Google Hacks, 2nd Edition

Google on the Go

Being on the go and away from your laptop or desktop doesn’t mean leaving Google behind.

As the saying goes, “You can’t take it with you.” Unless, that is, you’re talking about Google. Just because you’ve left your laptop at home or at the office, that doesn’t necessarily mean leaving the Web and Google behind. So long as you have your trusty cell phone or network-enabled PDA in your pocket, so too do you have Google.

Whether you have the top-of-the-line Treo 600, Blackberry, or Sidekick with integrated web browser; base-model cell phone that your carrier gave you for free; or anything in between, chances are that you’re able to Google on the go.

Google caters to the “on the go” crowd with its Google wireless interfaces: a simpler, lighter, gentler PDA- and smartphone-friendly version of Google, a WAP (read: wireless Web) flavor for cell phones with limited web access, and an SMS gateway for messaging your query to and receiving an almost instantaneous response from Google. There’s even a mobile interface to Google’s Froogle (http://froogle.google.com) product search.

Google by PDA or Smartphone

Google PDA Search (http://www.google.com/palm) brings all the power of Google to the PDA in your palm, hiptop on your belt, or cell phone in your pocket.

Tip

Don’t be fooled by the palm in the Google PDA Search URL, which is an artifact of Palm’s majority mindshare at the time. The interface will work with your Pocket PC, Zaurus, Treo, or any other mobile device that benefits ...