If you have a missed call from an unknown phone number, you may want to identify the phone number of the person who tried to reach you before you dial that number. Chances are you’re hooking up with a telemarketer. Eventually some random person simply dialed the wrong number. Or it’s your long lost best friend who finally found you. You never know.

There are several free online tools to reverse lookup and identify a North American phone number. However, with cell phone numbers it’s almost impossible to find out the identity of the person behind the phone number. Unless you are willing to pay.

Sadly, most seemingly free services will redirect you to a paid option, even if it’s possible to find the information for free elsewhere. To avoid these pitfalls, I have compiled a list with services for reverse phone number search and how to use them.

1. WhoCallsMe? (Worldwide)

If you suspect that a telemarketer called you, this is the service you should try. Enter the number in the search field and hit “Get Details“. If the number is not listed, no one has had complaints about it yet.

The database at WhoCallsMe? is supplied by its users. So if you have been receiving unsolicited calls from telemarketers, surveyors, charities or other organizations, help others avoid these people by entering their phone number and details into WhoCallsMe?’s database.

A similar page is Who Called Us.

2. Google PhoneBook (North America)

For North American landline numbers, Google is an excellent choice to identify a phone number. For listed US numbers, Google may return a phonebook result that looks like this:

It reveals the name and address of the person who owns the respective number. Using the convenient GoogleMaps link you can look up in what neighborhood they live.

For other numbers, Google may return links to local online phone books.

Now you could directly go to one of your local online phone books. Which one you choose of course depends on where you are. Unfortunately, I can’t list one for each country. Besides, reverse phone number search is restricted in and unavailable for several countries, including Australia and the UK.

The following four sites are for Canada and Germany. They basically all work the same – you find the reverse lookup option, enter the number, and hit search. So without further comments, here it goes…

3. 411 (Canada)

4. Canpages (Canada)

5. Das Telefonbuch (Germany)

6. Das Örtliche (Germany)

These were your options for landlines.

But what if you’re trying to identify a cell phone number? Honestly, I could not find a free tool for identifying the owner of a given number.

However, due to the nature of North American cell phone numbers, the prefix reveals the location of the caller. The most you can find out for free on top of that, is the name of the provider and when the number was registered.

7. Cell Phone Tracer (North America)

This website will find you the the phone carrier and the location of the given phone number. If you choose to continue to receive the entire available information, you will be asked to pay.

8. Cellphone Registry (North America)

The Cellphone Registry may be able to tell you when the phone number in question was registered. Unlike the previous website, it was not able to find the phone carrier. And all further information is available for cash only.

Did we miss an online phonebook for your country with reverse lookup option? Please feel free to request a link or provide us with the resource in the comments!

Image Credit: iprole

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Basically you get a map with a pull down menu of locations to locate local businesses by addresses that are near you. They come pre-populated with popular stuff but as you will see below you can add custom stuff as well. They also have a free iPhone app but I do not have a iPhone to test it out on. So we will be covering the web application today.

When we first arrive at MashSpots you will see a map like this with your location data pre-filled out like below. It also picks what you are looking for in the first field. You are represented by a little green and blue icon in the middle of the map.

You will see that you can move your icon to tell the application where you are. This will list places closest to you first. So go ahead and drag that little dude around and place him where he should be. You can also just click on your location or modify the location in the top bar.

I dragged my little dude from the middle of Linden Blvd to Sheepshead Bay, as that is where I am. I left the default groceries in the what? field and this is what it returned to locate grocery related businesses by addresses that are near me. A list of 4 spots close by and their respective information. You can click on a red dot for more information.

Let’s look at the pre-configured categories. You will see they are Pizza, Coffee, Bar (yeah!), Restaurant, Hotel, Parking, Groceries, Apartment Building, Banks, Shopping and Hospitals (hope you don’t need them!)

But you can type in something as well. We tried it with Starbucks and it worked swimmingly. Below you will see the prefilled options as they appear on the site.

Locations where you can locate businesses by addresses near you include San Francisco, New York City (woot!), Chicago, London, Berlin, Madrid, Paris, Rome, Amsterdam, Sydney, Tokyo, Mumbai and Shanghai. Even if your city is not listed just type it in like I did for Brooklyn below.

You can make the search results show 8 results instead of 4, using the drop down menu on the left under the search results.  Below you can see I changed it to 8.

These 8 pizza places are shown on the map in relation to where I am.

Oh look my favorite Pizza place is on there! I love some Benny’s Gourmet in my neighborhood. They are a little expensive and kosher but if you can deal with no meat with your cheese it is awesome. I click on the appropriate red dot and see its information listed. I think I will order from them tonight. This is making me hungry!

Next up I typed Starbucks into the What? field and saw where my closest coffee fix is:

That is some walk so I will probably just get coffee at a corner store!

How do you locate places in a new area? Do you have another website you like? Have you used MashSpots’ iPhone app? We would love to hear about it in the comments!

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That is why I have compiled a list of 3 handy dandy features of Google Maps that you may not have known about – features that will help you make it through the day without hitting a pedestrian due to your frustrating experiences like the ones pictured above.

