Looking for a great place to eat in an unfamiliar neighborhood? Your cell phone could know just the spot, thanks to a new trend in Web search.
Using a mobile device and SMS, or Short Message Service, wireless customers can now get directions to nearby restaurants and other information from the curb. Analysts say that's a potent combination, not only for consumers, but for the fast-growing Web search business.
"The next killer app on the phone is going to be local search," said Stephen Baker, head of emerging applications at Fast Search & Transfer, an enterprise search company.
Mobile search has been around for several years, largely through WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) or browser-enabled devices. But those services have yet to take off with consumers, largely because of technology limitations, fees or lack of widespread adoption of enhanced phones.
News.context
What's new:
Using a mobile device and SMS, wireless customers can now get directions to nearby restaurants and other information on the fly, a potent combination, not only for consumers, but for the fast-growing Web search business.
Bottom line: Players big and small are racing to provide local search on mobile phones via text messaging--a concept that could drive major changes in search advertising.
Many executives believe the time is now right to strike with new search services for wireless devices, specifically text. That's because wireless usage is soaring--more than 200 million people in the United States own a cell phone. And as many as 50 billion text messages will be sent this year--making it a $2 billion industry, according to IDC.
Google, Fast Search, Yahoo, America Online and UpSnap.com are among those eyeing various pieces of the market. Google and Yahoo, for example, are examining and testing mobile devices as a way to extend their search franchises and potentially boost revenues.
In the opposite corner, yellow pages and directory services companies are angling to protect their businesses and advertiser relationships as more people grow accustomed to using new technologies for search. Cell phone carriers also are assessing Internet directory and search services as potential new revenue drivers.
In the latest sign of growing interest in mobile search, upstart 4Info is expected to announce a $7.5 million funding round from U.S. Ventures.
San Mateo, Calif.-based 4Info lets cell phone subscribers use a so-called U.S. short code--a string of five numbers sanctioned by major
NY professor believes that a word-based algorithm can help bring together those who believe, with one glimpse, that they have found and lost the love of their lives.
After a higher-than-expected fourth quarter, the video subscription service unburdens itself of a pending yearlong class action suit and settles for $9 million.
Along with green-lighting Google's buy of Motorola, the Justice Department today OKs an Apple-Microsoft-RIM partnership deal to buy Nortel patents, and Apple's plan to acquire Novell patents.
Chamtech's spray-on antenna uses a nano material to provide a low-power boost to antenna range. The wireless-in-a-can product may some day bring an end to unsightly cell towers.
This week, we pass around Sony's new PlayStation Vita for some hands-on testing, check out HP's newest Beats Audio laptop, and debate the best and worst Valentine's Day gadget gifts.
EnerG2 opens a plant to make an engineered carbon that will improve performance of energy storage devices and make storage for start-stop hybrid cars less expensive.
Players big and small are racing to provide local search on mobile phones via text messaging--a concept that could drive major changes in search advertising. 
Join the conversation