Jaxtr, set up by Hotmail co-founder Sabeer Bhatia and Yogesh Patel, on Tuesday announced the launch of JaxtrSMS, an open texting application which allows users to send free SMSes across the world.

"JaxtrSMS is completely unique in terms that a mobile user can send a text SMS to any mobile phone in the world without requiring the receiver to have the JaxtrSMS application installed on their phone," the company said in a statement.

This ''open' facet of JaxtrSMS distinguishes it from other free mobile messaging applications where messages can only be sent within a closed network to people who also have the same app installed, the company claimed.