Are you a SMS junky with a restrictive mobile contract? Or a parent trying to keep a tab on your kids messaging habits? Well, Sony may have a trick up its sleeve to keep you at peace with the new Xperia J smartphone.

Times are such these days that talking over the phone may not be the most economical solution and if you are someone with a restrictive mobile contract or a parent this feature could prove to be handy.

On activating the feature ‘SMS counter’ from the settings menu Xperia J users can now set the roof on the maximum number of SMS’s that can be sent in a month.

We’re pretty sure other Xperia devices will get the SMS Counter feature soon in either a minor upgrade or a full flash Jelly Bean upgrade, which is due on many 2012 Xperia devices. It may also come to other Xperia devices running on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, because compatibility won’t be an issue as Xperia J is also shipping with ICS only out of the box.