similar to a feature that was recently added to iOS 6. MightyText beta currently has around 250,000 users, Arora says, but it's now launching officially as a web and Android app. The Android app lets you link your existing number to your Google account, after which you can use the webapp or a browser extension to view and send texts, see missed calls, or archive messages.

Unlike iMessage, MightyText lets you sync messages from almost any browser and send them to any phone; unlike similar texting features from Google Voice or Talk, it uses the number that came with your phone. On the other hand, though it doesn't charge anything extra, messages are still routed through the carrier, so you'll be charged at standard rates. Texting will never replace instant message for some of us, but for others, this is likely to be a boon.