Google Driving Directions – Drag and Drop Routes

For those who really want to customize how they get from Point A to Point B, Google Maps has a tool that allows you to drag the route they have provided in certain directions say, because you know that the driving directions given will require you to traverse a heavily bogged down construction zone. New directions are provided on the spot, as if you had just searched for them. Here’s an example.

In light of the Los Angeles Lakers’ recent NBA Championship, here is a set of directions from the Staples Center (where they play) to The Walt Disney Concert Hall, both in Los Angeles:

Now if I decided that I wanted to go on the Harbor Freeway, CA 110 for some crazy reason, I could drag the route:

Here is a side by side comparison of the driving directions. They are automatically calculated and changed as you drag your route. Pretty neat, huh?

One thing you may need take note of is that your constant dragging back and forth may be cumbersome to sort through. You may find that the final directions you obtain after fooling around with the path is an infinite loop. Although this is a very handy feature, make sure to double check that all of the directions are feasible.

Congestion Overlays

It is every traveler’s worst nightmare to run into accidents, construction, congestion, or an overall slowing down of traffic. This is most likely why Google Driving Directions has provided an extremely useful overlay of your map that describes current driving conditions, with a full blown legend that houses live traffic updates along roads.

The only foreseeable downside to this feature is that it mostly only provides these overlays on larger roads, highways and interstates. Then again, larger roads are the ones that we worry the most about.

I’m sure all of you can read, so I won’t go into detail to explain what the colors mean. Certain icons mean certain things, for instance in the above screenshot, the warning sign denotes some type of accident or stoppage due to hazardous conditions, whereas a small man shoveling coal (or at least that’s what it looks like) denotes construction. A red circle with a line through it means that the current lane is closed.

Let’s say you have a planned event, and you would like to know what the traffic conditions will most likely be like at that time. No problem! There is a feature that allows users to choose the day of the week as well as the time of day, and Google Maps will provide a prediction based on aggregate data it has compiled previously. This should give users a better idea of what to expect on certain roads during rush hour or things of that nature:

Search Box Customizations

Although technically more than one “feature,” there are certain things to know about the direction search box that can prove to be useful when finding directions. Believe it or not, I have had more than one friend come up to me and ask me if there was a way to add multiple “checkpoints” to stop by on along their trip. It’s amazing what you can accomplish if you take time to read:

If we should decide to add a final destination (no pun intended), we can simply click the link and hooray, we have successfully set up segmented directions for a cross country road trip to the Empire State Building:

Google Driving directions also has a dropdown menu for you to choose by what medium would like to travel through. This service may be limited because most of it is still in beta, but certain locations DO give users the freedom to choose. As of now, it is limited to “by car,” “by public transit,” or “by walking”:

Finally, if we click “show options”, we can choose to have Google Driving directions search for routes that avoid toll roads or highways, or both:

So, there you have it. We hope that wherever you go, you drive safely and are aware of your surroundings. Google Driving Directions is an extremely powerful branch of Google Maps – it provides users with a lot of freedom and flexibility to roam around and explore new areas without actually going there.

This article only provides a few of the handy features that Google Driving Directions encompasses, but there is so much more to learn about. Check out other features of Google Maps, as well as their new mobile phone feature!

Has Google Maps helped you map your transit route or get your out of stuck traffic? Let us know how you have used it, in the comments.

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Thankfully, though, there are a ton of ways to find to do computer-like things when you’re not at your computer. Different places are creeping up that will help you read emails, make plans, win bets, find pointless information, and generally do things you’d do on the computer, without it.

I’m going to assume that you have your cell phone with you when you’re away from your computer. With just your cell, and for most of these, any cell will do, you can do many of the things you always do on the computer.

Here are 9 of the many ways you can use a computer with just a cell phone, beyond just accessing mobile sites (which most sites have by now):

Disclaimer: with these products, you will start texting – A LOT. If you don’t have an unlimited texting plan, prepare to see your bills go up more than slightly!

1. Texting, Google-style with Google SMS

You name it, Google SMS can do it with a text message. By sending a text message to GOOGLE (466453) you can find information like restaurant listings, weather, sports scores, calculator, conversions, and the like. Here’s the full listing, from Google, of all the things they can do with your text message.

But of course there are some risks to using Google SMS…..

2. Ask, and You Shall Be Answered

Got questions? Text them to ChaCha (242242). A real-live human being will answer your question in 160 characters, and send you the answer.

ChaCha is great because it’s a real person on the other end, which means you can ask a real question instead of trying to nail down search terms. If you don’t want to send a text message, call 1 (800) 224-2242 (2ChaCha). ChaCha can also send you a random joke or weather information, but the question and answer service is their bread-and-butter. It’s a great way to settle bets, or find answers to the irritating questions you just can’t seem to figure out.

3. Get your Wikipedia On

Wikipedia, in the words of The Office’s Michael Scott, “is the best thing ever.” Trouble is, for anyone who’s tried to use it from a cell phone browser, it’s tough to read. The formatting is bad for a cell phone, and using Wikipedia is much harder. Wapedia fixes that by taking Wikipedia and formatting it in a way that’s much easier to read on your cell phone. It strips away all the unnecessary stuff like the sidebar links, and puts everything into a one-column view that’s much easier to read on your cell phone. For an information-phile like me, Wapedia’s a great way to keep an easy-to-use Wikipedia in your pocket.

