Internet Tip - SMS Search Services. Get Valuable information sent to your cellular phone.

SMS stands for Short Message System. It is the system used for text messages on cell phones. It allows 160 characters to be sent to a cell phone.

I have been looking for good SMS Search Services available for mobile phone users and here is a list of what I have come up with. There are many great text alert services out there. But I was looking for something different. I was looking for services that let you send a text and then you get valuable information sent back to you.

Yahoo SMS (92466)

For a demo go to: http://mobile.yahoo.com/search/smsdemo

Google SMS (46645)

For a demo go to: http://www.google.com/intl/en_us/mobile/sms/

CONS:

• Sometimes I send a text message to Google SMS and I never get a reply.
• One time I was looking for the phone number to a resturaunt in Monterey. I texted Google with "Rosines 93940". Google replied saying it could not find the listing. So I texted Google about 5 more times with different spellings even though I spelled it correctly the first time. I gave up and tried Yahoo. Yahoo correctly gave me the address and phone number.

For a demo go to: http://www.4info.net/howto/

ChaCha (242242) or 1-800-2ChaCha

Simply ask your question like you are talking to a smart friend and ChaCha’s advanced technology instantly routes it to the most knowledgeable person on that topic in our Guide community. Your answer is then returned to your phone as a text message within a few minutes. Go to http://www.chacha.com/ for info.

Send SMS from Computer

The best program to send SMS text messages from your computer in my opinion is AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) or AOL (America Online). Many websites offer the ability to send messages to cell phones but generally there is no way for the recipient to reply to your text message. But AIM lets you chat back and forth through SMS. Other services such as Yahoo Messenger and MSN Messenger also offer SMS to cell phones, however, both of those don't seem to work with every cell phone. But AIM seems to work with every cell phone. Go to: http://www.aim.com/

Find Free CO-OP ATM Machines

Before you take your next road trip, be sure that you know exactly where to get your cash for free. Text your location – city, state or zip code – to 692667 (MYCOOP) from any mobile phone. It will text you back with nearby CO-OP surcharge free ATM machine locations. More info here.

Yellow Pages SMS

Text a message to YP411 (97411) and get locations or directions. Just text "pizza" along with the city and state or ZIP code to YP411 (97411). To get driving directions back from the business to your starting point using your city, state and ZIP code: FROM 99 to Glendale, CA 91203. For more info see: http://www.yellowpages.com/products/yp411