ChaCha Intros Live Mobile Search Service

• Posted: Monday, January 07, 2008
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• Author: pradhana
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• Filed under: Mobile Services, Wireless Service

Search services provider ChaCha announced a new mobile solution enabling consumers to send questions via SMS and receive answers mailed to their handsets via live operators, dubbed ChaCha guides.

According to ChaCha, the presence of live operators, called a ChaCha guide, trained to use its internal search systems enables users to pose their questions as if they were texting a friend, down to employing traditional text slang, and without concern for special formatting or restrictions.

Searches span from dynamic information like sports scores, movie listings, weather and local data to contact information to trivia -- sample queries include "I'm at the corner of 42nd & Broadway in New York City. Where can I get a cup of coffee?" and "Where can I get some great sushi in Palo Alto, CA?" In conjunction with the launch, ChaCha will serve as the Official Text Answers Service of the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.

"This really changes everything," said ChaCha CEO Scott A. Jones. "The ability to ask any question on your mobile phone at any time and receive the answer from a knowledgeable person was unheard of until now. We're giving everyone with a text-enabled cell phone instant access to information at their fingertips. Knowledge is power, and now every mobile phone just got a lot smarter with ChaCha's text answers service."

"What I find interesting about ChaCha's cell phone service is it helps you use the power of the Web even though you don't have an expensive smartphone," said Rob Enderle, Principal Analyst for the Enderle Group. "This isn't about getting people to buy an expensive phone and service; it's about making any phone, from the smartest to the simplest, more useful."

With ChaCha, users can ask questions on a variety of topics, including:

-- Dynamic information - sports scores, movie times, airline delays, weather, etc.
-- Local information - cheapest gas, shopping, recycling, pharmacy locations and more.
-- Current events - business news updates, stock updates, world news, etc.
-- General information - names and phone numbers for local businesses and residences
-- Trivia - movie quotes, song lyrics, celebrity gossip and more

"Now that the world's biggest community of real-time guides and our powerful technology platform are in place, we have put our technology to use in the mobile device," Jones said. "On the cell phone, users can benefit tremendously from the assistance of another knowledgeable human who can do research for them - especially when they don't have the resources, such as a computer, to do the research on their own. ChaCha is here to help when help is needed." [FierceWireless]

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