4. Go to the Movies

Want to go to the movies? Despite their terribly annoying ads, Fandango’s still the best place to buy movie tickets. In addition to their mobile site, you can use their relatively new SMS service to make buying tickets from your cell phone even easier. Send your zip code and a movie title to FNDGO (36436), and Fandango finds all the results for you. With an increasing number of carriers, you can even buy tickets with a text. Spur-of-the-moment movie craving? You’re all set.

5. Find a Starbucks and some Wi-Fi

I love Starbucks. There’s one on the ground floor of the building where I live, and I may personally be keeping it in business. Odds are, wherever you are, you’ll be able to find a Starbucks just by turning around. If not though, text your zip code to MYSBUX (697289) and Starbucks will show you their three nearest locations. Plus, with more and more Starbucks offering Wi-Fi, you’ll be able to get back on your computer.

Don’t want to go to Starbucks? Send “wifi” and your location to US411(87411), and you’ll get a whole list of free Wi-Fi hotspots nearby. That way, you won’t have to miss your computer any longer.

6. “Hello, Operator?”

Google search, for your voice and phone. Most 411 services are ridiculously expensive, but Goog-411 isn’t. You search Google with your voice, for a business or personal listing, and it connects you for free. You can even request a text message with all the contact info, for free.  Just dial 1-800-GOOG-411 (1-800-6446411). For more, check out Karl’s post.

7. Never Miss a Thing

Let’s say you’re looking to buy something on Craigslist. A boat, say. If you want to know when a boat comes onto Craigslist that’s in your price range, check out Notify.me. Set up notifications for everything from your friends’ Twitter statuses to breaking news stories, and Notify.me sends you an alert every time something matches.

They can be sent to your IM, email, desktop client, or cell phone via SMS. This one’s the one that will kill your texting bill, but if you’re sitting at your computer waiting for something, or just don’t want to be behind, Notify.me is a really useful tool.

8. Never Miss the Important Stuff

So, you’re kind of a big deal. People know you. Sometimes you get important email, even when you’re away from your desk. With AwayFind, you don’t need to worry about missing crucial email when you’re not at your computer. Using AwayFind, you can set up an “Out Of Office” email to auto-respond every time you get email, and include a link to your AwayFind page.

If someone needs to get in touch with you, they can fill out the AwayFind form, and their email comes through to you on your phone. It gets trimmed to one message, and helps you rest easy that if someone really needed to get through to you while you’re on vacation, they could. Plus, it gives you something to check as habitually as you do your email.

9. Buy, Buy, Buy

Let’s be honest: half the fun of the Web is the random, unneeded impulse buys. If you’re away from your computer and decided you’ve just got to have that cool thing you saw this morning, never fear, Amazon is here!

Using their “TextBuyIt” service, you can send a text message with a product name to AMAZON (262966). You’ll get two results from Amazon, with more coming if you reply with a text saying “m”. If you decide to buy something, reply with the result number, and you’ll get a call from Amazon to create and confirm your order. It’s so simple, it’s a little scary.

Who says you need to be at a computer all the time? Just by using your cell phone, you can free yourself from its grip.

Which cellphone numbers or mobile services do you use to grab information off the internet?

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A lot of people complain about Google but you have to give them credit, their search functions are some of the best around right now. So, since there’s so much that you can do with Google Search, I decided to share a few shortcuts with you that I’m sure will come in handy.

Package Tracking

When tracking packages, most people head straight to the shipping site such as FedEx, UPS, or USPS to see details. But did you know that now you can enter tracking numbers right into the Google search box?

First you’ll need the tracking number of your order, which you can get from the actual site/company that you ordered from. Second you’ll need to know how it’s being shipped (via FedEx, UPS, or USPS). That’s it.

If your package is being shipped by FedEx, you would enter “fedex 121212121212” into the Google search box. If your package is being shipped by UPS, you would enter “ups 121212121212” into the Google search box. If your package is being shipped by USPS, you would enter “usps 121212121212” into the Google search box. Of course, in all three cases you would use your actual tracking number in place of “121212121212″.

Below I’ve entered the tracking number of a USPS order I want to track. If the tracking number is valid, you’ll see an image of a package show up with a link to view the tracking information for your order. Clicking on it will then take you to the site (in this case USPS) in order to see the full details.

Flight Tracking

You can look up information on any flight by simply typing the airline name or code followed by a space and flight number into the Google search box.

Below I’ve entered the name of an airline and the flight number that I’d like information on. If the flight information you enter is valid, you’ll see an image of an airplane along with brief stats of the flight. You’re also given a link that you can click on to see more detailed information from the actual site the stats were taken from.

Calculations & Conversions

Do you often find yourself reaching for a calculator to figure out simple calculations? I don’t know about you but I do not keep a calculator handy and I often go through at least 3 steps to open up the Windows calculator. Well there’s no need to do either when you have Google handy.

To use Google’s built-in calculator functions, you simply enter the calculations that you’d like solved right in the search box. You can even do more advanced math functions such as geometry and trigonometry. If you don’t remember what all the advanced math functions are don’t worry about it, there’s a very handy Google Quick Reference Cheat Sheet that you can use. This Cheat Sheet shows you all of the things that you can type into the Google Search Box in order to calculate basic or advanced math functions.

