Man, talk about a bummer…how would you feel if you were a student Down Under and you were informed that you could no longer use, or bring your mobile phone to school?  Not cool my friends, not cool at all.  The breadth of that decision would be altogether larger if you were, like me, accustomed to the use of WHERE Widgets to help you get by in your daily life, now wouldn’t it?

According to reports, the reason for the ban is not because of excess chatting, the fear of cheating via the phones, or any other talk related concerns, but instead, because incidents of students committing crimes, sexual assaults, or bullying and videoing them with their mobile phones has increased so substantially.  That’s right, students Down Under have been using their video-enabled mobile phones to document, and then post online, a wide variety of mischief and debauchery.

This brings up very interesting questions here at home, I believe.  Do you feel technology and the increasingly mobile nature of it, has enabled similar acts in the U.S.A.?  Should similar bans be put into effect?  An increasing majority of cell phones are equipped with digital and video cameras, enabling the capture of any type of event, positive or negative.  I’d love feedback on this…!

As I mentioned in the past, from time to time on this sweet blog you’re perusing as we speak, we’re going to be dropping some “officially official” press releases.  Today, my friends, is just such a day as some pretty cool news is afoot.

So, without further ado, I present you the official press release announcing the pretty darn sweet news that ShopLocal, the leader in multi-channel shopping services, has announced a ShopLocal Mobile that uses awesome GPS technology and is officially being launched on, yep, you guessed it, WHERE!

Here is the full, official press release, read it, soak it up, love it:

SHOPLOCAL PARTNERS WITH ULOCATE TO DELIVER

GPS SHOPPING APPLICATION

 

Leading Online Comparison Shopping Portal Now Available On Mobile Handsets

Through WHERE

Chicago, IL and Framingham, MA - August 7, 2007 - ShopLocal™, the leader in multi-channel shopping services, today announced the launch of ShopLocal Mobile, a robust GPS-based mobile application that connects retailers and consumers to the award-winning ShopLocal.com site, based on their current locations. ShopLocal Mobile was developed in partnership with uLocate Communications, and launched on WHERE™, the world’s first mobile GPS widget platform.

“The launch of ShopLocal Mobile offers our customer base of millions of consumers more choice and control over their shopping activities,� said Vikram Sharma, CEO of ShopLocal.

“ShopLocal Mobile helps shoppers find promotions and deals on products in their local markets from wherever they are, and whenever they want, by simply using their GPS-enabled cell phones.�

The new mobile shopping application saves consumers both time and money by extending Shoplocal.com circular promotions and ads to their GPS-enabled cell phones, allowing them access to current promotions available in their local communities whether they are shopping online or in store. Prior to WHERE, developing and launching a mobile GPS application was both costly and time consuming.

“We are thrilled that ShopLocal has chosen the WHERE platform to expand the relationship of its brand with its customers into a mobile environment,� said Walt Doyle, CEO of uLocate Communications. “WHERE was developed to eliminate the common difficulties that brand leaders, like ShopLocal, have historically faced in bringing a GPS-based mobile application to market.�

“As the range of uses of wireless phones rapidly expands for on-the-go consumers, mobile shopping starts to become an important complement to online shopping,� said Greg Sterling, principal, Sterling Market Intelligence. “ShopLocal is clearly ahead of the curve with its new mobile shopping service on WHERE.�

To learn more about ShopLocal Mobile, visit www.shoplocal.com or www.where.com.

About ShopLocal

ShopLocal, the leader in multi-channel shopping services, offers a complete suite of solutions connecting retailers and consumers online and in-store. The company’s consumer Web site, ShopLocal.com, provides users with choice and control in their shopping experience by offering the most comprehensive selection of timely online and in-store offers on one easy-to-use site. With ShopLocal.com, consumers can find millions of products and up-to-date weekly sales, deals, and coupons for consumer electronics, apparel, groceries and more.

