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Typing your starting point on a typical cell phone search tool can get tedious, even if you've got a high-end device with a QWERTY keyboard. A GPS-enabled cell phone can wipe those tears away, but since about 85 percent of handsets do not have GPS, most users are out of luck.

Google Maps for Mobile with My Location draws enough information from local cell phone towers to figure out where you are and then uses that information to launch a search. The idea is it saves you search time and manual effort. How well does it work? Get a … Read more

Google has optimized its applications for the iPhone so they are integrated into a single interface and operate faster.

Now, if you go to Google's home page on your iPhone you'll see the Web search box and links to Gmail, Calendar and Reader up at the top of the screen for quick access.

Google also offers word suggestions as you type to make the query entry faster.

And once you click on links, the pages download faster than before. "When you click it's instantaneous," says Gummi Hafsteinsson, a senior product manager at Google. "Just … Read more

In an unsurprising but perhaps disturbing move, search giant Google is partnering with state governments to index public records. According to Associated Press, you can already find some online, but you have to go through each state's government Web sites to locate a particular piece of information.

Google's mission is "to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful." But public records are available that some people would prefer not to disclose with the casual click of a mouse--for instance, who they used to be married to, or what they got arrested … Read more

Google is planning to release an application programming interface for its Google Trends program, according to Marissa Mayer, vice president of search products and user experience at Google.

During the question and answer portion of a Webcast demonstration of Google Trends on Tuesday, Mayer said the company would eventually release a Google Trends API. She also said the company would make it possible to download data from Google Trends into spreadsheets. Mayer said she couldn't provide a time frame for either action.

Google Trends allows people to see trends in searches. You can compare specific searches, see how the … Read more

Update 2:50 p.m. This article has been updated with user experience information on AIM integration into Gmail.

Gmail and Google Talk users can now chat with their AOL Instant Messenger buddies through the Gmail interface, Google announced today. Rolling out to all English-based users by the end of the day, the new feature will let you seamlessly jump from chatting with a Google contact to an AIM buddy without having to use two separate chat clients.

… Read more

It's been an interesting week for America's second-largest cell phone carrier. First, Verizon Wireless announces it would support unlocked handsets and third-party applications on its CDMA network, and yesterday the company's CEO said the carrier may support Google's new Android platform. "We're planning on using Android," said Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam in an interview with Business Week. "Android is an enabler of what we do."

McAdam didn't say when, or if, Verizon would release handsets that use Android, and a Verizon spokeswoman also declined to elaborate in an e-mail. "… Read more

Monday was the deadline to submit applications for a chance to bid on the 700MHz spectrum auction scheduled for January, and the lineup is taking shape.

Google, Cox Communications, Frontline Wireless, and AT&T all appear to have submitted an application Monday for a chance to bid on the spectrum, which is set to be freed up with the Federal Communication Commission's decision to move everyone to digital television in 2009. The 700MHz band is sought by companies that wish to build wireless voice and data networks, and is probably the last time for a while that such … Read more