The Cheat Sheets also has a list of Units of Measures and Conversions that can be used to converts units and currency. In order to calculate conversions you would type in things like: three quarters of a cup in teaspoons; 130 lbs in kg; 65 mph in kph; 1500 in hex; 64 in binary; etc.

Weather

Finding out the weather in Google is pretty easy. You simply type the word “weather” followed by the city and state, zip code, or city and country. So, below I searched for the weather in Fort Riley, Kansas and Google gave me the current weather along with a forecast for the next 4 days.

Time

If you have family or friends in other parts of the world, you can easily find out what time it is in their area. You simply type the word “time” followed by the name of the city or country and Google will show you the time, day, and time zone for that location. Personally, this really comes in handy for me since I have a husband that will be deployed soon and all of my family and friends are in 2 different time zones from myself.

Dictionary

This is definitely something that comes in handy for me a lot as well. You can see the definition for any word or phrase by simply typing “definition” followed by a space and then the actual word(s) that you wanted defined. If you want to see a list of definitions from various resources across the Web, type “define:” followed by a space and the word(s). As you can see below, you’re given multiple definitions along with the website from where they were taken from.

Movies

Google allows you to quickly find show times for movies playing in your area. You can do this by simply typing in the word “movies” or the film title followed by your zip code in the Google search box. You will then get a list of up to two theaters; if there are more than two theaters listed, you can click the “More theaters” link to see the rest. This is definitely a lot quicker and more convenient than calling the theater and listening to a 5 minute lineup – especially if the movie you want to see is at the end of the lineup.

UPC Codes

This is definitely one of the more unique Google Search shortcuts that I’ve seen. You can find information about any item by simply typing in the UPC Code of the item into the Google search box. If you don’t know, the UPC Code for an item appears at the bottom of the item’s bar code.

Below I’ve entered the UPC Code of a random item I found in my house. If the UPC Code you enter is valid, you’ll see an image of a bar code along with a link to view more information about the item.

Phone Book & Residential Listings

If you need to look up a US residence phone number or address you can do that as well. Simply enter the person’s name along with a city, state, or zip code in the Google search box. If that person is listed in the phone book, you’ll see an image of a telephone along with their name, phone number and address. Google lists up to three matching results for you to see; to see more, simply click on the “Phone book results for” link. Google also gives you the option to see a residential map for that person.

So, as you can see, Google really makes a lot of useful functions easier and more convenient. Do you know of any other cool Google Search shortcuts? If so, feel free to share by posting them in the comments.

Charnita is a social media addict & Internet junkie. She blogs about internet & blog tools, website & blog promotion, web 2.0 & social media at her Social Web Tools blog.

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If you are using an iPhone, the newest Windows Mobile 6.1 device, a Blackberry, Android or ANY device with ANY type of mobile browser and you want to grab some local information, point your mobile to: www.google.com/m/lcb.

With this new doo-hickey you can look stuff up without typing! Google automagically discovers your city but that’s it. Maybe someday they can grab your latitude and longitude by triangulating your mobile… (no I do not watch too much “24″!)

If you have used Mobile Google on your device before, you probably already have your location set properly. If not pop in your zip code (postal code to all our European readers) and let’s rock and roll.

So you are hanging out with your friends and you want to venture AWAY from the computer (..GASP..) and want to get some real live socializing on (Not Digg! We said real live socializing wise guy!). You suggest a bar looking to get trashed and so you fire up Google’s new service. Choose “entertainment” out of the categories and then you guessed it…

I choose “bars” from the list and then I am returned with a page that says they have thousands of results. I then scroll down and they are listed by distance as you can see below:

Sure that’s great Admin but how is this different than any other service? Great question Negative Nelly!

So go ahead click on one of them…

Now I not only have access to all the information on the location, I can get a Google map, driving directions, atmosphere information as well as reviews!

Never go to a lame bar/club or eat bad pizza again!

I can think of hundreds of uses for this and it works so fast even on GPRS or Edge (I am looking at you iPhone guys!). I do not think this is a released product yet… nor do I see a beta logo on it. It is probably still in development. Anyone know anything else about it or what “lcb” stands for? Local something or other? Any ideas?

What do you guys use on the run? Let us know in the comments below! Don’t be shy…

By: Karl L. Gechlik, A superhero of the IT industry. He runs a global WAN, cracks the whip at his consulting company and gets the whip cracked at him by his beautiful wife and daughter! To follow more of his geeky antics check out his site www.askTheAdmin.com today!

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Métro is a free worldwide public transport guide that always sits on your PDA (Palm, PocketPC, Smartphone…). It is a small database application that allows you to download different cities metro information. And it is totally search-able.

From Metro’s homepage:

Metro finds your way in public transport systems in more than 350 cities around the world (Paris, New York, London, Tokyo, any city with a subway & many more!). FREE, FAST & ACCURATE.

