I used Google SMS several times this weekend as I was out and about:
-To check movie times ("movie 10010")
-To check the weather ("weather 02138")
-To look up the address of my friend's art gallery in Chelsea ("Andrea Rosen gallery new york")
Each time, I got accurate, relevant results back within seconds of pressing Send. Thanks Google!
Local information - news, weather, traffic - is going on-demand as a method of delivery. Traditionally, this info has been broadcast by local TV & Radio stations (and newspapers in the case of news & weather). In NYC, AM 1010 WINS is a news-only station and I believe the largest station in the market. You can tune in and you're guaranteed to hear traffic, news & weather every 10 minutes (interspersed with their ads of course).
Wireless IP technology poses a threat to local TV & Radio. Web brands like Google, Yahoo & MSN can use it to deliver this information to users at the push of a button. For that matter, these aggregators could be dis-aggregated with news providers working directly with the wireless carriers (Text "Weather" to short code ACCU for your local Accu-Weather forecast").
Local TV & Radio should also use these new technologies to offer this information to their users in an on-demand fashion, and as an extension of their brand. Radio could use one of their sub-channels enabled by HD technology to effectively provide on-demand local info.
The point is that, 5 years from now, when I'm driving in my new car with my wireless handset in its dock, I should be able to get the latest sports scores, stock quotes, my horoscope, the weather forecast and traffic info for my planned route, with the push of a few buttons rather than wait for this info as I do today. Better yet, traffic info should automatically be fed to my on-board navigation system, which would use it to optimize and/or recalculate the planned route. I'd be willing to pay for something like this.
You should check out 4INFO (44636). They can help you look up restaurants ('italian 02138') and other businesses. If you want more than the typical 3-4 responses, you can reply with a '1'. In addition, they have number of other info services like sports scores ('mlb'), weather, stock quotes, horoscopes and even flight updates. 4info is a recently funded startup that's getting a lot of attention.
I agree that this notion of anytime, anywhere info can truly revolutionize the world. Imagine not only getting whatever local info you need, but also being able to transact on it. We only go to the big fixed screens because we want to (like going to the movies) not because its the only way.
Posted by: Roger | May 23, 2005 at 06:54 AM