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	<title>GigaOM &#187; travel apps</title>
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		<title>GigaOM &#187; travel apps</title>
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		<title>GateGuru adds last-minute discount car rentals to its newest air travel app</title>
		<link>http://gigaom.com/2012/11/21/gateguru-adds-last-minute-discount-car-rentals-to-its-newest-air-travel-app/</link>
		<comments>http://gigaom.com/2012/11/21/gateguru-adds-last-minute-discount-car-rentals-to-its-newest-air-travel-app/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 21 Nov 2012 19:40:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ki Mae Heussner</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[air travel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[airlines]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[airports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mobile Apps]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[travel apps]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://gigaom.com/?p=587116</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In time for the heaviest travel weekend of the year, GateGuru on Wednesday rolled out an updated version of its app that provides more day-of-travel support services, including the ability to book discount car rentals.<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=gigaom.com&#038;blog=14960843&#038;post=587116&#038;subd=gigaom2&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Just in time for the biggest travel weekend of the year, <a href="http://www.gateguruapp.com">GateGuru</a> is rolling out a revamped version of its app that adds several new features, including the ability to book last-minute discount car rentals before the plane reaches the gate.</p>
<p>Since launching in 2009, GateGuru has won over nearly one million air travelers with its detailed information on the restaurants, shops and other amenities inside airport terminals. But with with its newest release, the New York-based startup hopes to establish its app as not just an in-airport guide but a comprehensive day-of-travel service.</p>
<p>Over the past few years, the app has added other features, including security line wait times and flight delay updates. But Dan Gellert, the company’s founder, said releasing GateGuru 3.0 is like taking the beta wraps off and launching the product they always had in mind.</p>
<p>&#8220;Mobile is the future of travel, but yet there was no resource to serve as an end-to-end solution for the traveler,” he said. “We wanted to change that, and by doing so, reinvent the day-of travel… from the minute you walk out your door to the minute you get to your destination.”</p>
<p><a href="http://gigaom.com/2012/11/21/gateguru-adds-last-minute-discount-car-rentals-to-its-newest-air-travel-app/gateguru2/" rel="attachment wp-att-587202"><img  title="gateguru2" alt="" src="http://gigaom2.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/gateguru2.png?w=169&#038;h=300" height="300" width="169" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-587202" /></a>The new app&#8217;s car rental-booking feature, in particular, is sure to attract the attention of new travelers. Through a partnership with Avis-Budget Group, GateGuru users can now use the app to check for last-minute rentals at their destination, while they&#8217;re taxiing on the runway. If they book a car &#8212; at rates which could be 5 to 25 percent below normal prices &#8211; GateGuru gets a revenue share of the transaction. (Until now, the company has made money by licensing its airport amenity database to other travel companies.)</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.hoteltonight.com/">Hotel Tonight</a>-like feature gives car rental companies a way to dynamically communicate inventory levels and offer day-of discounts that they might not have been willing to give any earlier.  Although the company is starting with car rentals, Gellert said other travel supply verticals, including hotels, could be added next year.</p>
<p>Additionally, users can now forward their itineraries to <a href="mailto:plans@gateguruapp.com">plans@gateguruapp.com</a> to have all of their flight information ported into the GateGuru app. Once the company has that data, it uses its proprietary matching technology to pull up all of the corresponding in-airport information.</p>
<p><a href="http://gigaom.com/2012/11/21/gateguru-adds-last-minute-discount-car-rentals-to-its-newest-air-travel-app/gateguru1-2/" rel="attachment wp-att-587200"><img  title="gateguru1" alt="" src="http://gigaom2.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/gateguru11.png?w=169&#038;h=300" height="300" width="169" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-587200" /></a>On the day of travel, users can just open up the app to get all the relevant information they need &#8212; from terminal-specific tips about restaurants and other amenities to gate and departure updates to security line wait times. (Previously, users could integrate their Tripit or Kayak accounts with GateGuru to access their itineraries through the app, but the new itinerary feature simplifies that process.) Longtime users of the app will also notice a different, more personalized user interface, which the company said is the product of two years of tinkering.</p>
<p>Gellert also said that while it currently gets security wait line data from app users, it’s working with the Transportation Security Administration to access historical wait time data for predictive modeling.</p>
<p>Leading travel app <a href="http://www.tripit.com">Tripit</a> (now owned by Concur), as well as others, also help air passengers organize their itineraries and travel plans. But in a crowded universe of travel apps, GateGuru, which has raised $1.3 million, has already established a strong brand with its database of airport amenity information. Its newest features will likely only make it more of a go-to travel companion for airline passengers.</p>