No, your mobile won’t be screaming at you to catch the train across the platform because of a sick passenger up ahead. It will not automagically get you to your destination faster – BUT you can manually use it to search for alternate routes when you are in a jam, calculate travel time, or lookup directions in hundreds of cities worldwide. And that’s what it is all about right? Free tools to get something done.

I have never seen a free mobile app with such a wide range of device support. This thing is available in almost EVERY language and for almost EVERY platform. Metro gets loaded up on almost any Palm, Windows Mobile or Symbian operating system (Now with iPhone support here).

Once you download the correct version for you device copy over any data files you think you will need. On first launch the application asks you to choose your database.

You are now ready to search. You can find how to get from one stop to another, major landmarks to stops or other landmarks, shortest distance, least transfers etc… In other words this program is a life saver. When I was in Paris it was awesome. I couldn’t pronounce a lot of the street names let alone speak the language to have someone help me out – so I whipped out my larger then life 2003 HP Ipaq and was finding my way around in no time.

Additional features include:

• Directions and information to major tourist attractions (in selected cities)
• Download and take only the cities you need.
• Easy station search.
• Really complete line & station lists: 575 stops in London, 785 in New-York, 1600 in Tokyo, 1526 in Paris, and so on.

To sum up, The AdmiN gives Metro 4 thumbs up… That is both of mine and my wifes! I have become very dependent on it and do not know how I would cope without it.

Enjoy! And I wish all of you MUO readers out there for this year to be better then last and for all of your geeky dreams to come true!

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Google has been really stepping up their efforts in making many of their products usable from the mobile phone. Whether you’re using a regular cell, an iPhone, or even a SmartPhone, Google has you covered. So here at MakeUseOf.com, we’ve summarized all the Google Mobile services here in this comprehensive list.

Search
Get a fast answer to what you’re looking for. Sports, Flights, Images, Weather…its all there. Even local listings have quick responses to your queries. You can even create a little iGoogle start page for quick access to your favorite headlines, updates, stock quotes and other feeds from various websites.
Just visit Google Mobile from your phone at: http://m.google.com

SMS
Add GOOGLE to your contacts and use the mobile number 466453 (that’s Google on your number pad). Send a quick SMS to that contact with the text “help” for a instant response of the preferred way to text Google. Tips for Google Mobile SMS:

• Local: blockbuster <zipcode>
• Weather: w <zipcode>
• Movies: m <zipcode>
• Flights: aa 1234
• Sports: score dallas cowboys
• Definitions: d ozone
• Products: price ipod or price
• Calculator: 123*8
• Driving Directions: to ex. tulsa,ok to dallas, tx

I use this service a ton. With the quick access to data by simply texting GOOGLE, I’m forever in “the know.”

Want more? Yes that’s right, theres more! Visit the SMS help page to find all the available queries that Google will respond to. (I’ve included a list of most of them…see below)

Maps

Google’s mapping has come a long way. Their most recent version includes the new “My Location” whereby Google can find you you can find where you are without GPS. Google’s claim is that “you’ll never get lost again.” That might be a slightly lofty goal for some, but this release of their mapping software is leaps and bounds better than before. It’s available for most web-enabled mobile phones, including Java, Windows Mobile, Palm, and Nokia/Symbian devices. If you still need more coaxing to get started with Google Mobile Maps, take it for a test drive.

Gmail
Gmail for mobile devices is simply amazing. It’s lightning fast, works well, and even allows you to view common attachments (ex. photos, PDF files, Microsoft Office products, etc.). Most of the readers visiting this site I’m sure know about Gmail. As far as I’m concerned, it is the single greatest web app in the world. Google really showed what they were capable of and millions of accounts have proved their success in this endeavor.

YouTube
You can check out the best YouTube has to offer right from your mobile device, including YouTube’s Featured Videos, Most Views, Recently Added, and more. Just point your mobile device’s browser to: m.youtube.com.
Uploading clips from your phone has never been easier either. All you need is a mobile profile tied to your YouTube account and you’re in business.

Even if you find a great video you’d like to share with friends, they’ve got that covered too. You can easily send videos from your phone to your friends.

Google 411
This one’s easy. Google’s answer to National 411 service. Just dial 1-800-GOOG-411 and follow the voice prompts. You’ll quickly find the business you’re looking for and Google will even connect your call for free! You can then even just say “text message” and Google will text you a map to the location they found for you. Oh how convenient. For more details go to previously posted Get FREE 411 Directory Assistance with GOOG411

Google Calendar
With Google Calendar’s web access, you can view your Calendar from anywhere. Browse any day to see all your events. You can even add events as you think of them by typing out the details and simply pressing “Add now”. Google Calendar will automagically add it to your calendar. Not only that, but these events are always in sync. As long as you’re signed in to Google, they will show up wherever you may roam and find yourself looking at your calendar. Just point your mobile browser to Google Mobile, then click the Calendar link and you’ll be all set.

Google News
With Google News you can easily search for the latest news headlines right from your phone. You can even set your own personalized news to show the stories you’d most like to see. Google also includes thumbnails of images included in these news articles linked to the original article. Point your mobile browser to mobile.google.com to find the latest news articles and begin your journey with Google Mobile.

