TXT TH GURUS

A few weeks ago, we launched a special wireless version of the City Guide for Web-enhanced phones, BlackBerrys and similar devices, allowing you to search for restaurant and bar reviews and movie showtimes. Now we're making it even easier, allowing you to search the City Guide's vast database of locations and movie listings by text message, or SMS.

Looking for a restaurant in Chinatown, a lounge in Dupont Circle or a shop in Georgetown? Send a text message with a search term and a location, like "Ice Cream Bethesda" or "Irish Pub Capitol Hill" to 97678 (that's W-POST). In response, you'll get up to three text messages with addresses and phone numbers of places that meet your criteria. If one sounds especially interesting, you can get a short profile from the City Guide by replying with "More" and the number next to the listing. If you want additional listings, reply with the word "Next."

(If you're not sure which neighborhood a business is in, or you get no results, try searching with "[business name] [city name]". A Thai restaurant in Ballston will come up whether you search for "Thai Ballston" or "Thai Arlington.")

You can also use this service to find addresses and phone numbers of particular places. If you're meeting friends for dinner at Raku but forgot to write down the address, send a text that says "Raku Dupont Circle" and you'll get the information you need to be on your way. (You can also just send the name of a business, but you'll get fewer results if you add the neighborhood or city. Sending "Raku" by itself will bring you information for both the Washington and Bethesda branches of the Asian restaurant.)

It's also easy to get movie showtimes in your inbox. Just enter the movie you want to see and the neighborhood where you'd like to see it (say, "Spider-Man Rockville") and send it to 97678. You'll get a list of theaters where the film is playing. Reply with "More" and the number next to the theater's name for additional information. You can also send a movie theater's name and location, like "AMC Courthouse Arlington" or "Regal Cinema Chinatown," to get a list of all movies currently playing, and then reply with "Times" and the number next to a movie's name to get a list of today's showtimes.

-- Fritz

By Fritz Hahn |  May 7, 2007; 2:00 PM ET Misc.
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Posted by: Rodney | May 12, 2007 1:16 PM

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