Has your cell phone done anything for you recently? Mine just updated my blog. Then it told me my friend Mike was couple streets over. Next it showed me my RSS feeds from Google. After that I was listening to a song on the radio and wasn't to sure what it was and my cell phone told me. Then I was stuck in a boring meeting and my new best friend (my cell phone) got me out of it.
No, no, I didn't go into the future and come back with the iPhone 29; all these features can be done with everyday mobile phones. You just got to know where to look and how to use it. With the right software and services, your phone can do all sorts of little tricks and services that could make your life a lot more easy.
InstaSave App
Do you blog like most of people today? Need to update your blog and have something that just came to you that you want to write down? What's interesting about it is that you can actually Download a new App from your phone, just by Click a text Download InstaSave App.
In short order, you'll receive a reply listing your new blog's URL and a "claim code" to enter. From there you have the option of routing mobile posts to the new blog or an existing one. Choose a template (if necessary) and you're done. You'll see your initial SMS; any additional posts sent to that same e-mail address will instantly appear on your blog. Pretty nifty way to instant-blog your vacation, night on the town or random thoughts.
Share photos and videos
Blogger is all well and good for posting text and the occasional snapshot, but it's not exactly a multimedia powerhouse. If you want to insta-share photos or even videos of, say, Britney Spears' latest wardrobe malfunction or your boss dancing on a table, look to services like Juice Caster and Pickle. After setting up an account (both sites are free), you simply shoot your snaps and clips to a special e-mail address. This creates personalized content channels you can view/share/edit online or add to other sites (like Facebook, Blogger and Twitter). I have to give Pickle the nod in the ease-of-use department, but I like Juice Caster's embeddable Media Box. Guess you'll have to try them both.
Find nearby friends
Want to hook up with a bunch of friends? Instead of calling them all individually, try Dodgeball. This recently acquired Google service lets you broadcast your whereabouts to your circle, send messages to multiple friends, find the address/cross streets of a venue and even stalk "crush on" someone you've checked out online. (The Dodge ball site includes a social-networking component, with profiles, photos, and all that.) It's an interesting service, especially if you live in a big city and enjoy the nightlife. Just make sure your phone's service plan includes unlimited texting, otherwise you could rack up some substantial SMS charges in a hurry.
Leave yourself a message
The age-old trick of leaving yourself a voice-mail reminder gets a Web 2.0 twist with services like Brain Cast and Jott, which work like this: Dial a special number, then leave yourself a message. The service then forwards the recording to you via e-mail, which not only makes for faster, easier retrieval of your messages, but also keeps your regular voice-mail box from getting overly cluttered.
Better still, Brain Cast and Jott let you store, manage and even share these messages. Jott, however, has the edge with its glitzier web interface and message-transcription feature: Your recordings are automatically turned into text. (Humans perform this function, but Jott promises strict security and confidentiality.) Whichever service you go with, you'll quickly come to find it indispensable.
Schedule an interruption
Excise yourself from a bad date or boring meeting with Popularity Dialer, which calls you at a scheduled time and plays one of several prerecorded messages. These "half conversations" (which include calls from "the boss" and a "cousin in need") save you from having to fake your end of the conversation, which always looks, well, fake. You can preview the recordings on the Popularity Dialer so you know what to expect.
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