Until now, the iPhone has had an exclusive on built-in texting via Apple's Messages app. That's changed in iOS 5, and now the iPad and iPod touch have joined the party. iMessage allows for free texting across all iOS devices running iOS 5 so long as they have internet access.
If you've already been using Messages on the iPhone or iChat on the Mac, you've already got a general idea of how iMessage works. It's a basic IM client with support for sending text, photos,