Cool Things You Can Do With an iPhone - or Any Phone

Ah, such power. And it'll even make phone calls.

We've compiled a list of cool things your cell phone can do. Some only work on specific phones, but most are applications or features you can try with any ol' model.

Music, Blogs and Reminders

• Identify a song. Call (866) 411-7664 (That's 411-SONG). Hold your phone up to a speaker for 15 seconds. The program will identify the song and text you its name.

  The program recognizes the song's "musical fingerprint" and matches it to a database of more than 2.5 million songs.

  The first song ID is free. Then it's 99 US cents to $1.99 per song, or $3.99 for a monthly subscription through your cell phone provider.

• Send you reminders or read you the news. Jott.com lets you call in messages to yourself for free; after you've dictated a 30-second message, it becomes an e-mail or text message.

  You also can sign up for Jott Feeds. The service will read you news and info from Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO) News and Weather, Facebook or an assortment of other news, business and features sites.

• Update your blog. Set up an account at www.Blogger.com and you can post updates and photos via your phone by sending missives to go@blogger.com for free. You can also create a new blog via cell as well.

Save Me From This Date!

• Settle a bet, or get info anywhere. Let's say you're sure you heard that the Royals won last night. Your bar buddy says no way. How do you find out who's right if Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) (or today's Journal Star) are nowhere in sight?

  A few options: Call ChaCha at 800-224-2242 (800-2chacha) and state your question. You'll get your answer in a few minutes by text message. Or text your question to 242242. It's a free service that requires no registration.

  Or register with www.Mosio.com and text your question. Site members will look up your answer. It's also free, but you'll have to register beforehand.

  Both sites also can provide locations, addresses or recommendations in addition to trivia answers.

  Google also offers a similar service. Text a question to 466453 ("Google") and you'll get a message back nearly instantly. If you're looking for a phone number or address and don't want to text, call (800) GOOG-411.

  Learn more about both at www.google.com/mobile/index.html.

• Interrupt a meeting or date or other unpleasant activity. Set up an appointment for an interrupting phone call at www.Phonemyphone.com. You'll hear a recording when you answer the call.

  Note that this also is a handy site if you need help finding your phone in the messy pit you call your apartment. Just listen for the ring.

• Send and receive e-mail, search the Web and set up appointments, even without a fancy phone. Sign up at TeleFlip.com to get your e-mails on your cell through snippets sent by text message. It's not pretty, but it works. You can search the Web through Google, Yahoo and 4info applications, and set up a calendar through Google; check out google.com/calendar.
• Broadcast your video. Send video you shoot from your phone to Qik.com and stream it live, then the site will archive it for repeat viewings. Qik.com now only supports video from certain Nokia (NYSE: NOK) phones.

What Your Phone Won't Do

You may have heard some of these urban legends about your phone. Turns out, they don't work:

• If you call 112, you won't get connected to an emergency operator.
• You can't call someone with a spare key fob to your car and use your phone to unlock it. You may have heard that if the person you call presses the unlock button into the phone while you hold your cell to the car, the doors will open. Nope, won't work.
• Calling "*3370" or "*4720" won't magically charge your phone battery. What does work, sometimes, is to turn off your phone for a few minutes and turn it back on. You often get just enough power to make a quick call.