Let’s say you don’t have the latest smart phone and the data plan to go with it. And let’s say you don’t like calling 411 for phone numbers or locations. Just text a name and a ZIP code to Google at G-O-O-G-L (46645). In seconds, text messages will start hitting your phone with the phone number and address.
Text the name of a movie and a ZIP code, and showtimes as well as locations appear. Got a hankering for nearby sushi or pizza? 
Just type the kind of food and the ZIP. Of course, you have to pay for the text message. But it’s definitely less than the cost of directory assistance.
But that’s not all, people. Get weather reports by keying in the word “weather” and your city. Check flight arrivals and departures by typing in the word “flight” and the two-letter airline code and flight number. Type “stock” and the ticker symbol to get market quotes. Additional mobile functions include: currency conversions, sports scores, simple translations, calculators and even a dictionary. Now why is Google providing this nice app, for free? Are they collecting data? Are they still figuring out how to monetize SMS? Who knows? In the meantime, start answering questions with your phone.
UPDATE: David Pogue just wrote about a few more freebies that’ll make any cell phone smarter. Call ChaCha (800-2CHACHA), ask a question and you’ll get the answer in a text message. Dial 800-GOOG-411 and you get free directory assistance, connecting automatically. Jott is a 21st century dictaphone. After pre-registering, call 866-JOTT123 and leave a message. A transcription of your message lands in your phone’s inbox moments later. Reqall (888-9REQALL) works in a similar fashion.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Teaching an old phone new tricks
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2 comments:
When it comes to free directory assistance, you have LOTS of choices. They differ in some important ways, so try them all out and see which one(s) you prefer. With this many companies trying to get our search attention, you may want to try them all every so often just to see what's new! Grin!
I prefer the ones that have operators to help when the automation doesn't recognize me, that get me ACCURATE information fast, and that also don't restrict me to only business searches - sometimes I need to find people, too!
1-800-YellowPages (800-935-5697)
1-800-2ChaCha (800-224-2242)
1-800-411-SAVE (800-411-7283)
1-800-555-Tell (800-555-8355)
1-800-Call-411 (800-225-5411)
1-800-Call-Dex (800-225-5339)
1-800-Free-411 (800-373-3411)
1-800-Goog-411 (800-466-4411)
1-800-Info-Fast (800-463-6327)
1-800-The-Info (800-843-4636)
These is some great advice, helps save a lot. I use free services quite often as well, like 1800-free-411. They offer driving directions and residential listings, so it's kind of a one-stop shop.
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