Picasa Mobile
If you use Picasa, you can easily browse through your latest photo album’s pictures and view any images stored on Picasa Web Albums. Just for you, Google resizes them to fit on your devices screen. With their built-in search functionality, you can find and download any photo you’ve posted online as well as find other Picasa friends and explore their photos too. Travel out to PicasaWeb’s Mobile site to start browsing pictures.

Google Reader
If you’re a user of Google’s Feed Reader application, they’ve thought of you when producing their mobile site for it. You can easily access your favorite feeds right from the phone. If you’re stuck in the doctors office waiting or other realms of boredom, kill time reading your feeds. They always stay up to date. On your phone, browse to Mobile Reader.

Google Notebook
Google’s Notebook has saved me a ton of work. The easy to use interface works perfectly for creating little notes complete with links to websites to view etc… Well, now Google’s added that to their repertoire of great mobile apps too. You can quickly jot down little notes that are synchronized to your Google account for looking at later. Or say maybe you keep your grocery list on Notebook but forgot to print it to take with you to the store. No problem, just grab your phone and browse to Google Mobile, click on the Notebook icon and pull up your grocery list. There it is in all its glory. Now, don’t forget the milk!

Google Docs
Finally, there is Google Docs. Google Docs Mobile (docs.google.com/m) is optimised for use on a smaller handheld screen and shows a list of recent documents and document folders from your Google Docs account. Supports word processing, spreadsheet and presentation documents. At the moment, you can only view, not edit, documents.

iPhone
If you’re an iPhone geek, you’ve no doubt already found your very own Google page. If not, just point your Safari mobile browser to Google.com and it will format for you. How nice of Google.

Do you use Google on your mobile phone? Have something to add? Let us know…

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

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For my first MakeUseOf post I will be taking you through the wonder that is Goog-411. You dial up 1-800-GOOG-411 (1-800-466-4411) from any (US) phone. After you get a friendly Google hello you follow the voice prompts which are extremely intuitive.

Start by saying your city and state. You hear the Google engines spinning in the background and then you will be prompted to say what business listing you want (pizzeria, repair shop, Burger King, etc.). They understood me every time even when I put on various accents. I had previously tried out 800-free-411 and they never understood me – it was infuriating!

Now Goog411 will also complete your call for you FOR FREE or send you a text message FOR FREE with your listing, a link to their website, a link to a map and directions or any other information they have. For a list of all the commands check out this page here. This is all easily save-able on your mobile. The service is still in its beta stages and currently has NO ads! Suck it up while you can this is the way most services will be going in the near future. If you are interested in seeing a video demo go to GOOG411 on MUO Directory.

Goog411 currently only works from the US and we got mad love for our international readers so we have Google SMS for you. Well, for most of you.

Just save 466453 “Google” into your phone and text it with your query and Google will hit you back with all sorts of free information. How about dictionary definitions, calculations, curency exchange rates or movie listings (Google SMS -All Features). Give it a shot – its free minus the cost of the text messages of course.

Got to love the Google!

For other similar alternatives you can also check out Free411 Dial Directions and TellMe.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• Top Mapping Tools: Maps, Local Guides & Driving Directions (12)
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1 UnwiredBuyer – Receive last minute eBay notifications and place bids directly from your mobile. Definitely a must-have for every eBay junkie. (US and Canada). Video Demo.

2. Soonr – Need to access your PC directly from the handset? Enter Soonr, a free mobile client that brings remote PC access to your phone: search files, view documents, check emails, run programs and more. US only. Video Demo.

3. Mosio – How old is Yoda? What was Einstein’s IQ? … and for all other questions simply send SMS to Mosio and get a quick reply shortly after. Screenshot. US only.

4. Plusmo – Super-fast mobile feedreader with lots of cool features. Video Demo. Another similar app is Viigo.

5. Fring – Really cool mobile app that lets you place free calls or chat with anyone from your Skype, ICQ, Google Talk, MSN, Twitter, or SIP contacts. Video Demo. You can also get same stuff with Nimbuzz.

6. Mobical – Over-the-air mobile data backup and restore service. Store and backup your contacts, synchronize data between multiple handsets and more.

7. Jajah – Dirt-cheap international call from your handset. Video Demo.

8. AllFreeCalls – Not just dirt-cheap but totally free international calls to over 50 countries. Available in US, UK, and Ireland.

9. Emoze – This one lets you push emails to your mobile. Works both with web-based emails (Gmail) and desktop clients (Outlook). I have covered a bunch of email to mobile apps here.

10. Directory Services - These services offer everything from the nearest Dominos and Movie theater schedules to the driving directions and maps to any address of your choice. There are plenty of good ones: Free411, Goog411, TellMe, and DialDirections. Although i have to warn you in advance, all of them are for the US only. European? See below.

11. Google SMS – Via SMS directory service with lots of extra features: dictionary lookup, currency converter, translations, flight schedules, stock quotes, etc. . Europeans can try Google SMS.

12. Foonz – Handy service to make group calls and send group SMS messages for free.

13. Nutsie – This ingenious app brings your iTunes music library to your mobile. Video Demo. Also check out MunduRadio to access hundreds of digital internet radio stations from any web-enabled mobile phone. Video Demo.

