As enjoyable and informative as blogs are to read (and write), except for conversations carried on through the comment section, blogs are fairly static.

That's not completely true anymore.

Mobile application service provider LightPole and blogging software leader Six Apart have come out with a way for bloggers using Six Apart's Moveable Type platform (like mediabistro.com) to "geo-tag" their blogs. This means that bloggers can download the Geo-Type Plug-In, include points of interest or other locations in their posts and then "tag" them before publishing the feed. Readers who get the blogs on their mobile phones will then be able to map the exact location discussed in the blog.

"This is the year of 'where' and LightPole is leading the charge into the location-based technology frontier by using familiar tools to bring the Web to mobile phones," said LightPole CEO Doug Klein. "Our work with Six Apart provides a natural extension to the world's leading blog platforms and, in one simple stroke, brings the blogging community into the rapidly emerging geo-Web and ecosystem of location-based, mobile services - two super hot markets."

Click continued to read more about LightPole and some Moveable Type blogs using the Geo-Type Plug-In.

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Good news for all those new location-based mobile social services that have been cropping up lately - more than 550 million GPS-enabled mobile phones will ship by 2012, according to ABI Research.

Friend finders, sharing points-of-interest information with friends and geo-tagging pictures are just some of the services expected to result in increased adoption of GPS-enabled phones, says a Cellular-news article on the report.

"While most CDMA handsets are already GPS-enabled and GPS is set to become a standard feature in GSM smartphones, GSM feature phones are next on the agenda to be equipped with GPS technology," ABI principal analyst Dominique Bonte said.

Pocket-lint reports that Nokia has teamed with ARC Transistance, a network of European auto clubs, to offer real-time traffic info on Nokia devices.

The new feature will be added as a premium service to Nokia Maps starting with version 2.0, which is currently in beta.

ARC Transistance tracks real-time traffic, road and construction info for 16 European countries. When updates are downloaded to the Nokia Maps application, users will automatically receive details for a different route if conditions warrant it.

European mobile video solutions provider Cystelcom has launched the Veedia 3G location-based search service. To use the new Veedia 3G LBS, consumers place a video call from their mobile to a dedicated number that provides access to a self-service search application, 3G.co.uk reports. From there, they navigate through visual menus where they can enter their location by street address or postal code and then search for nearby businesses.

The results maps are interactive, so users can click on a business to see contact info and, in some cases, call the business directly from the search results.

Microsoft's Tellme division has come out with a voice-activated search service for the BlackBerry. After downloading the application, users merely have to push the handset's "talk" button and speak their search command to find a business, movie theater schedule, traffic info, driving directions and the like, the AP reports.

The service, which only works with newer BlackBerry models, uses GPS to determine the user's location and returns results gathered by Microsoft Live Search.

It also competes with the new voice search component of Yahoo's oneSearch, which will mean competing with itself if Microsoft ever gets its wish granted, you know, the one that has Yahoo's board saying "Sure, take us over. No problem."

Sprint has joined the ranks of mobile operators offering voice-enabled directory assistance and local search service. Verizon Wireless recently inked a deal with Vlingo, but Sprint opted for V-ENABLE's FreeMobile411.

V-ENABLE launched the FreeMobile411 WAP site on April 11 (4/11) and today came out with a full-featured downloadable Java app that is initially available only to Sprint customers. The downloadable, off-deck FreeMobile411 app functions exactly the same as the company's flagship Mobile411 product, which is available on-deck through Alltel and MetroPCS.

Although only Sprint customers can currently download FreeMobile411 to their phones, folks signed up with other carriers can use the service by visiting www.Freemobile411.com from their phone's browser. They can also register on the site to be notified when the downloadable app is available for their carrier and handset model.

Happy 411 Day!

Mobile search outfit V-ENABLE has declared today (April 11, 2008 for those of you who read this later) the 1st Annual 411 Day - 130 years after the first operator-assisted phone call took place.

Coincident with what it hopes will become a holiday of sorts, V-ENABLE launched its FreeMobile411 service, the first free mobile search application that works on any Web-enabled handset. The company also claims that its directory of more than 140 million US residential listings can't be matched by any other free directory assistance service.

Going beyond merely providing phone numbers, FreeMobile411 lets users enter a zip code to receive a list of nearby businesses and points of interest along with directions and maps.

Also unique to the service, the company claims, is the access to a real-live operator - but that will cost you.

The Web-based FreeMobile411 app is at www.freemobile411.com or fm411.mobi. Check out the video for more info on how it works.

Mobile navigation and GPS software provider Wayfinder has released a version of its Power Search service for the iPhone, Pocket-link reports.
Power Search users can enter a phone number, person or company name. The application then simultaneously searches through multiple databases from around the world to deliver results relevant to the country where the searcher is located.
Wayfinder's search engine uses digital map data from Tele Atlas plus content from several other premium databases. The service also links the search results to the iPhone's map application.

A new survey from telecoms research firm Berg Insight forecasts that by 2012, there'll be more than 100 million European mobile subscribers using location-based services. Mapping, navigation and search will be the top services, followed by social networking and tracking, the market researcher said.

According to Berg Insight telecom analyst Andre Malm, GPS will become a standard feature in advanced mass-market phones, but high adoption rates won't necessarily translate into high revenue. "First there must be a critical mass of active users to work with, then someone must create a successful model for reaching out to these individuals via their handsets and after that the mobile media must be embraced by the top spenders in the advertising industry," he warned.

InformationWeek reports that Google is taking an interesting approach to get more people to use its mobile services. Google mobile product specialists Chris Nguyen and Tom Dimopoulos are putting together a series of video tutorials on the Official Google Mobile Blog showing how to use the different services.

The first two in the series explain all the ins and outs of Google Maps for Mobile.