One way for you to cut down on your texting expenses is to use a mobile instant messenger app. With instant messenger apps on your cellphone, such as those by Agile and Yahoo!, you can steer away from paying one peso per SMS text and instead course your messages via GPRS. After all, while SMS costs one peso per 160 characters, GPRS costs around 25 centavos per 1,000 characters. You do the math.

Well, now comes YehBA*, a new instant messenger app that was launched just a few days ago. Like other mobile instant messenger apps, it allows you to take advantage of your GPRS connection to send messages via the internet, allowing you to chat with folks on Yahoo! and MSN messenger.

But what sets YehBA* apart is its potential ability to send messages via Bluetooth! D3Systems plans to roll out so-called “Bluezones,” which will allow you to eventually use Bluetooth-enabled mobile devices to send and receive messages– even if your device isn’t exactly a cellphone! Imagine sending and receiving instant messages via your PDA even if it isn’t synced to your phone!

For now, however, YehBA* is currently available only for the following Nokia phones: 6680, 6681, 3230, 6670, 6260, 6630, 7610, 6620, and 6600. Download the free app from here.

My take: Bluezones? The concept is intriguing… and yet, do we really need another kind of hotspot? The company seems to be gambling on the hope that Bluetooth will eventually become a dominant means for interconnectivity (even as others predict that Bluetooth will eventually be swallowed up by new WiFi standards). Time will tell…