The drinks can hen be sent to friends, and they can redeem them at a local bar. In order for a friend to redeem a drink, they must provide their cell phone number in order to have their redemption coupon sent to their mobile device which can be shown to the bar tender.So far, BarTab is restricted to a handful of bars in Arizona, but the development team is currently working on expansion.

Given the low price of a drink purchased through the BarTab application, which is considerably cheaper than paying for a drink once you get to the bar, it may be worth it for the bars participating in this program, as they increase their potential for targeted branding.

Not only will his gifting opportunity enable users to recommend a bar to a friend, but the free drink offers an incentive for their friend to actually show up. And who know what will happen once they do show up. For $1.00 per drink, I might gift some drinks to myself, and throw a party. Given the success of the My Starbucks application, which was created by two non-Starbucks employees and operates under a similar gifting system of sending and receiving drinks (coffee and tea, that is), the branding for bars and night clubs could become quite effective should BarTab’s gifting and recommendation format succeed.

Vote for BarTab here.

With the holidays coming up, could there be a better time than now to make some money while also helping out the environment?

What’s residing in your dead gadget drawer? Are you going to be trading anything in?

BestBuyTradeIn.com - Electronics superstore Best Buy will allow you to trade in a wide range of products in exchange for gift cards you can spend with their company.

BuyMyTronics.com - BuyMyTronics will buy your gadgets from you whether they work or not. Of course, you get paid more the better their condition, but they will even take the broken ones. Can pay by PayPal or check.

Costco Trade-In and Recycle Program - In addition to taking gadgets like iPods, Costco will also accept desktops, laptops, fax machines, printers and more. Payment is in the form of Costco gift cards and can take up to four weeks to process.

EZTradein.com - EZTradein powers some of the biggest trade-in programs out there, or you can just simply go directly to the source. Payment can be made via check, PayPal or a Best Buy gift card.

Gazelle.com - Besides the smaller gadgets, Gazelle will take external hard drives, GPS devices, satellite radios, Blu-ray movies and more. If your item isn’t listed, you can contact them for a personalized quote. Payment can be made via Amazon gift card, checks, PayPal or you can even opt to have the funds donated to one of the charities they work with.

MyBoneYard.com - MyBoneYard takes desktops, laptops, flat panel monitors, MP3 players and cell phones with more items to be added soon. Payment is by Visa prepaid cards.

NextWorth.com - NextWorth takes iPods and iPhones, and pays you by check, Amazon gift card or in-store credit when you trade the device in at one of their retail partners.

RadioShack.cexchange.com - RadioShack, one of the oldest electronics dealers around, will let you trade in your old gadgets, games, consoles and more, and offers gift cards you can spend at their stores.

Sam’s Club - The wholesale club arm of the Walmart corporation will trade your electronics for gift cards for their company.

Toshiba - Toshiba will take in numerous items such as laptops, camcorders, PDAs and so on, paying you by check and sometimes throwing in an extra item like a $25 gift card to Starbucks.

VenJuvo.com - VenJuvo will take all of the usual major items like game systems, HDTVs, laptops and so on, and then you can choose to be paid by check, PayPal or donate the funds to a charity.

Image courtesy of iStockPhoto, kutaytanir

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Thankfully, though, there are a ton of ways to find to do computer-like things when you’re not at your computer. Different places are creeping up that will help you read emails, make plans, win bets, find pointless information, and generally do things you’d do on the computer, without it.

I’m going to assume that you have your cell phone with you when you’re away from your computer. With just your cell, and for most of these, any cell will do, you can do many of the things you always do on the computer.

Here are 9 of the many ways you can use a computer with just a cell phone, beyond just accessing mobile sites (which most sites have by now):

Disclaimer: with these products, you will start texting - A LOT. If you don’t have an unlimited texting plan, prepare to see your bills go up more than slightly!

1. Texting, Google-style with Google SMS

You name it, Google SMS can do it with a text message. By sending a text message to GOOGLE (466453) you can find information like restaurant listings, weather, sports scores, calculator, conversions, and the like. Here’s the full listing, from Google, of all the things they can do with your text message.

But of course there are some risks to using Google SMS…..

