An SMS tea kettle which you can turn on by sending it a text message is being produced by British tea bastion PG Tips, reports news source Ananova. The SMS tea kettles are being called “ReadyWhenUR,” which should appeal to the l33t-speaking SMS texting generation.

According to reports, the ReadyWhenUR has a radio receiver which is programmed with your cell phone number, along with an electronic circuit and a tiny set of mechanical levers. In theory, I suppose, the idea is that you can SMS the tea kettle while you are on the road, so that the water is boiled and waiting for you when you get home. But doesn’t that mean that anyone with your number (or your tea kettle’s number) could…

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Short message service (SMS) is a service available on most digital mobile phones that permits the sending of short messages (also known as text messages, messages, or more colloquially SMSes, texts or even txts) between mobile phones, other handheld devices and even landline telephones.

SMS is widely used for delivering premium content such as news alerts, financial information, logos and ringtones. Such SMS are also known as premium-rated short messages (PSMS). The subscribers are charged extra for receiving this premium content, and the amount is typically split with the mobile network operator and the content provider (VASP) dividing the income either through revenue share or a fixed transport fee.

Premium SMS are also increasingly being used for “real-world” services. For example, some vending machines now allow payment by sending a premium-rated SMS, so that the cost of the item bought is added to the user’s phone bill. [Wikipedia]