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More and more of us have smartphones today,
whether the newest BlackBerry variation, a Nokia E72, a Google Android phone,
or an iPhone 3G. A modern phone is a marvelous gadget for traveling because
there are so many apps that provide so much useful information about travel
issues.
It's hard to keep up with all the apps that
are out there and buying all the latest bells and whistles can get a bit
pricey. So here are ten free applications that you should find pretty helpful
on the road.
OpenTable This is essentially a miniaturize version of
OpenTable's online service that lets you make reservations at more than 13,000
restaurants in the U.S. and Canada,
as well as abroad. It indicates what reservation times are available and you
can check diner reviews and view menus, very helpful when away from home.
Where What can Where tell you? A movie theater and what's showing. Local gas
prices and the station with the lowest. The location of the nearest source for
coffee. Where can be your local-area search engine, making it a prime tool when
you're just getting to know a new town - as long as it's in the USA.
Yelp is a user-review site. No, it's the user-review site
for eateries in major U.S.
cities, just an excellent tool for finding someplace to eat. It can also help
locate museums, pharmacies, stylists, dentists, almost anything. Although the
Yelp app is only available for BlackBerry and iPhone, those carrying other
phones can use their browser to go to m.yelp.com.
Urbanspoon This is the app for venturesome diners and for those
who don't know where to find what they want to eat (as long as they have an
iPhone or Android). Just tell Urbanspoon where you are and how much you want to
spend for dinner and shake your phone like a Magic 8-Ball. Up comes a
recommendation that's way more reliable than the black orb. Again all
restaurants are rated by Urbanspoon users.
MetrO There are plenty of public transportation apps for
cities around the world, but MetrO has information for about 400 cities. Though
some others are somewhat more comprehensive, this one will serve most travelers
well. You download MetrO, then add the cities you need. It shows your location
on a map and plots routes to where you want to go, as well as giving info on
what's nearby.
Google Maps Able to tell you where you are, where what you're looking for is,
and how to get from here to there, Google Maps is probably the most useful
travel app available on just about any smartphone (not to mention many
non-smartphones). Get it.
TripIt A lot of travel manager programs can help keep track
of confirmation numbers for your flight, hotel, and so forth. But TripIt does a
great job parsing those confirmation emails from hotels and airlines. It's
available on Android, BlackBerry and iPhone. Even the simplest phone can access
your data from m.tripit.com. WeatherBug Some of the many mobile weather apps are better on some phones than
others, but WeatherBug performs excellently on most, including BlackBerry, Android,
iPhone, Windows Mobile and Nokia. Beyond basic weather. It has
features besides giving basic weather info; for example you can tap on a map to
find out what the weather is where you're headed.
SitOrSquat This is a crowdsourced bathroom locator that
provides more choices than gas stations, fast food restaurants and hotel
lobbies in most US
cities. It's available for BlackBerry and iPhone.
Google SMS If you've been reading this thinking, "Gee, I wish I
could afford a smartphone" here's a tip for you. If you text message certain
search terms to 46645 - that's "GOOGL" - you get Google search results back in
texts! Also handy when you're someplace your data plan doesn't work.
posted on
yourtravelhaven.com on August 12
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