<br />  <img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=gigaom.com&#038;blog=14960843&#038;post=587116&#038;subd=gigaom2&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" /><p><a href="http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?iu=/1008864/GigaOM_RSS_300x250&#038;sz=300x250&#038;c=397856"><img src="http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ad?iu=/1008864/GigaOM_RSS_300x250&#038;sz=300x250&#038;c=397856" /></a></p><p><strong>Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:</strong><br />Subscriber content. <a href="http://pro.gigaom.com/?utm_source=tech&utm_medium=editorial&utm_campaign=auto3&utm_term=587116+gateguru-adds-last-minute-discount-car-rentals-to-its-newest-air-travel-app&utm_content=kimaeheussner">Sign up for a free trial</a>.</p><ul><li><a href="http://pro.gigaom.com/2011/01/bluetooth-to-feel-blue-as-personal-area-network-battles-loom/?utm_source=tech&utm_medium=editorial&utm_campaign=auto3&utm_term=587116+gateguru-adds-last-minute-discount-car-rentals-to-its-newest-air-travel-app&utm_content=kimaeheussner">Bluetooth to Feel Blue as Personal Area Network Battles Loom</a></li><li><a href="http://pro.gigaom.com/blog/podcast-mobile-winners-and-losers-in-2012-and-what-to-expect-in-2013/?utm_source=tech&utm_medium=editorial&utm_campaign=auto3&utm_term=587116+gateguru-adds-last-minute-discount-car-rentals-to-its-newest-air-travel-app&utm_content=kimaeheussner">Podcast: Mobile winners and losers in 2012 and what to expect in 2013</a></li><li><a href="http://pro.gigaom.com/2012/07/the-wearable-computing-market-a-global-analysis/?utm_source=tech&utm_medium=editorial&utm_campaign=auto3&utm_term=587116+gateguru-adds-last-minute-discount-car-rentals-to-its-newest-air-travel-app&utm_content=kimaeheussner">Analyzing the wearable computing market</a></li></ul>]]></content:encoded>
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			<media:title type="html">Airplane Sunset</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">kimaeheussner</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">gateguru2</media:title>
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		<title>SRI spinout Desti builds a Siri-like personal travel assistant</title>
		<link>http://gigaom.com/2012/11/08/sri-spinout-desti-builds-a-siri-like-personal-travel-assistant/</link>
		<comments>http://gigaom.com/2012/11/08/sri-spinout-desti-builds-a-siri-like-personal-travel-assistant/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 09 Nov 2012 05:01:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ryan Kim</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Desti]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SRI International]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[travel apps]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://gigaom.com/?p=582473</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Desti, a spin out from SRI International, is trying to become a smart travel guide that uses natural language processing, semantic search and travel specific knowledge base to give users recommendation. <img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=gigaom.com&#038;blog=14960843&#038;post=582473&#038;subd=gigaom2&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Apple&#8217;s Siri works pretty well as a personal assistant but it&#8217;s not equipped to be your virtual travel guide. But Desti which, like Siri, is a spin out from SRI International, is launching today in public beta and is looking to take on that job for consumers.</p>
<p>Desti, which is debuting as an iPad app, offers users the ability to pose travel questions and get back specific recommendations on hotels, restaurants and events. The service, which is limited to Northern California for now, was built using SRI&#8217;s artificial intelligence technology, combined with natural language processing, semantic search and a travel-specific knowledge base. The system uses contextual clues and what it knows about a user to return relevant results, which are displayed on a very visual results page.</p>
<p><a href="http://gigaom2.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/desti2.jpg"><img  title="Desti, travel " alt="Desti, travel " src="http://gigaom2.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/desti2.jpg?w=604&#038;h=453" height="453" width="604" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-582544" /></a></p>
<p>So for instance, I can type in &#8220;Hotels near Moscone Center with a gym for under $200,&#8221; into the Desti&#8217;s instant messenger interface. Desti responds with a batch of results it thinks best match my request. It might just be a handful of places but Desti can show the results it&#8217;s confident about.</p>
<p>The results appear like cards with pictures, listing off Desti&#8217;s own rating, what amenities the hotel has and what good and important things to keep in mind. It also features additional resources and tips. If it needs more information to help it narrow its search, Desti will ask for it. Users can save a destination in their collection and they can share that with other users.</p>
<p>Desti is able to understand context when a user interacts with it. If I&#8217;m looking at a destination and ask what else is around, it pulls up results related to my last search. And if the weather is cold, it can change its results to find you something to do indoors. The service is designed for text input but you could easily do voice dictation with the latest versions of the iPad.</p>
<p>Like many new travel services, Desti also taps your social graph. So it can learn your tastes from Facebook likes and you can share your collections with others. And when you visit a place where another user has been, Desti will let you know and see what comments they&#8217;ve left.</p>
<p>Desti co-founder and CEO Nadav Gur said what users really need is more than just suggestions from friends or a basic search engine. Users need a travel-oriented search engine that uses artificial intelligence to understand their intent, so they&#8217;re not just getting back links, but actual answers.</p>
<p><a href="http://gigaom2.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/desti3.jpg"><img  title="Desti, travel " alt="Desti, travel " src="http://gigaom2.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/desti3.jpg?w=300&#038;h=225" height="225" width="300" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-582546" /></a>Desti&#8217;s knowledge relies on about a numbers services like Factual, Wikipedia and Foursquare for data. It gets its hotel information from Hotels Combined, which gives a referral fee to Desti. Desti, however, doesn&#8217;t try to guide people to hotels where it can make money. The service also doesn&#8217;t cover flights at the moment though that will likely come at a later date.</p>
<p>Desti spun out of SRI a year ago and has raised $1.5 million from Carmel Ventures and Horizon Ventures, which also invested in Siri.</p>
<p>I wish Desti worked with an iPhone or smartphone. Right now, you have to email yourself to sync your research and saved collections to a smartphone, which is the device that&#8217;s more likely to be carried around on trips. Desti also faces a lot of competition from a host of social travel apps, services like TripAdvisor and of course, Google, which is loading up on travel services and is working on its own semantic search efforts. But I&#8217;d like to give Desti a try when it opens up to more locations. Travel planning is still not as enjoyable or easy as it ought to be.</p>