2. Ask, and You Shall Be Answered

Got questions? Text them to ChaCha (242242). A real-live human being will answer your question in 160 characters, and send you the answer.

ChaCha is great because it’s a real person on the other end, which means you can ask a real question instead of trying to nail down search terms. If you don’t want to send a text message, call 1 (800) 224-2242 (2ChaCha). ChaCha can also send you a random joke or weather information, but the question and answer service is their bread-and-butter. It’s a great way to settle bets, or find answers to the irritating questions you just can’t seem to figure out.

3. Get your Wikipedia On

Wikipedia, in the words of The Office’s Michael Scott, “is the best thing ever.” Trouble is, for anyone who’s tried to use it from a cell phone browser, it’s tough to read. The formatting is bad for a cell phone, and using Wikipedia is much harder. Wapedia fixes that by taking Wikipedia and formatting it in a way that’s much easier to read on your cell phone. It strips away all the unnecessary stuff like the sidebar links, and puts everything into a one-column view that’s much easier to read on your cell phone. For an information-phile like me, Wapedia’s a great way to keep an easy-to-use Wikipedia in your pocket.

4. Go to the Movies

Want to go to the movies? Despite their terribly annoying ads, Fandango’s still the best place to buy movie tickets. In addition to their mobile site, you can use their relatively new SMS service to make buying tickets from your cell phone even easier. Send your zip code and a movie title to FNDGO (36436), and Fandango finds all the results for you. With an increasing number of carriers, you can even buy tickets with a text. Spur-of-the-moment movie craving? You’re all set.

5. Find a Starbucks and some Wi-Fi

I love Starbucks. There’s one on the ground floor of the building where I live, and I may personally be keeping it in business. Odds are, wherever you are, you’ll be able to find a Starbucks just by turning around. If not though, text your zip code to MYSBUX (697289) and Starbucks will show you their three nearest locations. Plus, with more and more Starbucks offering Wi-Fi, you’ll be able to get back on your computer.

Don’t want to go to Starbucks? Send “wifi” and your location to US411(87411), and you’ll get a whole list of free Wi-Fi hotspots nearby. That way, you won’t have to miss your computer any longer.

6. “Hello, Operator?”

Google search, for your voice and phone. Most 411 services are ridiculously expensive, but Goog-411 isn’t. You search Google with your voice, for a business or personal listing, and it connects you for free. You can even request a text message with all the contact info, for free.  Just dial 1-800-GOOG-411 (1-800-6446411). For more, check out Karl’s post.

7. Never Miss a Thing

Let’s say you’re looking to buy something on Craigslist. A boat, say. If you want to know when a boat comes onto Craigslist that’s in your price range, check out Notify.me. Set up notifications for everything from your friends’ Twitter statuses to breaking news stories, and Notify.me sends you an alert every time something matches.

They can be sent to your IM, email, desktop client, or cell phone via SMS. This one’s the one that will kill your texting bill, but if you’re sitting at your computer waiting for something, or just don’t want to be behind, Notify.me is a really useful tool.

8. Never Miss the Important Stuff

So, you’re kind of a big deal. People know you. Sometimes you get important email, even when you’re away from your desk. With AwayFind, you don’t need to worry about missing crucial email when you’re not at your computer. Using AwayFind, you can set up an “Out Of Office” email to auto-respond every time you get email, and include a link to your AwayFind page.

If someone needs to get in touch with you, they can fill out the AwayFind form, and their email comes through to you on your phone. It gets trimmed to one message, and helps you rest easy that if someone really needed to get through to you while you’re on vacation, they could. Plus, it gives you something to check as habitually as you do your email.

9. Buy, Buy, Buy

Let’s be honest: half the fun of the Web is the random, unneeded impulse buys. If you’re away from your computer and decided you’ve just got to have that cool thing you saw this morning, never fear, Amazon is here!

Using their “TextBuyIt” service, you can send a text message with a product name to AMAZON (262966). You’ll get two results from Amazon, with more coming if you reply with a text saying “m”. If you decide to buy something, reply with the result number, and you’ll get a call from Amazon to create and confirm your order. It’s so simple, it’s a little scary.

