Better late than never: Readers of the New York Times can now get news stories sent to them as a text message. The plans have been in the works since last fall, when the Times mobilized its real estate listings. When I interviewed Michael Zimbalist, the Times’ VP of research & development operations, back in October, he stressed the centrality of mobile in expanding the paper’s digital tools.  He specifically mentioned distributing its articles and other features via SMS and, and at some point, MMS.

The Times isn’t charging for the short-code based text service, though standard carrier charges will be there. About 15 sections are available, including all the Times’ major areas like the front page, business and technology. Only the most recent three articles are sent. The text service also includes stories from “most emailed,” the magazine and Week in Review; all of its columnists are represented as well. A quick look at a few text messages from the “Latest” section shows headlines and a link to a fuller article. There aren’t any ads within the messages either, at least not so far. Release

-- Update: I spoke with a NYTCO rep who said that the company typically waits until services such as this build scale before it begins to feature advertising. At the moment, the newspaper publisher is crafting ad packages for marketers and expects to be running ads on the texting service fairly soon.

• Interview: Michael Zimbalist, VP-R&D, NYTCO: Betting On Mobile Barcodes; Meshing Print, Mobile