<br />  <img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=gigaom.com&#038;blog=14960843&#038;post=582473&#038;subd=gigaom2&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" /><p><a href="http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?iu=/1008864/GigaOM_RSS_300x250&#038;sz=300x250&#038;c=80292"><img src="http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ad?iu=/1008864/GigaOM_RSS_300x250&#038;sz=300x250&#038;c=80292" /></a></p><p><strong>Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:</strong><br />Subscriber content. <a href="http://pro.gigaom.com/?utm_source=tech&utm_medium=editorial&utm_campaign=auto3&utm_term=582473+sri-spinout-desti-builds-a-siri-like-personal-travel-assistant&utm_content=oryankim">Sign up for a free trial</a>.</p><ul><li><a href="http://pro.gigaom.com/2013/01/ces-2013-flash-analysis-disruptions-and-disappointments-from-consumer-techs-biggest-show/?utm_source=tech&utm_medium=editorial&utm_campaign=auto3&utm_term=582473+sri-spinout-desti-builds-a-siri-like-personal-travel-assistant&utm_content=oryankim">GigaOM Research highs and lows from CES 2013</a></li><li><a href="http://pro.gigaom.com/2013/01/how-hr-can-make-the-case-for-workforce-analytics/?utm_source=tech&utm_medium=editorial&utm_campaign=auto3&utm_term=582473+sri-spinout-desti-builds-a-siri-like-personal-travel-assistant&utm_content=oryankim">How HR can make the case for workforce analytics</a></li><li><a href="http://pro.gigaom.com/2013/01/the-2013-task-management-tools-market/?utm_source=tech&utm_medium=editorial&utm_campaign=auto3&utm_term=582473+sri-spinout-desti-builds-a-siri-like-personal-travel-assistant&utm_content=oryankim">The 2013 task management tools market</a></li></ul>]]></content:encoded>
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			<media:title type="html">Desti, travel guide</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">oryankim</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">Desti, travel </media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">Desti, travel </media:title>
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		<title>Have iPhone, will travel: A tale of two trips and many apps</title>
		<link>http://gigaom.com/2012/11/04/have-iphone-will-travel-a-tale-of-two-trips-and-many-apps/</link>
		<comments>http://gigaom.com/2012/11/04/have-iphone-will-travel-a-tale-of-two-trips-and-many-apps/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 04 Nov 2012 17:00:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Laura Hazard Owen</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Amsterdam]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Apple maps]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Berlin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Google Maps]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hurricane Sandy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[taxis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[travel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[travel apps]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://gigaom.com/?p=579836</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I took two big trips in October -- one fun one to Europe, and one Hurricane Sandy-induced road trip. Here are the digital tools I found most useful on the road -- and the ones that were more of a hindrance.<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=gigaom.com&#038;blog=14960843&#038;post=579836&#038;subd=gigaom2&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>In October, my husband and I took two big trips. One of them &#8212; a week in Berlin and Amsterdam following the Frankfurt Book Fair &#8212; was planned. The other &#8212; a 21-hour drive back to New York City when Hurricane Sandy canceled our flight home from a Florida wedding &#8212; was unplanned. Here are the apps I found most (and least) useful on these two very different journeys.</p>
<h2>The fun Europe trip</h2>
<p>The good:</p>
<p><b><a href="http://gigaom.com/?attachment_id=580312" rel="attachment wp-att-580312"><img  title="mytaxi" alt="" src="http://gigaom2.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/mytaxi.png?w=202&#038;h=300" height="300" width="202" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-580312" /></a>myTaxi (iOS/Android/Windows, free)</b></p>
<p>I was amazed when our Airbnb host told us about myTaxi, which lets passengers hail a nearby cab, book it and track its approach on their phones. (There&#8217;s now a web booking option, too.) You can pay through a credit card linked to the app, or with cash or a credit card in the cab. And you can save your favorite drivers, make advance bookings and request cabs with certain features like credit card machines or hybrid cars. Unlike Uber, myTaxi works with regular city cab drivers so you just pay a regular cab fare. It&#8217;s basically street-hailing made easier. MyTaxi operates primarily in 30 cities worldwide, most of them in Germany, and just entered the U.S. for the first time with <a href="http://gigaom.com/europe/mytaxi-rides-into-u-s-market-with-a-trick-up-its-sleeve/">its launch in Washington, DC</a>. I&#8217;m eagerly awaiting its arrival in New York, though considering <a href="http://gigaom.com/2012/10/16/uber-closes-down-taxi-service-in-nyc/">the difficulties Uber has faced here</a>, that could be a long time coming.</p>
<p><b><a href="http://www.tripit.com">Tripit</a> (iOS/Android/Blackberry/Windows/web, free for basic version)</b></p>
<p>I forwarded all our travel plans and email confirmations &#8212; hotel reservations, flight details, etc. &#8212; to Tripit. The app makes a custom itinerary for you and keeps all your stuff in one place.</p>
<p><b>Google Maps (on iOS 5) + data roaming</b></p>
<p>Apple released iOS 6 <a href="http://gigaom.com/apple/apple-starts-to-roll-out-ios-6-software-update/">a couple weeks</a> before I left for Europe, and as <a href="http://gigaom.com/apple/ios-6-maps-debacle-exposes-apples-achillies-heel-services/">the terrible reviews</a> of Apple Maps rolled in, I chose not to upgrade so that I&#8217;d be able to keep the Google Maps iPhone app on our trip. I was so glad I did. On our first few days in Europe, I was insistent that I wouldn&#8217;t shell out for an international data plan &#8212; I decided I&#8217;d stick to Wi-Fi and downloaded a few offline map apps. But the offline maps I tried were clunky and hard to use. So I paid for a small roaming package and from then on, wherever we walked, we used Google Maps to guide us. It worked perfectly and was a total lifesaver when we got lost after a visit to a coffee shop in Amsterdam.</p>
