Google Weather and Movies

Google is really on a roll. First it was their Google Maps that took the Internet by storm. Now they’ve released a weather service. All you need to do is type in “weather” followed by a city. For example:

weather great falls, mt

For the movie features, you can search both for a movie if you only know what the movie is about but forget its name, or you can search for current theatres and show times.

Just in time for the Oscars, we’ve created a new “movie:” operator that enables you to find movie-related information faster and more easily, whether you’re looking for titles or actors, director or genre, famous lines or obscure plot details. Can’t remember the name of that film where Tom Hanks made friends with a volleyball? Search for [movie: Tom Hanks talking to a volleyball] and Google will tell you: it was Cast Away. Want rental recommendations? Try searching for [movie: awesome car chase] or [movie: good chick flick].

Looking for a multiplex near you? Use “movie:” followed by a U.S. zip code or city/state to find theaters and showtimes in your area (a search for [movie: Mountain View, CA], for example, will show you what’s playing near the Googleplex). You can also just search on “movies,” “showtimes” or the title of a current film, and your top result will be movie-related info for your area (if you haven’t already saved your location using Google Local, just fill in your U.S. zip code or city/state and click the “Get Showtimes” button). And for those on the go, movie showtimes are also available on Google SMS (send a text message to 46645 — aka. GOOGL on most phones — to look up showtimes for nearby theaters).

Very cool. I can’t wait until they include Canada.

Can you imagine? You live in Lethbridge and you want to take a drive to Regina (who wouldn’t want to). You could use Google to get driving directions, find local attractions, find out current movies and even check the weather. What’s next? Sorting hotel room availability and pricing?