Last week, we released some fresh updates to the Taptu service. Since some of them are sneaky changes under the hood, I wanted to highlight a few of the more interesting ones.

More Filters

We’ve added some more filter information to help you find what you want easily before you even get to the summary page.

Better SMS Sharing

We’ve brought SMS sharing to a wider range of mobile phones than before, and since you don’t need to register (on most networks) it’s a breeze to send an image, a video or a song snippet to your friends.

Six Taps of Separation

Related searches adds a whole new dimension to your searches; Make your first search, then scroll down for some suggestions to narrow down your search, or look at similar topics.

One of our developers apparently lost an hour going through related searches, starting with some current charts band and ending his quest on “Women wrestling” (hmm interesting!) so this feature comes with a warning label the size of Jupiter: “The mobile web is full of fascinating quirky stuff, so don’t blame us if hours disappear when you next look away from your screen!”

I’m Bored

On a similar note, we’ve created a page dedicated to all of us public transport commuters, back-of-the-classroom dreamers and recreational surfers. It’s called “I’m Bored” and on that page, you’ll find top searches, most shared content and some topical pages picked out by our editors. You can bookmark the page for new, fun stuff to look at every day.

You’ll discover all sorts of interesting stuff, from videos and music you’ve never heard before, to blogs, news items and sites full of great content to read on your mobile phone. It goes to show that there’s so much more to mobile search than finding your local pizza place; There’s endless entertaining content in that tiny gadget we carry in our pocket.

As for the other new features, you’ll discover them as you browse, won’t you? We can’t tell you everything, we’d be spoiling the fun.

Fascinating comparison from Nigel Bannister at Leicester University (via ShinyShiny)

Text messaging costs four times as much as receiving information from Nasa’s Hubble Space Telescope.

It cost £85 to obtain a megabyte of data from Hubble, 595km (370 miles) from Earth, as opposed to sending a 5p text, which works out at about £375 per megabyte.

Scientist Nigel Bannister, of Leicester University, said: ‘Hubble is by no means a cheap mission – but the mobile phone text costs were pretty astronomical.’

If you’re a heavy texter, it’s worth investigating a variety of tariffs to find the one that suits you best. And no matter whether you’re more of a voice, SMS or web user, remember to check every so often with your operator to find out whether you’re able to change your deal - without necessarily increasing your tariff.

For example, as we’ve mentioned before, Vodafone has added 500MB of free data to all pay monthly contracts but, if you’re an existing customer, you need to call to get this added to your current deal, as your operator cannot change terms and conditions of your contract without your approval. So what are you waiting for? Call your operator and see if you can get a deal that suits you better.

Meanwhile, if you’re not interested in browsing, but just want the ultimate el cheapo phone, how about a phone for £13 (that’s $25 USD!) on pay as you go. Not a bad phone to have around, that way you won’t shed a tear when it meets a watery grave in a pint of beer this Summer!

As a further proof that mobiles are absolutely taken for granted as a means of communication, I received an automated text message from Persil Services, who do dry cleaning at my local Sainsbury’s, to tell me my dress was ready to be picked up.

I expected to have to dig up that receipt the lady gave me last week, which I crammed in the back pocket of my jeans, never to be found again, but they’ve saved me hassle by reminding me of my ticket number.

They still can’t spell my name right (*sigh*) but otherwise, Persil gets thumbs up on this!