I think, I Just realized how insanely cool WHERE really is.  I mean, don’t get me wrong, I always KNEW how cool it was, but it just hit me how insanely cool it is.  Why did it hit me?  I just read an article about a new service that doesn’t require GPS, but still gives you directions.

Basically, the service DIR-ECT-IONS, is a number you call while you are in a major city, and it will ask you for your location, which I am guessing you have to be pretty accurate about, and then tell it where you want to go, which you probably also have to be pretty accurate about, and then it will send you a text message later with how to get there.  Hmmm…sounds good in theory, and helps if you don’t have GPS on your phone, but to me, it just seems a whole heck of a lot easier, AND cooler, to fire up your phone, turn on the WHERE Directions widget and get your location pinpointed automatically, and the directions to where you need to get, again, automatically by typing in the address.

No mucking about, no second guessing where the heck you actually are at a given moment, just flip open, turn on, find out.  DIR-ECT-IONS might be kinda cool, but WHERE is just INSANELY cool.  Simple as that.

Hear ye, Hear ye!  Pretty cool announcement fresh out of the gates today, so get ready, lend me your ear, and listen up!

WHERE is now available for developers who want to build and deploy mobile GPS applications on the N95. The N95 is a pretty impressive device, it’s got lots of memory, an autonomous GPS chip, Wi-fi, Bluetooth, and a 5 mega-pixel camera, not to mention the fact that the latest version is saddled with the latest 3G. This is your chance to build a mash-up of GPS and 3G. You can also enter our developer contest: http://www.where.com/contest.

Get started by signing into the WHERE Developer Program and downloading the WHERE developer version for the N95.

Ever got a speeding ticket from a cop who must have been sitting in his car just WAITING for you to speed for hours?  Ever accidentally ran a red light because you just weren’t paying attention?  If you just answered yes, join the club of millions of other Americans; you can also join the club of those that probably need this newest GPS-equipped radar detector.

Yes, you heard me right, GPS-equipped.  Why, you may be wondering, does a radar detector need GPS?  Simple, when you find out that this GPS includes a huge database of speed, and red light cameras across the country.  Not only will this help keep you out of a ticket, it will also help you to ease that lead foot off the petal earlier so you don’t run that red light.

Reports are also mentioning that the new GPS-equipped device will also be able to alert drivers as they approach construction sites, or high accident areas so they can travel even safer than before.  That my friends, is some forward thinking and smart use of technology.

Hold on to your hats all you lovers of Second Life, because some pretty big news is about to surface. Fairly soon, British Telecom company is going to launch technology that will allow you to make and receive not only phone calls, but SMS text messages from INSIDE Second Life. Scary

Apparently, British Telecom is mainly doing this to “help promote their new home fiber-optic platform Web21C, but it was also an exercise in forward-thinking. Matthew Brotherton, project manager at the Applied Technology Center in BT’s chief technology office, is thinking about the project in the long-term: “Maybe in two or three years time these environments might be even more immersive. You might have gloves or a headset and it might be easier to make a call from in here than on your actual mobile.”  Wow.

Nevertheless, this is interesting stuff and I suggest you check out the little article I just read on it.  Who KNOWS where we’ll end up next friends.  Who knows.

Welcome to the future, I suppose!  I know I’ve mentioned it before on this site, but seriously, every day I wake up I feel like we’re inching ever so closer to the “future” that we read about as kids.  Well, at least when I was a kid.

This weeks sign of the apocalypse future, is the simple fact that you can now get a museum on your mobile phone.   Yeah, a museum, on your flippin’ cell phone!  According to the Deputy Director of Communications for the Museum of Fine Art:  “We’re thrilled to be the first museum in the country to initiate a Mobile Wallpaper program, enabling users to carry a Museum masterpiece with them, wherever they go…”

Welcome to the future friends, how long until we stop painting altogether?

We live in a social networking world, so lets just face up to that fact right now.  Everywhere you turn there’s a MySpace, a Facebook, a Ringo or a LinkedIn.  All of these places bring us closer together, and all of these sites let everyone else know what WE think about what’s going on around us.

That, my good friends, is why THIS week’s WHERE Widget of the Week, is none other than Location Notes.  Why, you may ask?  Simple, and here’s what WHERE has to say about their Location Notes Widget:

“It’s one thing to know what’s around you. It’s another to let people know what you thing about the places around you and find out what they think too. With Location Notes you can do just that. Find a place. Add a note. Find a note left by someone else. All from Location Notes.” 

That’s right, turn on, tune in and know what everyone around you thinks about, well, exactly where you’re standing.  When you’re done with the aforementioned place you’re standing, tell others what YOU think about it.  How cool is it that you’ll never have to go where the majority of people say is lame?  Beyond cool, my friends, beyond cool.

If you are from Australia and you are reading this, Hi. If you’re IN Australia and reading this, I am jealous, and I hate you.  Ok, I don’t, but nevertheless, just to show how B-I-G GPS is really getting in the world, I found an article that kind of shines a little light on it.

How’s this for big, according to studies, in Australia alone, GPS is about a $700 million a year enterprise.  Yeah, $700 million, as in almost a billion.  How big is that comparatively?  How about this:  Less than 5 years ago, less than $100 million was spent annually on GPS.

That’s right: “In 2002, about 10,000 portable devices were sold. It is estimated that this year 650,000 will be sold and next year more than a million.” Wow.

If it’s that big there, what the heck is it here?!

Ever get into a fender bender, or worse a t-bone accident and not have a clue where to move your car, or heck even HOW to move your car?  Ever run out of gas in the middle of nowhere and been forced to walk so some shady motel, where you’re forced to stay over night and fight off evil people as they attempt to murder you all night?  Yeah, not a good thing, so that’s why this week, the WHERE Widget I am choosing as the winner is none other than Auto-Repair.

If you’ve enabled the WHERE Auto Repair Widget on your phone, a simple click of a phone button will give you numbers to all the nearest garages to you.  My advice, call each and every one of them, JUST in case some of the garages are in fact in on the crazy evil murder scheme aforementioned.

According to the official description, the Auto Repair Widget wants to make sure you’re safe and sound: “Don’t be caught with a broken down car and no tow. Add auto repair to where and always have the number of the nearest mechanic.”  Trust me when you drive right by the seedy, dodgy motel instead of being stuck inside it, you’ll thank me.