Free Ways to Get More From Your Mobile Phone

What have you done with your mobile phone lately?

Researchers in the UK say that we’re making less and less calls, about 25% less than in 2006. Mobile users are switching to alternate forms of communicating such as mobile email, mobile applications and text messaging as data plans become more affordable and older users become more comfortable with SMS and mobile apps.

Mobile applications and SMS services are also getting more powerful and easier to use (see a few of our recommendations below). These apps can make you look like the smartest guy in the room, reduce the amount of wasted calls and even save you money while shopping. No more awkward calls to friends when you really don’t want to talk to them, but just want to hit them up for directions.

JD Power’s Caspar Tearle said (via Daily Mail):

“Mobile phones have lost their position as a status symbol. At one time, people seemed to feel the need to justify the money spent on a mobile phone by using it all the time. But that has gone.They have taken on board the message that making calls can be seen as a nuisance and quite rude.

The research also showed that young people are more interested in other devices, including notebook computers, gaming devices and iPods.

Google has a suite of applications and services for mobile users. A favorite is Google Maps for Mobile, which provides real-time traffic information, directions, points-of-interest finder and satellite views of locations. You can also find almost anything by sending a SMS with your search term to GOOGLE (466453). You can look up local movie times, flight info and more. A demo of Google SMS search is here: Google Mobile SMS

For Google Mobile Maps you can visit Google Mobile on your notebook or go to https://mobile.google.com on your phone’s browser.

Yahoo! makes several of its services available over mobile web browser or via its Mobile Go application. Users can run local searches, find driving directions and more, but my favorite feature is flickr mobile, which allows users to upload and share their photos from wherever they are.

To use Yahoo! OneSearch or any other Yahoo! service visit Mobile Yahoo! on your notebook, or https://m.yahoo.com on your mobile phone. The only downside is that Mobile Go (Yahoo! Apps) are not supported on many phones.

4INFO is a SMS based search engine that provides mobile users with entertainment, business, travel and sports updates. You can have updates pushed to you so you don’t have to actively search. For example, after every San Francisco Giants game 4INFO sends me an SMS with the final score. 4INFO recently launched an open platform where users can build their own mobile services and make their blogs easy to read on mobile phones.

SMS queries can be sent to 4INFO (44636) or you can visit 4Info.net for advanced functionality.

Frucall is a shopping service that helps users make sure they get the best deals while their shopping out in the real world. If you’re in a store, but not sure if its offering the best deal, point your phone’s web browser to www.frucall.com/m. You can type in the name of the product or its barcode to see how online stores such as Amazon compare. If the online store has a better deal you can even order items and have them delivered, even if you’re at the mall or local big box store.

You can text a product’s 10 digit barcode to Frucall and in a few seconds you’ll receive an SMS with price comparisons. Registration on Frucall.com is required for full functionality, including SMS search.

top photo via stigeredoo