reQall Reminder Service: Better Than a Personal Assistant?

In the tradition of Jott and Dial2Do, reQall is a phone-based, voice-driven reminder service that turns your spoken words into e-mails, calendar entries, text messages, and the like. It's ridiculously handy, and it's free -- though you might just want to splurge on the Pro version.

Want to know more? Here's the New York Times' David Pogue in a mock infomercial, which has a decidedly non-business focus but still shows you the basics of the service.

Oh, Pogue, you wacky tech journalist, you. What you failed to mention was the newly updated iPhone version of reQall [iTunes link], which adds push notifications (meaning it'll alert you of time-sensitive events even when the app isn't running), location-enhanced reminders (i.e. you can see relevant places on a map), and other nifty features. (My favorite: You can record a new reminder just by bringing the phone to your ear -- no tapping required.)

Alas, those perks (many of which are available on other phones as well) require the Pro version of reQall, which costs $2.99 per month or $24.99 annually. (Here's a full rundown of the free-versus-fee features.)

Of course, given that the service effectively takes the place of a $12/hour personal assistant, that 25 bucks might be a drop in the bucket.

Well, okay, you should probably test-drive reQall before firing your PA. You can get a free 15-day trial of the Pro version, after which your account reverts to freebie status if you don't pay up.