I stumbled upon this awesome gadget the other day, and I have to say that I use it DAILY! Honestly I wish you could just read my mind right now because there is so much this 'Widget' does, it would take a long time to type it all. But here goes...
Once you visit the Yahoo Widget link provide (or click on the photo above), just enter your cell phone number towards the upper right of the screen. You will be sent a text message that includes a link to download this application to your cell phone. This only works if your cell phone can access the Internet. In this day and age of technology, if you have a cell phone that doesn't have Internet access, you may be truly missing out on some unbelievably free products to make your life easier (yes, I said 'easier' and I'll show you why below).
Once you download the application to your cell phone, you simply access it by clicking on the Yahoo icon (on your cell phone of course). You will be directed to the Yahoo Carousel. Right away it has the look and feel of something really cool. There are already 'Widgets' that ride along this carousel, and they are very handy. There's a News widget, Money Watch, Map, Traffic, Weather, Sports, direct link to your Yahoo Mail, etc. A widget is simply an icon that will direct you to the items I just listed (that's the simplest way of putting it). There is also a Widget (icon) to add more widgets, like MySpace, or Trapster (this one is good!), or even a Blog Feeder which allows you to receive your Blogs directly on your cell phone.
Let's start with my favorite, Yahoo Maps. It's not just the maps that are awesome, it's the Traffic icon. Once you click on Traffic and enter your City, it will immediately pull up ANY traffic incidents in and around that city that are affecting, well, traffic. On Wednesday during our meeting I was fiddling with the Widgets (okay, that sounds bad), and I came across the Traffic one. I entered 'Murrieta' and up came two incidents; one just two blocks from our office! It stated when it was reported, also that it was a traffic collision (nothing any more is labelled an 'accident'), and that an ambulance was responding! Is that unbelievable or what! This 'Traffic' widget works anywhere in the US (as far as I know because I haven't tried it anywhere), on side streets and freeways. You can also enter your route, from point A to point B, and it will tell you of any incidents along the way. This is terrific if you have a long commute every day!
Another cool 'Widget' is Trapster. This one tells you the location of red light camera's and also the location that the police like to hang out and ticket people. I looked up my city and I can tell you first hand that it IS accurate for our area. There are some common intersections that we know are 'trouble spots' when it comes to red light runners, or people that get stuck in the intersection because they've tried to get through the light before it turned red, even though there wasn't enough room for them. So the police usually sit at these intersections and wait (usually until the next light turns), before they catch another offender and ticket them. Trapster is meant for you to avoid these locations, it makes you aware of the problems that happen there, and just to drive more carefully ;-)
There are many, many more 'Widgets' you can add and it would take all day to describe them all, but check it out for yourself. Add your favorite news, sports, stocks (maybe not just yet), or blogs (like this one), and get started. You'll be glad you did!