Who says you need to be at a computer all the time? Just by using your cell phone, you can free yourself from its grip.

Which cellphone numbers or mobile services do you use to grab information off the internet?

(By) David Pierce is a geek for simplicity- he loves to figure out how to make everything in life easier and more efficient, because then he gets to sleep more. Check out his blog at The 2.0 Life, where he shares tips and apps to help everyone make the most out of the Web.

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Hence, I’m skeptical about Google’s latest iPhone application: voice search. Instead of typing in a search phrase, you simply say it to the iPhone; “Where’s the nearest Starbucks?” is the example used by the New York Times, and it should return the results within seconds. The application is free, and should show up in Apple’s App Store sometime today.

First, let me be clear about one thing: this is a great idea, and one day, far in the future, voice input to various pieces of hardware around us might become a part of our everyday life. But right now, I’ll eat my hat if this thing is reliable enough - and we’re talking street conditions, crowded coffee house conditions; in short, normal situations - to use on an everyday basis. I bet that two times out of three Google’s software will misunderstand you and give you the wrong results. And I bet that in the end, the majority of users who try the feature out will go back to standard (virtual) keyboard input.

True, the fact that typing on iPhone’s keyboard is nowhere near as fast as typing on a regular sized keyboard gives some credit to this idea. However, again, if you’re in internet search/web browsing mode - meaning you’re not holding the phone next to your ear, you’re holding it in your hands - it’ll probably be easier to simply type in whatever search phrase you need.

In any case, we’ll all be able to try it out very soon, and I hope that Google will prove me wrong on this one. But somehow, at least for now, I doubt it.

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(1) Vanishd - Hide One Webpage Behind The Other

Make your co-workers, bosses, and friends think you’re working. What if you could cover any webpage with a fake word document or even Google homepage and peek through a small window to surf Youtube or some other site without anyone seeing. Enter Vanishd.

Vanish hides one webpage behind the other and gives you a small custom-sized viewing window that you can drag around and see contents of the hidden page. You can also use a mouse scroll wheel to resize the viewing window to a desired size.

When you need to quickly hide the viewing window all you need to do is drag the cursor to the side. Easy.

See Vanish in action in the video below:

Read more on Vanishd here.

(2) WebToMail - Get Websites by Email

If the internet access in your office is limited only to email then WebToMail is just what you need. It lets you quickly access a site of your choice via e-mail.

Just send an email to send@webtomail.co.cc with the URL of the web-page in a subject line and shortly after receive that page by email. Check out the screenshot below.

Although WebToMail doesn’t work with the websites that require you to login it’s still a handy tool to have in your arsenal.

(3) TwitterMail - Post to Twitter via Email

Is Twitter blocked in your office? If that’s the case TwitterMail has a workaround for it. Using TwitterMail you can post status updates to Twitter and receive tweets sent to your username (i.e. @your_username) all via email.

You might also want to know that when sending status messages by email all long URLs will be automatically shortened.

(4) MoDazzle - Facebook, LinkedIn, Weather, Stocks and more.

While TwitterMail brings Twitter to your email, MoDazzle brings the rest. Access Facebook, LinkedIn and a number of other web services (local business directory, weather, stock quotes, etc.) via email or mobile text messaging.

Here are just a few of the many things that you can do with MoDazzle:

- update your Facebook ’status’,
- get ‘un-read’ messages from your Facebook inbox
- get someone’s profile info from LinkedIn and Facebook
- check weather
- get driving directions
- get the location of the nearest Starbucks
- pull restaurant reviews
- check flight information
- and lots more.

It’s also very easy to use. For instance, to update your Facebook status message you can send an email to ‘fbprofilestatusupdate@modazzle.com’ with your new status message in the subject line. If you’re on mobile then send an SMS message to ‘22553′.

(5) Read At Work

Read At Work is a wonderfully done website that looks exactly like Windows XP desktop.

Now what no one knows is that those folders you got over there have about 20 ebooks that look like Powerpoint presentations.:-) Definitely check it out!

Bonus: If all you’re looking is a simple web proxy then try www.unblockall.net

Did we miss any cool website office workers under firewalled connection should know about? Please share them wth everyone in comments.

