Start-up mobile messaging apps have surged, displacing traditional SMS texts. Silicon Valley titans such as Google and Facebook want in on the action.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-mobile-messaging-20130512,0,528934.story
Messages sent with mobile apps such as WhatsApp are not limited to 160 characters the way traditional text messages are, and they can include scribbled notes, doodles and emoji pictograms. Some apps have games. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)