Ever been in a unfamiliar place and wanted to find someplace to eat? Most of you would probably pull out your Sidekick (or other mobile device) and start trying to find a good restaurant nearby using the web browser. What a hassle, especially if the coverage is spotty and you’re driving! Why not let Google take care of it for you via SMS [1]? Google’s new SMS service launched this past Thursday [2], and allows you to send a fast SMS message to “46645″ (GOOGL on your phone) with the name of the restaurant or type of food you’re looking for and the zip code or the town and state you are in. Google responds within seconds with a message listing locations nearby to check out so you can take care of that growling stomach of yours. Google SMS also currently allows you to do a Froogle price lookup (if you want to see if you can get a better deal elsewhere before you plunk down moola for that fancy gadget you’ve got your eye on in a store) by sending a SMS message with the item name/type. Google even has a SMS tip sheet that you can print out and put in your wallet/holster for quick reference [3]. Using Google SMS is much much faster than waiting for the slow web browsers found on the Sidekick and other wireless devices!
(In last week’s column, I mentioned using the OGO to access AIM Relay wirelessly via the Screen Name ‘My IP Relay’ by MCI. I have been informed that AOL has added another relay provider, Hamilton Relay, via the Screen Name ‘HipRelay’ [4]. Kudos to AOL for offering users of AIM Relay a choice of vendors!)
[1] http://www.google.com/sms/
[2] http://www.google.com/googleblog/2004/10/get-411-with-46645.html
[3] http://www.google.com/sms/tips.pdf
[4] http://media.aoltimewarner.com/media/newmedia/cb_press_view.cfm?release_num=55254223