(By) Aibek, the guy behind MakeUseOf.com

Enjoyed the article? Please leave a comment and tell us what you think about it

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Some have social features. Others are more informational and utilitarian. And with newcomer Zhiing set to announce its public launch tomorrow, we thought we’d dig in to the coolest and quirkiest iPhone apps for location.

MapQuest

MapQuest - Since Apple’s not one to enjoy competition for its core set of iPhone applications, “Maps” included, this one isn’t downloadable. But if you’ve got a solid wireless data connection on 3G or Wi-Fi, you can go ahead and buck the system for something that shows no Google branding. Booyah.

InstaMapper GPS Tracker

InstaMapper [iTunes] - Want to locate someone other than yourself? InstaMapper GPS Tracker makes it happen. It’s so basic that you can’t go wrong. Just make sure that iPhone you’re tracking online keeps InstaMapper active. Otherwise, say goodbye to the little red (moving) circle.

Trapster

Trapster [iTunes] - Whether you’re cruising your own neighborhood or a few towns over, so-called “speed traps” and traffic cameras that nab you for transgressing posted limits and gunning the gas through intersections, Trapster’s mission is to keep you free of fines and ugly points on your driver’s license. The best thing about it is that all icons are clearly shown, help you keep your eyes on the road.

AroundMe

AroundMe [iTunes] - Fire this up and you’ll be shown a list of almost every essential facet of modern society in plain view. Want coffee? You got it. Need an ATM? A list of banks is provided where applicable. How about refueling the auto? No problem. The same goes for hospitals, hotels, movie theatres, restaurants, and supermarkets.

Nearby

Nearby [iTunes] - This one’s a little more birds-eye view than AroundMe, but it’s really the same idea. This one’s purportedly been very crashy, but Platial, the developer, promises that plenty of fixes have been delivered. For what’s it’s worth, Nearby is well designed and quite pretty to look at. It jives with the iPhone’s own sexiness shtick.

Yelp

Yelp [iTunes] - Perhaps this should be at the top of the business roll. It’s free, it’s connected to Yelp, it locates you with a single touch, you can bookmark stuff you like and refer back to recent destinations. What more could you ask for. (Other than the kitchen sink, people.)

Goodrec

Goodrec [iTunes] - Like Yelp, Goodrec is all about recommendations, but some user reviews note that this one, at least in features, rocks the casbah. If you like looking at dots on a map, this app’s for you.

Target

Target [iTunes] - Some people really like Target. Their type pronounces the retail chain “Tar-jjay.” Maybe a good number of them own iPhones. If so, this item does one thing and one thing well: locate the nearest Target locations. ‘Nuff said.

Coffee Finder

Coffee Finder [iTunes] - Some people really like Starbucks. Even though the company’s been losing some traffic as of late. Still looking for your caffeine fix from the “other green giant”? Here’s the way. And how about this for a treat: the database is stored locally so no Web access is required.

CareerBuilder

CareerBuilder [iTunes] - Need a job to pay for all those meals and things you’ve been buying from places you found near the spot where you currently stand? Here’s something. It integrates with Google Maps so you can easily see whether the gig is walking distance from home or an odious, gas-guzzling commute.

iBart

iBart [iTunes] - Navigating roadways and sidewalks is good and all, but there’s also the underworld that city dwellers depend each and every day. Which is why San Franciscans have been given iBart.

Subway in Korea Lite

Subway in Korea Lite [iTunes] - Need to traverse the underside of South Korea’s capital city, or the metros of Taejeon, Daegue, Busan, and Kwangju? Subway in Korea Lite might help. While you can sport the native language for optimal authenticity, the thing is multilingual. Korean, Japanese and English are all supported.

Taxi!

Taxi! [iTunes] - If you want to avoid mass transit but still want someone else to drive you places, Taxi is your answer. It’s database is quite extensive for US users, with 260 US cities featured. And taxi service ratings are posted so you can steer clear of the crazies cabbies in the nation.

