Text this!

If you're the type of person who owns a cell phone but hasn't really taken to the whole culture of text messaging, you're not alone. Many people think of text messaging (SMS) as just a less efficient alternative to talking. Although texting is huge in other parts of the world, it hasn't really caught on to the same extent in North America. But let me tell you about a service that could open the world of SMS up to a lot of new people, if but for a very specific purpose.

Google SMS is a free service that allows you to submit very specific types of queries via a text message and the results will be sent back to you via text message as well. In other words, no web access required - text only. First - let me be clear - this is not the full blown Google search engine. But Google SMS could prove to be very useful. Some examples:

[postal code] to [postal code] will return the driving directions from one location to the other.

[city] to [city] will also return directions.

134.95 usd to cad will convert the US dollar value to Canadian dollars.

translate snow to german will tell you what snow is in German.

tim horton [postal code] will list Tim Horton franchises near that location.

19 in in cm will convert 19 inches to centimetres.

403 will tell you where that area code is.

define facetious will give a definition of the word facetious.

casino royale [postal code] will tell you where that movie is playing near that postal code.

This web page explains all the types of queries that work with Google SMS. All you do is send a message to 46645 and put the query in the message body. Then wait for the answer. If there's no response, Google SMS has nothing to tell you. Otherwise, you'll get a text message with the answer. Even without an SMS package with your cell provider, sending messages average around 10-15 cents per send (receiving is usually free). If you happen to have an SMS package, the costs are next to nothing.