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The new Google Maps products are the killer travel apps
DigitalThe most popular travel app on smartphones has always been Google Maps, but today’s announcements at the Google I/O developers conference makes life even more difficult for what few mapping, planning, and local information competitors the search giant has left. Google’s updated Maps products for smartphones, tablets, and desktop improve on what’s already the best [...]
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Interview: HotelTonight’s CEO on user photos, copycats and Priceline
DigitalSam Shank, co-founder and CEO of same-day booking app HotelTonight, knows more than a little about user-generated content since he signed-on a decade ago to head up hotel-review site TravelPost, and was still around when it was sold to SideStep. HotelTonight today updated its iOS app to include a “Snap Your Stay” feature, enabling hotel [...]
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Why Google Now and Siri make great travel companions for iOS users
DigitalGoogle Now is often compared with the Siri voice assistant on Apple’s mobile devices, but its power lies in giving you information you need to know before you have to ask. It works best as a supplement to Siri, rather than a replacement, now that it has expanded from Android devices to iPhones and iPads. [...]
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Five travel startups hack roaming fees, restaurants and hotel bookings
DigitalInnovate, innovate, innovate is the mantra running through the minds of entrepreneurs entering the travel startup space today. It makes no difference to today’s founders whether there’s already an incumbent successfully handling their proposed problem or a tried and true solutions to their users’ most common pain points; and that’s a good thing. This week’s [...]
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Five social travel startups for groups, hunters, and AV geeks
DigitalTravel is inherently a social activity, and startups today are tapping into pre-existing social networks or creating new communities to help travelers before they even step onto a plane or train. It is a game in which the have and have nots of information, land, or couches work together to the benefit of all. This [...]
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Vacation rental startup Dwellable taps FlipKey for U.S. coverage in app revamp
DigitalDwellable is the one of the rising travel startups tackling the vacation rental space; one that differentiated itself early on with an impressive mobile app. One month after the launch of its iPad app last year, Dwellable was named in a list of top ten travel apps by CNN. Now the Seattle startup has completely overhauled its iOS [...]
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The new iOS app that helps you discover fantastic bars
Digital“Why can’t I open up an app that tells me where to find a good drink?” That’s the question that the Jeff Rock and Marc LaFountain of Mobelux were asking themselves when they came up with the idea for Elixr. Elixr is an app for iOS that I’ve been testing for a while and I’m really [...]
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Local discovery iPhone app uses Instagram to find cool things
DigitalDozens of apps buzz your phone when friends are nearby, and all of them are annoying. Highlight notifies you when someone nearby knows your sister, while Foursquare lets you know when a friend checks in at Walgreen’s down the street. An iPhone app called Now takes a different approach: what if you got notified only [...]
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How HomeAway’s CEO tapped into Kayak’s mobile “genius”
DigitalBrian Sharples, the co-founder and CEO of HomeAway, places his hands on the table, holding a tablet in one palm and pretending to clutch a smartphone in the other. “These are two different things,” Sharples says emphatically, as he explains that tablet users rent vacation homes through HomeAway almost at the same propensity as desktop [...]
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Walt Disney World turns the iPod touch into a mobile ticket turnstile
DigitalVisitors to the Magic Kingdom in Central Florida will notice that Disney has done away with turnstiles completely at the park’s entrance. Instead, visitors are greeted by the company’s “cast members,” holding iPod touches in their white-gloved hands. The change is part of a larger initiative by Disney known as “MyMagic+,” which has the ultimate [...]