14. Podlinez – Any podcast any time from your handset. Completely FREE. Sorry folks, again US Only.

15. mShopper – Lookup prices and deals for any product right from phone. Quite handy for price lookups while window shopping Video Demo.. US only.

16. Trumpia – Send message to friends and get it delivered to their email, instant messenger, and mobile phone. Recipients can send replies from email, IM program or as a text message. Video Demo.

17. SoLow – Addictive auction service where the winning bidder is the one who has the lowest unique bid. Today’s auctioned items: 250$ cash, Vail Ski Holiday, and Necklace by Laura Shape. US only.

18. BooksInMyPhone – The best mobile book service out there. Comes with an excellent book reader app that makes mobile reading quite convenient. Also see DialyLit.

19. Jott – Voice-to-text transcriber with a bunch of cool features. Dial toll-free number and “Jott” yourself memo notes, Or “Jott” messages to a group of friends. Jott will transcribe your messages and send it to indicated emails.Video Demo. US only.

20. Qipit – Use phone camera to capture documents and convert them to well-formatted PDFs. Forward ready PDFs to your email or even send fax it anywhere you want. Video Demo.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

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(1) HealthVault
Service that many US families should find really useful. In simple terms, HealthVault is an online safebox for all your medical records. It’s not just a storage place to keep medical history but also to share records with doctors, place to where medical documents can be faxed and auto-archived, and lots more.

(2) Windows Live (Office Suite)
Long-awaited online office offering from Microsoft. I know, there are plenty of other online office suites, but many of us are still hesitant when it comes to compatibility issues. What if the document won’t open? What if text styling gets messy? … Well, who if not Microsoft can guarantee 100% compatibility with Microsoft Office. Although the service is yet to go public, you can opt-in now and get notified as soon as it’s launched. (Update: Some people have suggested that it’s going to more like a document storage and sharing service rather than online office suite)

(3) TellMe
Tellme is a free alternative to costly 411 directory service. Lets you quickly obtain contact details and directions to local businesses (repair shops, pizzerias, restaurants, etc.). You can access it via toll free number, text messaging, or TellMe mobile client. Check out TellMe video demo here.

(4) Windows Live (Safety Scanner)
Online Windows health check-up and maintenance center. Includes virus scan and removal, hard drive space recovery and performance tools. The only drawback, it doesn’t work with Firefox and thus you need IE to access it.

(5) Tafiti
Looking for a comprehensive research tool? Check out Tafiti. It’s a single application that integrates multiple search engines, visual search, webpage sharing, and a handful of other features for online research. Tafiti will work on any browser but you do need to have Microsoft Silverlight (free).

Software

(6) Win XP Powertoys – PowerToys is a set of tiny all-purpose apps that add to your Windows experience. Currently, the package counts 15 different programs, including ‘Alt+Tab’ replacement, all-in-one unit converter, right click image resizer, and virtual desktop manager.

(7) FolderShare – Simple and memory-friendly program with a bunch of cool features. FolderShare lets you access your PC remotely, share files with others, and synchronize files across multiple computers and mobile devices. It’s a pretty useful app to have on your arsenal.

(8) Sysinternals Suite – Over 60 troubleshooting utilities bundled in one suite. Most of the bundled apps are rather techy and may require technical skills. Although some of the apps are 100% automated. For instance, PageDefrag (excellent paging-file defragmenter) is one of such apps.

(9) ConferenceXP – Live screen sharing and collaboration application for groups. Highlights include local screen streaming, browser screen sharing, and live collaboration sketchboard.

(10) Windows Live Pack – Brings Windows Live services to your desktop. Cool part about it, you have an option to choose which services to get. Package includes, Family Safety suite, web photo gallery, online storage service, Windows Live Writer blogging tool, and some more.

Got another Microsoft goodie ? Let us know in comments!

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

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For instance, Ask City seems like a top choice when it comes to getting around within your city, finding out about movie theaters in your area, etc. On the other hand, Google Maps does an excellent job at providing more flexible features for long-distance route planning. Similarly, Microsoft’s Live Search is the only application that provides free ‘Maps’ software for your mobile. So, Enjoy! (Note: entries 1-3 in no particular order)

(1) Yahoo! Maps

Features:

• Print maps, send by email, send link to Mobile, OR save to Yahoo! Myweb.
• View live road traffic stats along your route. (Geo restrictions apply).
• Map view modes: generic map, hybrid, satellite.
• Find local businesses (stores, pizzerias, car repair shops, etc.) for any area in US.

(2) Google Maps

Features: Demo (below)

• Print maps, send by email, get permanent link to the page.
• Ability to drag n’ drop route line right on the map (excellent feature). See Demo video below.
• Map view modes: generic map, hybrid, satellite and street view (restricted to specific locations).
• Live road traffic stats (mainly for US)
• Find local business locations (stores, pizzerias, car repair shops, etc.) for all cities in US, UK, Canada, Europe, and more.
• Get driving directions via SMS. Get Details

(3) Live Search – Local

Features: Demo

• Print maps (map, text, or both) , send by email, send link to mobile, OR get permanent link.
• Live road traffic stats (mainly for US)
• Map view modes: Aerial, road, hybrid and 2D/3D (restricted to specific locations)
• Find local businesses and people
• Free software for Local Maps and local businesses for your mobile (US and UK only). Learn more.
• Access website and get driving directions from your mobile via mobile.live.com/search.