<p><b><a href="http://www.tripadvisor.com/apps-cnokia605">TripAdvisor</a> (iOS/Android/Nokia/Windows/web, free)</b></p>
<p>Using Trip Advisor for international travel seems roughly as cool as using a Rick Steves guide. I wondered if we were missing out by not using some cool local source &#8212;  and it&#8217;s true that all of the recommendations we got from local folks (like our Airbnb hosts in Frankfurt) were great. Yet TripAdvisor surpassed my expectations. Before we left, I tested its restaurant recommendations for my own neighborhood in Manhattan and they were, indeed, some of my favorite local places to eat, not total tourist traps. Abroad, TripAdvisor continued to serve us well and didn&#8217;t steer us to any duds. We also found that it had many, many more reviews than Yelp, at least in the cities we visited.</p>
<p>The bad:</p>
<p><b><a href="http://www.lonelyplanet.com/apps-and-ebooks/">Lonely Planet Berlin &amp; Amsterdam Travel Guide apps</a> (iOS, $3.99)</b></p>
<p>Despite our good experience with TripAdvisor, I was also looking for a more traditional guidebook experience &#8212; we weren&#8217;t in any city for very long and wanted to get a good basic overview so we could decide what to do. So I bought Lonely Planet app guides to Berlin and Amsterdam. At $3.99 each, they were cheaper than print guidebooks and, I figured, would give us the highlights.</p>
<p>They were better than nothing. Rather than taking a print guidebook and enhancing it through technology, though, the app guides were much more frustrating than a handful of paper would have been. I expected that the guides I bought would correspond with the most recent print editions. Instead, they were out of date, referring to museums that would re-open in 2010 and once or twice steering us to restaurants that no longer existed. The maps included with the apps were outrageously bad, and in general, none of the things that a digital guidebook can actually do better than a print book &#8212; reader reviews, up-to-the-minute (or at least up-to-the-year) updates, GPS integration, etc. &#8212; were included.</p>
<h2>The unplanned road trip</h2>
<p>The good:</p>
<p><b><a href="http://gigaom.com/?attachment_id=580315" rel="attachment wp-att-580315"><img  title="priceline" alt="" src="http://gigaom2.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/priceline.png?w=172&#038;h=300" height="300" width="172" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-580315" /></a>Priceline Negotiator (iOS/Android)</b></p>
<p>This app came in handy when we needed to find motels outside Savannah, Ga. (after our first day of driving) and Washington, D.C. (after our second day of driving). We weren&#8217;t looking for fun boutique-y features in cool neighborhoods, just clean places right off the highway. Priceline has tons of user reviews and aggregated &#8220;guest scores&#8221; even for boring chain motels like that, so we knew we should choose the Comfort Suites in Richmond Hill, Ga. ($70) over the Travelodge ($30, &#8220;it was nasty roaches&#8221;) down the street. And you can book hotels directly through the app. Priceline Negotiator also recently added &#8220;tonight-only&#8221; hotel deals to compete with the Hotel Tonight app.</p>
<p>One limitation: We needed a one-way car rental from Tampa to New York, but the app doesn&#8217;t support one-way trips, so we had to book the car through Priceline&#8217;s website.</p>
<p><b><a href="http://news.motionx.com/category/motionx-gps-drive/">MotionX GPS Drive</a> (iOS, $0.99)</b></p>
<p>By the time our unplanned road trip rolled around, I&#8217;d upgraded to iOS 6. I kept hearing that Apple Maps is not terrible for drivers, so it should have worked for the journey from Florida to New York. Yet while Apple Maps had a lovely interface and turn-by-turn directions, it kept giving us different &#8212; and longer &#8212; routes than Google Maps&#8217; mobile site (I compared the sets of directions from the passenger seat). We would have just used Google Maps&#8217; mobile site, but it kept getting glitchy and wouldn&#8217;t toggle between a map and text directions without requiring me to retype our destination each time. So we turned to MotionX GPS Drive, which is $0.99 and then costs an additional $2.99 per month (or $9.99 per year) for real-time live voice guidance.</p>
<p>MotionX GPS Drive got us safely back to a drenched Manhattan. I realized that over the past three days, the biggest problem I&#8217;d had was a few glitches on a fancy smartphone, and I felt grateful. There&#8217;s not an app for that. Instead, I <a href="https://american.redcross.org/site/SPageNavigator/ntld_Redcross_text2help_faqs?JServSessionIdr004=7wmq4ox1s1.app234a">texted money to the Red Cross</a>.</p>
<p><em>Photo courtesy of <a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic.mhtml?id=2537857">Shutterstock / Danny Smythe</a></em></p>
<br />  <img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=gigaom.com&#038;blog=14960843&#038;post=579836&#038;subd=gigaom2&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" /><p><a href="http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?iu=/1008864/GigaOM_RSS_300x250&#038;sz=300x250&#038;c=142618"><img src="http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ad?iu=/1008864/GigaOM_RSS_300x250&#038;sz=300x250&#038;c=142618" /></a></p><p><strong>Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:</strong><br />Subscriber content. <a href="http://pro.gigaom.com/?utm_source=tech&utm_medium=editorial&utm_campaign=auto3&utm_term=579836+have-iphone-will-travel-a-tale-of-two-trips-and-many-apps&utm_content=laurahowen38">Sign up for a free trial</a>.</p><ul><li><a href="http://pro.gigaom.com/2012/10/mobile-third-quarter-2012-analysis-and-outlook/?utm_source=tech&utm_medium=editorial&utm_campaign=auto3&utm_term=579836+have-iphone-will-travel-a-tale-of-two-trips-and-many-apps&utm_content=laurahowen38">A look back at mobile in the third quarter</a></li><li><a href="http://pro.gigaom.com/2012/04/the-promise-of-hyperlocal-opportunities-for-publishers-and-developers/?utm_source=tech&utm_medium=editorial&utm_campaign=auto3&utm_term=579836+have-iphone-will-travel-a-tale-of-two-trips-and-many-apps&utm_content=laurahowen38">Hyperlocal: opportunities for publishers and developers</a></li><li><a href="http://pro.gigaom.com/2012/02/ces-2012-a-recap-and-analysis/?utm_source=tech&utm_medium=editorial&utm_campaign=auto3&utm_term=579836+have-iphone-will-travel-a-tale-of-two-trips-and-many-apps&utm_content=laurahowen38">CES 2012: a recap and analysis</a></li></ul>]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
	
