AskMeNow

CNET editors' take

• CNET editors' rating: 3.5 stars Very good
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 7.6 (3.5 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Kent German
• Reviewed on: 12/08/2006

After a slow start in the United States, text messaging finally has taken off as a popular form of communication. As its use has grown, several companies (besides the carriers) have jumped in to make money from the technology. One such company is AskMeNow, which offers a convenient and surprisingly accurate service that should please trivia nuts and information hogs.

AskMeNow promises to answer a variety of queries through text messages. Simply send the service a text with your question (see below for the range of possibilities) and AskMeNow will respond right away. Each question costs 25 cents each plus your carrier's text messaging fee, and the charges will show up on your normal carrier bill. That's a bit overpriced in our opinion--particular since Google Mobile doesn't charge for its competing service--and because some answers can arrive in multiple messages, your charges can shoot up quickly if you carrier charges for each message received.

Using a pool of information specialists in the Philippines, AskMeNow says it can answer just about any question for which there is an answer on the Internet. And in that respect, it delivered. Within just a few minutes, it correctly identified the capital of Paraguay, when the Battle of Gettysburg occurred, the chemical symbol for potassium, and when All in the Family appeared on television. It also told us how many meters are in a mile, the distance between San Francisco and Sydney (both in miles and nautical miles), the French word for "highway," and which musical artist sang "Hung Up" (Madonna and Paul Weller).

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