Five iPhone Apps to Make Holiday Traveling More Enjoyable

BOSTON – Although traveling can be stressful, particularly around the holidays, there are a number of new iPhone apps that add a little cheer to the miles – either on the ground or in the air. Consumers are increasingly turning to mobile devices for nearly every aspect of their lives, and travel information is high up there in popularity for on-the-go travelers. According to a recent Deloitte LLP survey, 41 percent of participants who say they plan to vacation between Thanksgiving and March 2010 use mobile devices for making reservations or gathering travel information.

The following five travel applications for iPhone will help you throughout the journey. Whether you are commuting to the airport, trying to find something to do in-flight or researching ways to escape from your family once you arrive, these apps will ease the pain of the miles away from home.

1. Fluent News

While you’re flying from New York to Los Angeles and you want to catch up on all the news you’ve missed while you’ve been flitting from the office to home and then to the airport, Fluent News can help. Developed by Fluent Mobile, Fluent News delivers stories from the most trusted sources across the Web in one, intuitive and up-to-the-minute mobile newspaper. The best part is that Fluent News works even when you’re not connected to the Internet, so you can keep reading in flight full articles from all the sources you love – the New York Times, CNN, FOX and even TMZ. News junkies can stay in-the-know while on-the-go.

2. Google Earth
If you can’t wait to exchange evergreens for palm trees, you can check out your tropic paradise from your phone. To help prepare you for bliss, Google Earth allows you to see panoramic views of beaches and cities and browse millions of geo-located photos from around the world. Before arriving, you can preview your destination to get oriented prior to arrival. As you wait at the airport to fly home, there’s no need for melancholy. You can use Google Earth to start planning your next trip by checking out images of some potential vacation destinations.

3. Yelp
During your trip, there’s no doubt you might crave some of your favorite foods and drink, but you may not be able to locate the nearest Italian restaurant or coffee shop. Yelp lets you find quick links to nearby restaurants, bars and cafes and stores. It also lets you narrow searches by neighborhood, distance, price and hours of operation. If you don’t have paper and a pen available, the app will look up addresses and phone numbers for thousands of businesses – and then call or map them from your phone.

4. Urbanspoon
After you Yelped, but can’t narrow down the choices for your favorite restaurants, Urbanspoon can solve your taste-bud troubles. With a shake, the Urbanspoon slot machine selects a good restaurant, displaying its name, cuisine and price. You’ll always be close to your favorites because the app uses a Global Positioning System to find the nearest restaurants and allows you to filter by neighborhood, cuisine and price. To help narrow down your top picks, you can read ratings and reviews from newspapers, bloggers and fellow patrons. The app can help your palate in most North American cities as well as London and Sydney and Melbourne, Australia.

5. Trapster
If you’re a lead-footer who might be anxious to hit the roadways to get away from family or work, Trapster can keep any eye out for those flashing blue lights. Your personal police spotter verbally alerts you as you approach potential speed traps, speed cameras and other roadway hazards. By detecting live police, red-light cameras, or temporary laser traps, Trapster can help you safely navigate unfamiliar streets – and not spoil your vacation with any speeding tickets.

About Fluent Mobile
Fluent Mobile, a pioneer in mobile content organization and delivery, develops applications that bring the speed, reliability and convenience of desktop Web browsing to handheld devices. By applying proprietary content relevancy and delivery algorithms developed by a team of internationally recognized experts in algorithms, information theory and communication protocols, Fluent Mobile’s products redefine expectations for mobile applications. The company’s mobile application, Fluent News, delivers stories from the most trusted sources across the Web in one, intuitive and up-to-the-minute mobile newspaper. It was selected as the “App of the Week” by The New York Times and CNET News. Founded in late 2008, Fluent Mobile is headquartered in Boston, Mass. For more information about the company, visit www.fluentmobile.com

November 24, 2009   Posted in: Travel Industry Info