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			<media:title type="html">suitcase travel</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">laurahowen38</media:title>
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		<title>TripAdvisor sees opportunities in going deep on mobile</title>
		<link>http://gigaom.com/2012/09/20/tripadvisor-sees-opportunities-in-going-deep-on-mobile/</link>
		<comments>http://gigaom.com/2012/09/20/tripadvisor-sees-opportunities-in-going-deep-on-mobile/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 20 Sep 2012 17:17:32 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ryan Kim</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Mobile Apps]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mobilize 2012]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[travel apps]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[TripAdvisor]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://gigaom.com/?p=564948</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[While TripAdvisor first looked at building a mobile app that "didn't suck," it's now looking at how deep it can go with mobile apps by taking advantage of all the capabilities of mobile devices.<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=gigaom.com&#038;blog=14960843&#038;post=564948&#038;subd=gigaom2&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The challenge for many web companies looking to go mobile is how to replicate features found on their desktop sites while still taking advantage of mobile’s unique traits. <a href="http://www.tripadvisor.com">TripAdvisor</a> has found a happy medium, building a hybrid TripAdvisor app that combines web data with a native wrapper while focusing completely on native mobile development with its City Guides app.</p>
<p>Adam Medros, VP of Global Product, TripAdvisor spoke at <a href="http://event.gigaom.com/mobilize/?utm_source=mobile&amp;utm_medium=editorial&amp;utm_campaign=intext&amp;utm_term=564948+tripadvisor-sees-opportunities-in-going-deep-on-mobile&amp;utm_content=oryankim">GigaOM’s Mobilize</a> conference Thursday and said the company’s primary app reproduces many of the main features of the desktop service and was easier for them to create. But the app is also less responsive than a dedicated native app.</p>
<p>But with its TripAdvisor City Guides apps, which covers 50 cities and provides downloadable data, TripAdvisor has the ability to provide a true mobile-first experience that has both a lot of features and is snappy, he said. That has translated into a lot more engagement. Users of the City Guides app click through 50 pages on average per session, compared to about 30 for the main app. The City Guides app uses a lot of dedicated mobile features such as guided tours, a nearby business finder and a Point Me There tool that acts like a walking turn-by-turn navigation service.</p>
<p>Medros said while TripAdvisor first looked at duplicating its desktop site with its primary mobile app, the focus now is on how to add unique tools aren’t possible anywhere but on a mobile device.</p>
<p>He said he’s looking at more ways for users to record their travels in journals, which can be shared with others. And Medros sees opportunities in helping travelers get real-time recommendations from friends and strangers while on a trip. The company is also looking at connecting to more services, perhaps something like Uber for transportation; providing offers for check-ins or adding payments inside the TripAdvisor apps.</p>
<p>Check out the rest of our Mobilize 2012 coverage <a href="http://gigaom.com/mobile/mobilize-2012-live-coverage/">here</a>, and the live stream can <a href="http://pro.gigaom.com/do/mobilize2012-livestream-signup?utm_source=mobile&amp;utm_medium=editorial&amp;utm_campaign=intext&amp;utm_term=564948+tripadvisor-sees-opportunities-in-going-deep-on-mobile&amp;utm_content=oryankim">be found here.</a></p>
<p><iframe src="http://api.new.livestream.com/accounts/74987/events/1431766/videos/3919387.html?width=640&amp;height=360&amp;autoPlay=false&amp;mute=false" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe></p>
<br />  <img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=gigaom.com&#038;blog=14960843&#038;post=564948&#038;subd=gigaom2&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" /><p><a href="http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?iu=/1008864/GigaOM_RSS_300x250&#038;sz=300x250&#038;c=638594"><img src="http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ad?iu=/1008864/GigaOM_RSS_300x250&#038;sz=300x250&#038;c=638594" /></a></p><p><strong>Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:</strong><br />Subscriber content. <a href="http://pro.gigaom.com/?utm_source=mobile&utm_medium=editorial&utm_campaign=auto3&utm_term=564948+tripadvisor-sees-opportunities-in-going-deep-on-mobile&utm_content=oryankim">Sign up for a free trial</a>.</p><ul><li><a href="http://pro.gigaom.com/2011/09/the-future-of-mobile-a-segment-analysis-by-gigaom-pro/?utm_source=mobile&utm_medium=editorial&utm_campaign=auto3&utm_term=564948+tripadvisor-sees-opportunities-in-going-deep-on-mobile&utm_content=oryankim">The future of mobile: a segment analysis by GigaOM Pro</a></li><li><a href="http://pro.gigaom.com/2011/01/bluetooth-to-feel-blue-as-personal-area-network-battles-loom/?utm_source=mobile&utm_medium=editorial&utm_campaign=auto3&utm_term=564948+tripadvisor-sees-opportunities-in-going-deep-on-mobile&utm_content=oryankim">Bluetooth to Feel Blue as Personal Area Network Battles Loom</a></li><li><a href="http://pro.gigaom.com/blog/podcast-mobile-winners-and-losers-in-2012-and-what-to-expect-in-2013/?utm_source=mobile&utm_medium=editorial&utm_campaign=auto3&utm_term=564948+tripadvisor-sees-opportunities-in-going-deep-on-mobile&utm_content=oryankim">Podcast: Mobile winners and losers in 2012 and what to expect in 2013</a></li></ul>]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://gigaom.com/2012/09/20/tripadvisor-sees-opportunities-in-going-deep-on-mobile/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
	
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			<media:title type="html">Mobilize 2012 Adam Medros, VP, Global Product, TripAdvisor</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">oryankim</media:title>
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		<title>With redesigned mobile app, Hotel Tonight gets personal</title>
		<link>http://gigaom.com/2012/09/18/with-redesigned-mobile-app-hotel-tonight-gets-personal/</link>
