»mobile«

Thanks to this list of web services from makeuseof.com.

If you’re a long time makeuseof reader, at one point or another you may have seen several of these websites before. We have covered lots of lists and round-ups but this one is quite different: it lists undiscovered webservices that are original, rather unique, unusual, useful, free, and must-be bookmarked type. You won’t find any collaboration, storage or ToDo service here.

Enjoy!

1. Bugmenot - instantly get disposable login details for any popular website that forces you to register.

2. DailyLit - read your favorite books by email (on your PC, mobile, etc.).

3. FranceRadio - neat MP3 Search Engine that lets you Find, Play and Download favorite MP3s for FREE.

4. Google SMS - provides mobile users with a quick access (via SMS) to a wide range of practical information and tools (i.e. business listings (pizzerias, shops, etc.), weather, movie listings, driving directions, currency converter and lots more.

5. Podlinez - listen to your favorite podcasts from any phone. Just enter the RSS feed URL for the desired podcast and get a free-toll number to access it from a phone.

6. RetailMeNot - locate fresh discount coupons for thousands of web merchants and services right from your browser toolbar. Video demo.

7. SoLow - on a daily basis SoLow auctions 4 different items (iPhones, HD Screens, etc.). Anyone with a mobile/PC can participate in the auctions by placing their bids via text-messaging. The user with the lowest unique bid wins the auction.

8. TeleFlip - auto-forward your emails to your cellphone as text messages. Video demo.

9. UrbanDictionary - hilarious (and practical) 100% user-maintained dictionary where users provide and vote on definitions for urban words (slangs).

10. Yak4Ever - make free international calls from US, UK and Ireland to 50+ countries.

=== Mobile - related ===

11. Bitbom - schedule free text message reminders to your phone. Schedule online or using mobile. (Similar PingMe.)

12. Flurry - follow up on your emails (send, receive) and receive latest articles from favorite blogs/websites on your mobile.

13. Foonz - place group calls and send messages to multiple people for free (from your mobile or any other phone).

14. GameJump - lots of free games for mobile phones.15. GrandCentral - single phone number for all your phones and a web-based centralized voicemail system. (Similar: YouMail, GotVoice)

16. IQzone - post your classified ad to a number of online and print classified networks directly from your mobile.

17. Jott - simple and convenient service for leaving yourself notes and ToDo reminders using your mobile.

18. Mosio - text any question from your mobile phone and shortly receive up-to 4 answers.

19. mShopper - instantly check up on the bargain deals for any product (or even order) right from your mobile phone. Video demo.

20. NoPhoneTrees - simple phone directory that lists direct human access numbers to support employees in hundreds of companies.

21. Nutsie - takes a copy of your iTunes library file and creates an online copy of your library. Access this library from PC or mobile phone.

22. Google SendToPhone - forward anything you find on the web (maps, address, text, etc.) to any mobile phone for free (US only).

23. Qipit - take quick document pictures and turn them into properly formatted PDFs. Save online, email, or fax documents right from mobile.

24. Soonr - handy application that lets you access your PC remotely using your mobile or any other PC (work, school, etc.). Video demo.

25. TelePixie - quickly schedule and receive daily (or one time) wake up phone calls, reminders, weather forecast calls, jokes, and more.

26. TellMe - free local directory service for business listings (Car Repair Shops, Pizzerias, Restaurants, etc.), maps, and directions.

27. PhoneZoo - convert your MP3s to custom-length ringtones and forward them to your phone. Plus 1000s of free ringtones from other users.

=== Other ===

28. BossBitching - fun and active community where people can bit*h about their bosses anonymously.

29. eSnailer - send free postal mail letters (to anywhere in the US) right from the desktop. From Canada? Check out EasyPost.

30. Yapta - get a refund (or credit) from the airlines on a purchased ticket in case its price drops.

31. ListenToaMovie - lets you ‘listen to a movie’, i.e. stream the audio part of various movies and some TV-shows.

32. OpenDNS - provides a safer, faster, smarter and more reliable way to navigate the Internet. More details + video demo.

33. PodioBooks - search, subscribe and browse through a variety of totally free audio books (100% legal).

34. PriceProtectr - tracks the price of items you bought online and notifies in case of price-drops, so you can request a refund.

35. RateMyDrawings - excellent place to draw, share your drawing creations, learn to draw, and watch other people drawing. Video demo

36. SwitchPlanet - cool and active marketplace where you can switch (or trade) used DVDs, CDs, Video Games and Books. Video demos.

37. Scribd- search, browse, rate, share various types of documents (jokes, facts, stories etc.). It’s like Youtube for text documents.

38. ViaTalk - make up-to 10 minutes long free phone calls to anywhere in the US and Canada. You don’t even need to sign-up.

39. VideoSift - popular Digg-like voting community for user-submitted videos.

40. Wordie - make lists of words (words you love, words you hate, or whatever) and share them with others.

40 Unusual Websites you should Bookmark. » Cool Websites, Software and Internet Tips

With regard to the post below, it reminds me of the output of my final year Diploma project. The project titled 'Xtend' also revolved around the concept of the power of social networking. As an output of the project, I had designed a mobile application which allowed you to peep into your friends mobile contacts (Friend of a Friend aka FOAF) to check and match profiles with the kind of peope you were looking for. If you found someone who matched your profile you had to ask your friend for to introduce you to that particular person. This way a human filter would (hopefully) prevent people from contacting people they din't know randomly.

I personally find the topic of Social Networking through mobiles extremely interesting. However I am much more interested in the aspect of how people carry around their identity with their mobile devices. Whether we like it or not... most of us have some sort of digital identities. An email address, a credit card transaction account, an Amazon account or membership to a social networking site, etc, etc, etc. With internet becoming more and more mobile how will this affect our interactions with people?

How will technologies like Wimax affect peoples interaction and stumbling upon other people? Will location based profile matching take off? Will blind dates get a new meaning? Will we be able to make more friends or will we start protecting and hiding ourselves more than before as our digital identities will be traceable and trackable?

Over the past 3 years the number of workshops on design related to mobile devices has been on the rise. Following are a few workshops/conferences that I would love to attend if I could. Lets hope there is enough documentation after the event so that the mass of us who couldn't attend the event benefit from it.

Mobile Interaction with the Real World
// Sept 12, 2006 / Amsterdam, Netherlands

So far these mobile devices have been mostly used for interactions between the user, their mobile device and the services (phone calls, writing short messages and organizer functionalities) they use. In the last years we've seen increased interest the use of the mobile device for interactions with other people (mobile gaming) and places (location based mobile services, mobile guides).

MIRW 2006 is a forum that focuses on mobile interactions with real world objects.

RFID & the Internet of Things
// Sept 11 - 13, 2006 / Espoo, Finland

RFID plays a pivotal role in joining the physical world with the digital. An object tagged with an RFID chip has a unique digital identity. Any kind of online data can be linked to these unique ID's. Here is where the real world and the internet become two faces of the same reality.

The participants of this workshop will be given the opportunity to develop critical, utopian or nightmarish concepts for an Internet of Things in a hands-on way.

Nordichi 2006
// Oct 14-18, 2006 / Oslo, Norway

The main theme for the conference is ?Changing roles?. We currently see a reshaping of almost every aspect of society, which is caused by the forces of globalization and new technology. Do we need to change our roles as developers, researchers and designers? How can we maintain focus on the user in this ever changing environment? Will the role of HCI change?

A few other things that will be addressed in NordiCHI will be Ambient Intelligence, Design Methods, Participatory Design, Information Visualization, etc.