Tech Shout!

Now mobile phone users in India can avail of the Google SMS service. With the new service you have the facility to access Google Search even if you do not own a state-of-the-art Internet-enabled mobile phone. It’s that convenient.

The Google SMS service is currently at its beta stage. To avail of the service, you need to simply send a text message to the shortcode, which is 54664 (5GOOG) from your mobile phone. After which you can an entire set of business listing, movie show timings, restaurant details, info on local hospitals and taxi services and so on. For instance, if your keen to have some great pastas in the locality of Bandra West, Mumbai then you just have to send a simple SMS stating “pasta bandra west Mumbai” and send it to 54664. And voila in a moment you shall get an entire list of pasta joints in Bandra West.

“There’s no denying the importance of text messaging in India, and the launch of Google SMS is a natural next step for our mobile strategy,” stated Vinay Goel, Head of Products, Google India.

“Millions of new mobile users are being added every month, and Google SMS will provide them with a quick and easy way to get the information they need when and where they need it,” he continued.

At present all Airtel, Aircel, BPL, BSNL and Reliance subscribers based in Bangalore, Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai can avail of the Google SMS service. Users will be charged as per the carriers’ prescribed premium text messaging rates.

What’s surprising is that the service isn’t yet available on Vodafone. Let’s hope that it is soon introduced on Vodafone’s network too, keeping in mind that a major portion of mobile users have the corporate red colored logo company’s network service.