		<comments>http://gigaom.com/2012/09/18/with-redesigned-mobile-app-hotel-tonight-gets-personal/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 18 Sep 2012 16:00:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Erica Ogg</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Hotel Tonight]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[iOS]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[last-minute hotels]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mobile]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sam Shank]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[travel apps]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://gigaom.com/?p=563658</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Hotel Tonight is rolling out some important redesign features on Tuesday, including the first user ratings, and recommendations of hotels based on a user's past stays and based on the preferences of users similar to them.<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=gigaom.com&#038;blog=14960843&#038;post=563658&#038;subd=gigaom2&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Last-minute hotel booking mobile app <a href="http://www.hoteltonight.com/">Hotel Tonight</a> has had a pretty big year. <a href="http://gigaom.com/2012/06/20/hotel-tonight-begins-euro-invasion-goes-live-in-london/">In addition to expanding</a> outside the U.S. to Canada and the U.K., the company scooped up another<a href="http://gigaom.com/2012/06/05/travel-app-hotel-tonight-gets-23-in-new-funding-to-go-international/"> $23 million in funding</a>. With its localization efforts in full swing, and its team rapidly expanding, CEO Sam Shank is steering the company toward another important goal: improving the app&#8217;s personalization features for individual users. On Tuesday, the company is rolling out a new design of both the iOS and Android apps.</p>
<p>One of the design changes with this goal in mind is an important first for Hotel Tonight: it&#8217;s dipping its toes into user reviews. This is significant because the premise of Hotel Tonight has been to present you with a short, curated list of hotels the company recommends. By adding just a basic rating, in the form of a thumbs up or thumbs down (no long-winded written reviews) the company is giving users more subjective information about that hotel and whether they should pick it.</p>
<p><a href="http://gigaom2.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/hoteltonight-v4.jpg"><img  title="HotelTonight v4" src="http://gigaom2.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/hoteltonight-v4.jpg?w=217&#038;h=326" alt="" width="217" height="326" class="alignleft  wp-image-563912" /></a>But don&#8217;t worry, there&#8217;s not going to be very many poorly rated hotels on the list. The average score is 91 percent, and Shank says if a hotel&#8217;s user ratings fall below a certain threshold, Hotel Tonight will stop working with them. It&#8217;s data the company has already been using for this purpose, but is now making it public and useful for users.</p>
<p>The other major change is the addition of three bonus &#8220;impulse deal&#8221; hotels to each destination city&#8217;s screen. This is a feature that will get better the more you use the app, and should help cut through the increasing volume of lodging options as the company continues to expand its offerings. (Hotel Tonight now has 1,500 hotels in 50 cities in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K.)</p>
<p>Starting Tuesday, the app will begin to customize the first hotel options it shows you based on picks you&#8217;ve made in the past. For example, if you open up the app in New York City, among the top hotels you&#8217;ll see first on the screen is the hotel that&#8217;s closest to you at the time, and two local hotels that are similar to the type of place you&#8217;ve stayed at before. If you usually stay in &#8220;hip&#8221; or &#8220;basic&#8221; hotels, the app will show you those kinds of places first, for example.</p>
<p>Using the thumbs up/thumbs down user reviews, the app will also show you hotels that users  like  you have picked. Hotel Tonight is using a similar methodology to what Amazon has been using for years to recommend products, the &#8220;people who like this, also like that&#8221; approach. &#8220;We&#8217;ll start showing you stuff that&#8217;s relevant to you personally,&#8221; said Shank. Among the top few hotels on a city&#8217;s page, &#8220;not everyone will see the same three things,&#8221; he added.</p>
<p>I like the idea of giving users more signals as to whether a hotel is good or bad. Sometimes I do too much research on hotels in the app because I want to make sure that users similar to me like a place as much as HT&#8217;s staff does. With user percentage ratings and recommendations based on past places I&#8217;ve stayed, I think this will keep users in the app and help them make decisions faster.</p>
<p><strong id="internal-source-marker_0.33895775326527655"> </strong></p>
<br />  <img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=gigaom.com&#038;blog=14960843&#038;post=563658&#038;subd=gigaom2&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" /><p><a href="http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?iu=/1008864/GigaOM_RSS_300x250&#038;sz=300x250&#038;c=111693"><img src="http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ad?iu=/1008864/GigaOM_RSS_300x250&#038;sz=300x250&#038;c=111693" /></a></p><p><strong>Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:</strong><br />Subscriber content. <a href="http://pro.gigaom.com/?utm_source=tech&utm_medium=editorial&utm_campaign=auto3&utm_term=563658+with-redesigned-mobile-app-hotel-tonight-gets-personal&utm_content=ericaogg">Sign up for a free trial</a>.</p><ul><li><a href="http://pro.gigaom.com/2012/02/facebooks-ipo-filing-the-opening-shot-heard-round-the-world/?utm_source=tech&utm_medium=editorial&utm_campaign=auto3&utm_term=563658+with-redesigned-mobile-app-hotel-tonight-gets-personal&utm_content=ericaogg">Facebook&#8217;s IPO filing: ideas and implications</a></li><li><a href="http://pro.gigaom.com/2012/02/ces-2012-a-recap-and-analysis/?utm_source=tech&utm_medium=editorial&utm_campaign=auto3&utm_term=563658+with-redesigned-mobile-app-hotel-tonight-gets-personal&utm_content=ericaogg">CES 2012: a recap and analysis</a></li><li><a href="http://pro.gigaom.com/2011/11/connected-world-the-consumer-technology-revolution/?utm_source=tech&utm_medium=editorial&utm_campaign=auto3&utm_term=563658+with-redesigned-mobile-app-hotel-tonight-gets-personal&utm_content=ericaogg">Connected world: the consumer technology revolution</a></li></ul>]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://gigaom.com/2012/09/18/with-redesigned-mobile-app-hotel-tonight-gets-personal/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
	