Zhiing

Zhiing [iTunes] - Perhaps you’ve gotten where you needed to go, and you want to invite friends to join you. This is one option, and one which we’ve reviewed. It’s free and there’s no social networking profile to log into. Send text messages with turn-by-turn directions to get your contacts where they need to go. One-word explainer: Awesomeness.

Over Here

Over Here [iTunes] - Over Here is more simply drawn than Zhiing, but is pretty much the same idea. This one works strictly via email, though. Want to let people know where you are without requesting a meetup or anything? This one’s nice. There are plenty of apps, like Loopt, et al., that function much the same way, but may carry too much baggage that you’d prefer to ignore. If so, this freebie is something to have.

MapWith.Us

MapWith.Us [iTunes] - So you’ve done something special and memorable somewhere on the map, and you want to preserve the moment for future reference. GeoMonkey’s MapWith.Us could be just what you’re after. Upload geo-located photos, audio clips, and text for you and your friends and family to look at, listen to and read. A road-tripper’s delight, no doubt.

Graffitio

Graffitio [iTunes] - Maybe you just want to post your thoughts about a certain location for others to read at that very same location at another date and time. Kind of like a visitor logbook at your average B&B (bed and breakfast). Graffitio makes it happen. Very simple and very straightforward, there’s no way to go wrong with this download.

Google Earth

Google Earth [iTunes] - Yeah, we saved this one for last. Because it kicks butt. Granted, anyone trying to use it on EDGE might get themselves a migraine in the process, but the quality of the experience is nothing short of brilliant. It’s got the same wow factor as that of the critically acclaimed X-Plane 9 flight simulator.

Also, let’s not forget that when iPhone 2.2 arrives, the native Map application may well support accelerometer-enhanced street view. That’ll be something to play with once it lands in the public’s hands.

Imagery provided by iStockPhoto/DNY59

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A few non-election items worth reading this week:

• We got an advance peek at Netflix's new streaming movie player for the Mac. A little rough around the edges, like any new product, but we like it.
• Apple (AAPL) exec Tony Fadell reportedly came up with the idea for the iPod. Now we get word of his "retirement" package: $300,000 annual salary, and options worth about $8.4 million.
• Replacing Fadell: ex-IBM hotshot Mark Papermaster.
• PayPal founder Peter Thiel started up a hedge fund famous for being up 58% through summer. Now? Not as good.
• According to at least one analyst, Apple is cutting production on the iPhone.
• The FCC approved the use of wireless airwaves between TV channels -- so-called "white spaces" -- for Internet devices. Think "wi-fi on steroids," but it will be a while before new devices come to market.
• Cisco (CSCO) boss John Chambers says things are still going to get worse before they get better.

Peter Kim is a Senior Partner at Dachis Corporation.  He blogs about social computing and marketing at Being Peter Kim.

Over the past couple of months, I’ve been curating a list of social media marketing examples.  The list started with 100 examples (including 35+ from Mashable) and has since tripled in size with the participation of over a hundred contributors with examples from companies around the world.

We could probably come up with 3,000 examples instead of 300 - but the current set already gives us a pretty good sample to think about.  One takeaway: for now, those neurotic about missing “what’s next” can relax a bit.  Consumers still use a broader set of social tools than corporations, but new categories of tools aren’t emerging rapidly today, giving brands a chance to catch up.  It’s time to master the last big thing while you have a chance to catch a breath.

As corporate adoption emerges, there’s nothing wrong with learning lessons from others and making them your own.  Start by making sure you have all of your bases covered with the major tools.  In other words, copy and paste the items below, then fill in the blanks with your own company-driven effort.

