Daily Marauder

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In the last week, a pair of new iPhone applications have appeared on the App Store that put the menus of hundreds of restaurants at users’ fingertips. Dubbed GrubHub and CityMint, both applications allow users to order food on the go from online menus, buying entrees, appetizers, and drinks on the fly without the hassle of human interaction. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/02/04/mobile-restaurant-ordering-finally-hits-the-app-store 2/4)

If you ever get a craving for classic literature while on the go, Google’s just given you the ability to check out your favorite literary works via an iPhone or Android phone. Google’s Book Search currently features 1.5 million public domain books, which have all been optimized to fit a mobile screen. Unfortunately, Blackberrys and other non-Android operating system phones are out of luck in accessing this feature. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/02/05/googles-answer-to-the-kindle 2/5)

Not sure this is the best device to read on especially as my iPhone battery can’t handle normal usage without dying halfway through the day…but then again, I’m not a big fan of reading via Kindle either.

Asustek Computer and Garmin, consumer-electronics companies that have made names in the personal computer and portable-navigation fields, respectively, have formed a strategic alliance to market smartphones under the Garmin-Asus brand. Asustek Chairman Jonney Shih, whose company produces the popular low-cost Eee line of PCs, said the companies were pondering various operating systems, including Android and Windows Mobile. The Wall Street Journal/Dow Jones Newswires (subscription required) (2/5) , InfoWorld/IDG News Service (2/4)