ShopLocal’s customers include Target, Best Buy, Home Depot, CVS and Sears. ShopLocal powers multi-channel shopping for hundreds of newspaper Web sites and other leading local and shopping sites, such as Los Angeles Times, Miami Herald, Arizona Republic, Google and SuperPages.com. ShopLocal is owned by Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI), Tribune Company (NYSE:TRB), and The McClatchy Company (NYSE:MNI). For more information, visit www.shoplocal.com.

About WHERE

WHERE is a service of uLocate Communications, Inc., the leading publisher of consumer location based service (LBS) applications. WHERE enables content owners and publishers to quickly and easily create compelling mobile GPS applications. For more information, please visit www.where.com.

###

ShopLocal, ShopLocal.com, SmartCircular, SmartCatalog and SmartMedia are trademarks of ShopLocal. WHERE is a trademark of uLocate Communications. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Get used to the following acronym:  DWT.  Ok, maybe don’t get used to it because I kind of just made it up, but who knows, law enforcement agents across this great nation might soon be using the ol’ D.W.T. to indicate Driving While Texting.  If the 89% of Americans got their way, this would be an offense that was as punishable as a D.U.I (D.W.I in some areas) is already.

That’s right, people are NOT happy about Texting-Drivers and want some legislation passed to put a ban on it.  According to the article I just read, “89% of Americans said they would support legislation that outlaws sending text messages while behind the wheel. In fact, 91% of Americans believe that people who text and drive are as dangerous as drunks on the road….” I must say, I have to agree in this case.

This is an issue that is clearly budding in popularity, I even recently saw an episode of Mythbusters that they sought to bust this very same myth, that driving while talking on a cellphone (they didn’t test texting, but if simply talking is bad, imagine the consequences of texting) is more dangerous than driving under the influence of alcohol.  Turns out, it is.

Bottom line is, how do YOU feel about this?  I want some feedback, so sound off…should texting while driving be legal or illegal?  Should the government step in on this one?  Working for a company that makes GPS Widgets for your cell phone, this kind of information and opinion is curious to me.  Sound off!

I don’t think it’s a secret anywhere, to anyone, that mobile media is absolutely taking off.  It is officially the hip, the now, the cool and the current.  The ability to have media at your fingertips whenever you want, wherever you are is in, and I just read an article about a company that’s most likely going to make some waves.

The company is Buzzwire and their claim to fame is that they are offering you streaming mobile media…without any downloads.  Other companies offer streaming video and content, so this is not exactly new, but what sets Buzzwire apart is the fact that they don’t require or “suggest” a download for optimal performance.  According to the piece I just read on it, “Buzzwire has built a back-end that enables wireless carriers to add streaming media, including video, podcasts and internet radio into their offerings with very little development effort on the carriers’ part. Buzzwire says that it is plug-and-play, and its team has experience working with mobile carriers here and abroad.”

As I said, the ability to have information literally at your fingertips is absolutely IN right now.  That said, why not stop wasting time and head over to the main page of WHERE and figure out how you can not only get information at your fingertips, you can get GPS information that is 100% tailored to YOU, exactly where YOU are.  Think of it as having your own little satellite in the sky, working just for you, lighting your way.  Not bad friends, not bad at all.

When is it cool to work for a GPS-based company?  I’ll tell you when, when you read news like what I just found today.  How cool is it that a man used information downloaded from his dashboard GPS unit to disprove a police officer’s claim that he was speeding?  Very cool my friends, very cool.

According to the Australian Herald Sun, “Brett Pownceby was issued a $215 ticket alleging he was going 119 kilometers per hour in a 110 km/h zone…”  By presenting the courts with data showing “his speed, distance covered, and exact location in snapshots taken every few seconds” all totaling up to irrefutable proof that he was going a full 21 km/h slower than the police claims….Ticket dropped, apologies issued.
Score one for the Average Joe.  Police were quick to note that this would not be an often repeated act and was just a mistake and misunderstanding.  Bottom line, it shows where GPS is going, what it can do and just how influential it will be in the days, weeks, months and years to come.  Just think, with the Widgets WHERE is rocking right now, how amazing things will be in 6 months, a year, or even 5.