“Google SMS (Short Message Service) enables you to easily get precise answers to specialized queries from your mobile phone or device. Send your query as a text message and get phone book listings, dictionary definitions, product prices and more. Just text. No links. No web pages. Simply the answers you're looking to find.”
Maybe I'm a little late, but this is pretty damn neat. You just send a text to 46645 (GOOGL) with what you want to look up and it replies with matching listings. They have a little wallet-sized tip sheet to help you out (available as a pdf from their site).
I tried it out during lunch to try to get the address of the restaurant I was heading to, but it didn't work. I think maybe the syntax was off or something.
Thanks to Atariboy, who posted about this back in October, for the heads up.
3 comments:
Ergh, that's too far down the technological road for me. I finally set up my cell phone's phone book and dial tone earlier this year. No camera phone. No text messaging. No belt clip. I'm actually looking into getting an old black rotary phone for the house, except that everything requires touch-tone these days.
Did you visit the thrift store in Hampden? There aren't that many good thrift stores in Baltimore these days, at least ones that don't sell overpriced vintage now emo stuff. I usually just get smelly paperbacks, anyway.
Luddite!
It wasn't too long ago that I was completely opposed to cell phones. Now look at me. I can get directions, narrate the journey to my destination, take a picture of it when i get there, and then post this material to my blog to share with everyone from wherever I am—all with this little phone and very little effort. It's really amazing.
It's also very dangerous. In fact, the ability to share such mundane information with such ease will be the downfall of the Information Age. Guys like me are now capable of broadcasting every insignificant detail of their lives to the world.
Jeff: Doing his part to add some noise to that signal.
dude this thing worked wonders up in NYC this weekend -- otherwise i would have been lost half the time
i turned a bunch of cats on to it
--john m
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