Here’s a framework of 22 tools to consider with notable brand examples:

1. Blogs (Johnson & Johnson, Delta Air Lines)
2. Bookmarking/Tagging (Adobe, Kodak)
3. Brand monitoring (Dell, MINI)
4. Content aggregation (Alltop, EMC)
5. Crowdsourcing/Voting (Oracle, Starbucks)
6. Discussion boards and forums (IBM, Mountain Dew)
7. Events and meetups (Molson, Pampers)
8. Mashups (Fidelity Investments, Nike)
9. Microblogging (method, Whole Foods)
10. Online video (Eukanuba, Home Depot)
11. Organization and staffing (Ford, Pepsi)
12. Outreach programs (Nokia, Yum Brands)
13. Photosharing (Rubbermaid, UK Government)
14. Podcasting (Ericsson, McDonalds)
15. Presentation sharing (CapGemini, Daimler AG)
16. Public Relations - social media releases (Avon, Intel)
17. Ratings and reviews (Loblaws, TurboTax)
18. Social networks: applications, fan pages, groups, and personalities (British Airways, Saturn)
19. Sponsorships (Coca-Cola, Whirlpool)
20. Virtual worlds (National Geographic, Toyota)
21. Widgets (Southwest Airlines, Target)
22. Wikis (Second Life, T-Mobile Sidekick)

And use this username check tool to see if your brands/preferred handles are still available.

I haven’t found a single company doing all of these today. Forget divining a big, meaningful business objective before getting started - you’ll end up in analysis paralysis. Just make sure you’re making an existing business function better and get started.  Today.

Image courtesy of iStockPhoto, cmcderm1

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Reitzes now expects Apple (AAPL) to ship 5 million iPhones this quarter, down 20% from his previous estimate of 6.2 million. Last quarter, Apple shipped 6.9 million iPhones, but about 2 million of those were to fill its distribution channel.

What could boost that estimate? If Apple starts selling the iPhone in China or at Wal-Mart (WMT) stores.

Not sure how happy Steve Jobs would be to have his high-end toys on Wal-Mart shelves, but that probably wouldn't hurt sales. For what it's worth, Google's first smartphone, the T-Mobile G1, is on sale at Wal-Mart. Apple recently started selling the iPhone at Best Buy (BBY).

Reitzes cut his fiscal 2009 EPS estimate to $4.95 from $5.00, which is below the $5.36 Apple posted in fiscal 2008.

See Also:
Coming Soon: Use Your iPhone As A 3G Laptop Modem
Apple Slashes iPhone Production, Says Chip Analyst
AT&T Finally Ready To Give iPhone Owners Free Wi-Fi At Starbucks

Most public phone and cable companies have reported Q3 results, and so far, cable companies signed up 64% of new broadband subscribers last quarter, while telcos signed up 36%. (See chart below for details.)

Why are cable companies -- led by Comcast (CMCSA) and Time Warner Cable (TWC) -- dominating?

• In most areas, cable Internet is significantly faster than phone companies' DSL services.
• As people use more bandwidth for stuff like Web video, we think they're upgrading to cable Internet for faster speeds, especially when they move.
• Cable companies have attracted millions of digital phone subscribers via "triple play" deals, many of whom came from phone companies -- and probably signed up for cable Internet, too.
  

Yet the phone industry -- led by AT&T (T) and Verizon (VZ) -- is actually doing better than last quarter, when it only took 27% of the market. How?

• Building out faster, fiber optic-based networks to compete with cable. Verizon's "FiOS" and AT&T's "U-Verse" are both helping keep existing subscribers -- and attract customers away from cable. In Q3, Verizon attracted 225,000 net new FiOS broadband subscribers, and reported a net loss of 96,000 DSL subscribers. Similarly, Qwest (Q) said about two thirds of its new broadband subscribers in Q3 bought access via its fiber-based network.
  
• Starting to offer additional perks, like free wi-fi access. AT&T offers many of its broadband subscribers free wi-fi access at Starbucks and McDonalds stores, and just spent $275 million on 10,000 more wi-fi hotspots. (Cablevision is building out wi-fi service, too.)

We expect phone companies to continue losing share to cable companies until they build out their fiber-based services into more markets and upgrade their DSL service for faster speeds.

One caveat: Cable's performance is probably better than indicated here, as Cox -- a large cable provider -- is private, and doesn't report quarterly results.

See Also:
Time Warner Cable Broadband Lone Q3 Bright Spot, 'Dramatic Slowdown' In October
Comcast's TiVo Service Coming To Chicago Early Next Year
Verizon Q3 Strong, Now 7th-Biggest U.S. Cable TV Provider
AT&T's Broadband Growth Recovers, But Cable Should Still Dominate Market