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			<media:title type="html">Hotel Tonight recommendations</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/f8c30e1552769600b61214d57219220b?s=96&#38;d=retro&#38;r=PG" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">ericaogg</media:title>
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		<media:content url="http://gigaom2.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/hoteltonight-v4.jpg" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">HotelTonight v4</media:title>
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		<title>25 iOS apps to pack on your summer road trip</title>
		<link>http://gigaom.com/2012/07/04/25-ios-apps-to-pack-on-your-summer-road-trip/</link>
		<comments>http://gigaom.com/2012/07/04/25-ios-apps-to-pack-on-your-summer-road-trip/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 04 Jul 2012 13:00:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Geoffrey Goetz</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Apps]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[iOS Apps]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mobile]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[road trip]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[travel apps]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://gigaom.com/?p=538699</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[You've got snacks, playlists and a full gas tank. But what about apps? Assuming you've also packed your iPhone, here are 25 that will ensure an easier trip -- for packing, finding the cheapest gas and the closest Wi-Fi, knowing the weather on your route and more.<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=gigaom.com&#038;blog=14960843&#038;post=538699&#038;subd=gigaom2&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Today, the Fourth of July, <a href="http://newsroom.aaa.com/tag/fourth-of-july/">AAA predicts</a> that there will be “a decade high number of Independence Day travelers” on the roads. If that number includes you, you&#8217;ve probably got your snacks and iced beverages, playlists downloaded and gas tank filled. But what about apps? Assuming you&#8217;ve also packed your iPhone or iOS device, we have a helpful list of 25 apps &#8212; from packing lists to apps for finding the cheapest gas and the closest Wi-Fi hotspot to knowing what the weather will be on your route, that can make your road trip a little easier.</p>
<div id="attachment_539070" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 614px"><img  title="Road Trip Apps" src="http://gigaom2.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/road-trip-apps-1.jpg?w=708" alt="Road Trip Apps"   class="size-full wp-image-539070" /><p class="wp-caption-text">iExit, GasBuddy, Trip Weather</p></div>
<p>Sure, 25 apps seems like a lot to load up on your iPhone or iPad when getting ready for a road trip. Many of these are free, but some do cost money. I used each of these apps on a recent road trip to Myrtle Beach, SC and found value in all of them.  But by no means are all of the tools necessary to make a trip successful.</p>
<p><img  title="Map Apps" src="http://gigaom2.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/map-apps.jpg?w=126&#038;h=41" alt="Map Apps" width="126" height="41" class="wp-image-538710 alignleft" /></p>
<p><strong>Maps for getting there </strong>The iPhone&#8217;s default maps app won&#8217;t get <a href="http://gigaom.com/apple/hands-on-new-turn-by-turn-navigation-in-ios-6/">turn-by-turn navigation until iOS 6 is released</a> this fall. Until then you&#8217;ll need a third-party app. With <a href="http://gigaom.com/apple/choosing-the-right-turn-by-turn-app-for-your-ios-device/">turn-by-turn navigation apps</a>, choose one that loads all of the maps on the device like <em>TomTom</em> ($44.99, <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tomtom-u.s.-canada/id326075661?mt=8">universal</a>) does &#8212; instead of relying on a working data connection. With each navigation solution constantly recalculating your route with each missed turn, I also like to use <em>MotionX GPS</em> ($0.99 <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/motionx-gps/id299949744?mt=8">iPhone</a>, $2.99 <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/motionx-gps-hd/id370488535?mt=8">iPad</a>) to load a <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/gmapstips/export-my-map-as-kml">KML version of my Google Maps Directions</a> so I can see how far off my originally planned route I may be. This downloads the actual route in a file format that can be read by other GPS tools.  Considering our recent spate of crazy storms here in the U.S., it&#8217;s good to know if there will be any bad weather along your route, and <em>Road Trip Weather</em> ($0.99, <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/road-trip-weather/id490779008?mt=8">universal</a>) can use that same exported route file from Google to show you weather patterns along the entire trip.</p>
<p><img  title="ToDo Apps" src="http://gigaom2.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/todo-apps.jpg?w=126&#038;h=43" alt="ToDo Apps" width="126" height="43" class="wp-image-538716 alignleft" /></p>
<p><strong>Organizers for getting ready </strong>Sometimes it seems like all of the planning before a trip takes longer than the the actual trip. <em>PackingPro</em> ($2.99, <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/packing-pro/id312266675?mt=8">universal</a>) is an app that helps you remember to pack everything on your <em>next</em> trip. I say next trip because its real value comes from continued use. You can add things that you forgot  to a trip&#8217;s profile, and remove things you never use. For this trip, the built-in <em>Reminders</em> (free, <a href="http://www.apple.com/iphone/built-in-apps/reminders.html">universal</a>) app can be set for last-minute reminders that alert you when you&#8217;re about to pull out of the driveway &#8212; so you remember to grab that camera you were charging until the last minute. And as you plan a multi-part, complex itinerary, consider a comprehensive to-do app like Appigo&#8217;s <em>ToDo</em> ($4.99 <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/todo/id282778557?mt=8">iPhone</a>, $4.99 <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/todo-for-ipad/id371787147?mt=8">iPad</a>). It&#8217;s great for keeping track of hotel reservations, remembering to make dinner reservations at Disney, setting up animal kennels, and other items.</p>
<p><img  title="Hotel Apps" src="http://gigaom2.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/hotel-apps.jpg?w=126&#038;h=41" alt="Hotel Apps" width="126" height="41" class="wp-image-538723 alignleft" /></p>