(4) Ask City

Features:

• Print maps, email, OR get permalink.
• Map view modes: street and aerial.
• Find local businesses, events, and movies (US only).

(5) MapQuest

Features:

• Print maps, send by email, send map link to your mobile, OR get permanent map link.
• Get shortest routes (by Time, by Distance) + option to Avoid (Highways, Tolls, seasonally-closed Roads).
• Find local businesses and locations (US, Canada).
• Premium Offers (non-free): (1) MapQuest Mobile – note: you can get almost same thing from ‘Live Search’ for free, (2) MapQuest Navigator – piece of software that will turn your phone into a full in-car navigation system.

(6) Mulitmap

Features:

• Print maps, send by email, send to mobile OR get permalink
• Display Cash points, Tube stations, Parking, Petrol stations, Train stations, and Wi-Fi hotspots for your route.
• View shortest routes (by Time, by Distance)
• Map view modes: generic map, hybrid, satellite.

(7) Maporama

Features:

• Print maps OR send by email
• Get driving directions on your iPod in .mp3 format.
• Get Maporama software on your PDA

• Get FREE 411 Directory Assistance with GOOG411 (27)
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Basically, what you’ll see below, is a list of web services where your phone (not a PC) plays a main role. Whether you need detailed driving directions, someone to wake you up in the morning, quick answer to whatever question you may have or to make free overseas call, it’s all here and freely accessible from your phone. Most of them we have mentioned before, but this time they’re all on one page along with some new ones. Enjoy!

FROM ANY PHONE [Mobile or POTS (Plain Old Telephony Service) ]

(1) Free411 (US only) – free alternative to costly 411 directory service, simply dial 1-800-FREE411 and get the listing you need.

(2) Jott (US and Canada) – simple and convenient service that lets you leave yourself notes, ToDo’s or remainders directly from your phone. Dial a given number (1-877-568-8486), as you speak system will record your message, convert it to text and send it to the provided email address.

(3) TelePixie (US only) – fun service that lets you schedule free memo phone calls i.e. wake-up calls, reminder, weather forecasts, jokes, news, stock alerts and more.

(4) Yak4ever (no longer online) – free, unlimited overseas calling directly from your phone.

• AllFreeCalls.co.uk – same from UK (supports O2 Peak/Off-Peak, Orange/T-Mobile both Peak and Off-Peak)
• AllFreeCalls.ie – same from Ireland
  

(5) Goog411 (US only) – quickly get info on any local business (i.e. hardware shops, pizza delivery, etc. ) or get directly connected with a business/company office you need. (Dial 1-800-GOOG-411)

(6) Bringo (US only) – handy service that lets you bypass annoying phone support waiting lines and get to the company representative you need in a matter of seconds. [HowTo: (1) Find the company you’d like to call by category (credit cards, mortgages, health care, etc), (2) Enter your phone nr. and (3) Wait for your phone to ring.]

(7) Gotvoice (US only) – converts voicemails from your home and cell phone into MP3s and sends them to you by email. Other features include:

• save, organize and access your voicemails online
• auto-share received voicemails with others (i.e. friends, coworkers, etc.)
• send voice messages to several people simultaneously
• reply to voicemail without ringing the recipient’s phone
• create personalized greetings for different callers

(8) GrandCentral (US and Canada) – get one phone nr. for all your phones, web-based centralized voicemail system, call recording, spam filters, setup custom caller greetings, switch calls between any of your phones, save/organize/voicemails online and more.

(9) Tellme (US) – yet another cool, free directory service for local businesses, maps, and directions. To use Tellme, you can either Dial (1-800-555-TELL), send text message (to 83556) or download TellMe software to your mobile.

(10) Call-in-Sick (US and Canada) – evil but rather handy service that lets you record ‘i am sick’ type message and schedule it to be delivered to your Boss early in the morning.

MOBILE ONLY

(11) Zypsy (no longer available) – call provided number and leave whatever question you have. Receive your answer via SMS, shortly after. (“Can you find iPod 20Gb cheaper than $198?”, “Where is the closest Fry’s to Mountain View CA?”, “Any deals or coupons in downtown Palo Alto?”)

(12) GoogleSMS (USA, Canada, Germany, Japan and Spain) – get instant info about local restaurants, weather, flight information, movies, translations, driving directions, currency conversions, etc. via SMS.

(13) Soonr (Mac, Win) – handy piece of software that lets you access your PC from mobile. Browse files, search docs, check your email-client (i.e. Outlook, Thunderbird), run Skype, etc. Read more

(14) Text2store (US) – “Tell us what you would like to buy. Receive deal alerts on your mobile phone with store info and location…”

(15) Roam4free (worldwide) – must-see service for all frequent travellers and mobile users with huge roaming charges. Roam4free offers special type of sim-cards (20 EUR / approx. 26USD) that can be used in 115+ countries. It lets you make cheap overseas calls, and receive calls for free in over 65 countries. Up to 90% discount on standard mobile rates.

In case, you’re aware of anything that will make this list even better, please drop it in comments. I will gladly add it to the list.

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