Cequint's City ID tells you where your caller's from

Ever get a call on your cell phone from a strange number, one where you didn't even recognize the area code? Your first question is naturally to ask who this person is... but since Caller ID doesn't always tell you much ("Tanya Smith? Who's that?"), most people's next, instinctive question may be to wonder where exactly this mystery person lives. (Don't pretend you've never searched online for an area code to pin a number down.)

Mobile software outfit Cequint has a simpler solution: City ID, a small and simple application that runs on many handsets and translates those arcane area codes into cities. This way, when you get a call from the 719, City ID can tell you your new friend is actually calling from Pueblo, Colorado. And yes, it can distinguish specific prefixes, so if your buddy's actually from nearby Colorado Springs, City ID will tell you that instead.

Cequint says users love it: In two years as a downloadable app it had a sell rate of between 25 and 40 percent of users who installed a demo. Alltel then began preloading it on handsets (where it's $2 a month if you purchase it), and now Verizon is following suit: If you're getting a new Verizon phone, you may be getting a free trial of City ID whether you want it or not.

I tried out a Samsung Sway using the City ID service on Verizon and it indeed works just as advertised. If the phone can detect the incoming call's phone number (that is, it's not blocked for some reason), it can tell you the city where that phone is registered. What it can't do, however, is tell you where a caller is physically located when they place the call. So if you travel with your 415 phone to New Orleans and place a call to a City ID-capable phone, it will still say "San Francisco, CA" as the point of origin.

Keep an eye out for City ID if you're on Verizon!