With ChaCha Mobile, Answers Are Only A Text Message Away

In a time where companies are rushing to become the Google of the mobile internet realm, there are some interesting offerings popping up all over the place.  With each service striving to pit their own unique recipe of mobile access and flavor against each other, creativity is high, simple usability, however, is not always the case.  Simple always wins in the mobile arena, especially with average consumers.

So, what exactly is ChaCha Mobile?  Here’s the rundown:

What Is It?
ChaCha mobile is a search service that allows you to text message questions from your phone.  In their own words “You can ask about weather, stocks, directions, restaurants, shops, products…and all your questions are answered by REAL PEOPLE.”  ChaCha calls them guides.  This appears to be the hook for ChaCha.  Definitely a cool concept, our big question was - how much is this going to cost me?  So, without further ado…

How Much Is This Gonna Cost Me?
Pricing information is scant on their website.  All that we found is that right now, since the service is in Beta (what isn’t, really?) it’s an all you can eat search smorgasbord.  In typical pusher-junkie fashion, they get you hooked while the service is free type-of-thing.  But that’s cool, we’re just curious if this will be a cost-per-question service or a monthly subscription type of fee.  We’ll let you know if anything else pops up.

Does It Work?
In a word, yes.  Just last night we were watching the NFL Playoffs and a question popped into my head.  I wondered if there had ever been a situation where in the same season a quarterback had been traded and then faced his former team in the Super Bowl.  Among the sports nut juggernauts there was nary an answer.  I decided to start my ChaCha mobile free trial with just this question.  Of course, I haven’t verified the answer yet, but they got back to me in 14 minutes.  A little longer than I expected, but still may save you some face in a bet.  Another couple quick, easy questions came back with answers in 2 and 3 minutes respectively, so apparently my first question was researched quite a bit.  Each answer comes with a link to where you can view the question and answer on their website, with information on the guide that answered the inquiry.  Kudos to you both ChaCha and and your guides!

In Conclusion:
Mobile services are popping up all over the place, with companies searching for unique ways to differentiate themselves.  We have to admit, at first we were skeptical in how a service like this could stand on it’s own against similar text-based search services (Google has had this ability for some time now,) but the unique human-based one-on-one feel that ChaCha offers is more of a concierge-type of service and strangely addictive at the same time.  It’s like having a little Jeopardy (R) Genius in your phone…

ChaCha Information:
ChaCha PC Link
ChaCha Mobile Link
Text Questions to: 242 242

Added to the Portals & Internet Search Directory.

-wS.