Mobile search company 4Info carries TV Guide listings

August 22, 2006 | Matt Marshall | Comments | |
TVguide-4info.jpg

4Info, the Palo Alto mobile search start-up, has signed a deal with TV Guide to carry its listings. So now you can check TV listings on the fly, using “SMS,” otherwise known as texting. 4Info also allows you to customize the service, so that it stores zip code and cable provider information.

4Info chief executive Zaw Thet says this is the first time TV Guide has made its listings available via SMS. The idea is to show advertising within the results, to make money.

Users can send a text message to 4INFO (code number “44636″) or search on 4INFO’s WAP site (http://wap.4INFO.net) by using the “tv” indicator and information about the show and location.

4infoscreen.jpg

Here’s an example: Let’s say you are looking for a television show time and channel information. You type the query in the following format: “tv” + SHOW + LOCATION (city or Zip). So, if you type in “tv csi 92101,” here’s what you’d get as a result (see image here). Here’s the release, with full details.

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Matt Marshall is editor and CEO of VentureBeat. Follow him on Twitter at @mmarshall, and follow VentureBeat on Twitter at @venturebeat.

  • Lorraine
    congrats to Zaw and the team!
  • Vincent
    You cannot sign up on their site. The sihn up is passowrd-protected.
  • anon
    Where do users check for TV listings? Need SMS or a TV remote?
  • anon
    This is almost like in UK or many other European countries in 1999. It took a few years for "mobile/sms startups" to figure out what really made money and I can tell it wasn't delivering TV listings via sms (or ads within sms based TV listings)...
  • James
    4info is a stellar service. Great idea all around. Use it almost daily to grab info on the fly. I also use their menu-driven application. Little things make the difference. Bartender doesn't know the recipe for the drink I ordered. 4info it. Need to know a stock quote before you finish your drink. 4info it. Want to know if you can order another before the movie but can't remember when it starts. 4info it.
    Everytime I use it in someone else company, they want to know all about it. Information is power baby.