<p><strong>Find a place to rest when you get there </strong>Even the best-laid plans can be altered in case of really bad traffic. In that case, you may not even make it as far as you previously planned in one day. Many travel sites have their own apps for searching and booking a hotel reservation online.  <em>Hotels.com</em> (free, <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/hotels.com-hotel-reservation/id284971959?mt=8">iPhone</a>) and <em>Expedia.com</em> (free, <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/expedia-hotels-book-your-hotel/id427916203?mt=8">universal</a>) are two such examples.  But I have found <em>TripAdvisor</em> (free, <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tripadvisor-hotels-flights/id284876795?mt=8">universal</a>) to be much easier to use.</p>
<p><img  title="Food Apps" src="http://gigaom2.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/food-apps.jpg?w=126&#038;h=41" alt="Food Apps" width="126" height="41" class="wp-image-538734 alignleft" /></p>
<p><strong>Find food when you&#8217;re hungry - </strong>One of the more difficult things about road trips is deciding where to eat in an unfamiliar place. Especially if you&#8217;re just pulling off the highway. Both <em>Yelp</em> (free, <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/yelp/id284910350?mt=8">universal</a>) and <em>Urbanspoon</em> (free <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/urbanspoon/id284708449?mt=8">iPhone</a>, free <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/urbanspoon-for-ipad/id369267453?mt=8">iPad</a>), have been good sources when it comes to selecting a place to eat in a wide variety of locations. If the consensus from reviewers on both of these apps are in agreement, the place is a good bet.  Not every meal on your trip is a dining-out experience, however. For eating in, use <em>GroceryIQ</em> (free, <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/grocery-iq/id290591617?mt=8">universal</a>) to keep track of your family&#8217;s favorite foods while away.</p>
<div id="attachment_539079" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 614px"><img  title="Road Trip Apps" src="http://gigaom2.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/road-trip-apps-3.jpg?w=708" alt="Road Trip Apps"   class="size-full wp-image-539079" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Urbanspoon, Tide Graph, Trip Journal</p></div>
<p><img  title="Search Apps" src="http://gigaom2.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/search-apps.jpg?w=126&#038;h=41" alt="Search Apps" width="126" height="41" class="wp-image-538749 alignleft" /></p>
<p><strong>Find gas stations (and anything else you can think of) </strong>Unexpected things can happen on road trips that can leave you scrambling to find a store that sells whatever it is you forgot to pack.  And <em>YP</em> (free <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/yp-local-search-gas-prices/id284806204?mt=8">iPhone</a>, free <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/yp-local-search-gas-prices/id372678687?mt=8">iPad</a>) from yellowpage.com has location-aware  search, which does a pretty good job of finding what you are looking for.  However, the best-use for location-aware apps is searching from a fixed location.  While on a trip, you may want to know what&#8217;s ahead so you can plan a stop for lunch or gas.  <em>iExit</em> ($0.99, <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/iexit-interstate-exit-guide/id401746066?mt=8">universal</a>) is perfect for that purpose.  Provided you are on a major highway, iExit will list businesses at the upcoming exits on the highway.  If you just want to find the cheapest gas, then <em>GasBuddy</em> (free, <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/gasbuddy-find-cheap-gas-prices/id406719683?mt=8">iPhone</a>) is all you need.  The prices are current and will list gas stations by proximity or price.</p>
<p><img  title="Weather Apps" src="http://gigaom2.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/weather-apps.jpg?w=126&#038;h=41" alt="Weather Apps" width="126" height="41" class="wp-image-538757 alignleft" /></p>
<p><strong>Keep track of the weather while you are away </strong>Is your road trip taking you to the beach? One thing you may not consider during planning is when the tide comes in.  With <em>TideGraph</em> ($1.99 <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tide-graph/id288420737?mt=8">iPhone</a>, $1.99 <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tide-graph-hd/id368295250?mt=8">iPad</a>) you can see what time will mark high tide and the same for low tide each day of your trip.  For those of us that don&#8217;t surf, this may still be important if you want to plan the best time to build that awesome sand castle, and know which time of day has the most exposed sand on the beach.  It is also always good to have a dedicated weather radar app like <em>NOAA Hi-Def Radar</em> ($1.99, <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/noaa-hi-def-radar/id458225159?mt=8">universal</a>).  It&#8217;s fast and will let you know if a storm is heading your way.  For more general purpose weather forecasts, <em>The Weather Channel</em> (free <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/the-weather-channel/id295646461?mt=8">iPhone</a>, free <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/the-weather-channel-for-ipad/id364252504?mt=8">iPad</a>) continues to dominate the genre.</p>
<p><img  title="Photo Apps" src="http://gigaom2.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/photo-apps.jpg?w=126&#038;h=40" alt="Photo Apps" width="126" height="40" class="wp-image-538761 alignleft" /></p>
<p><strong>Chronicle your adventures</strong> The new<a href="http://gigaom.com/apple/iphoto-for-ipad-brings-back-online-galleries-ditches-google-maps/"> iCloud journaling feature</a> of Apple&#8217;s own <em>iPhoto</em> ($4.99, <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/iphoto/id497786065?mt=8">universal</a>) is phenomenal for generating beautifully documented photo sites. But there are times when you just want to keep track of where you have been, and when you have been there.  <em>TripJournal</em> ($2.99, <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/trip-journal/id341585937?mt=8">iPhone</a>) will log your GPS coordinates and the time you were at each location.  You can even export each logged trip for viewing in Google Earth or the free iPad companion app, <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/trip-viewer/id438936477?mt=8">TripViewer</a>.  More so on vacations than at any other time you will want to take in more of your surroundings than a single screen will allow.  There are certainly plenty of panorama apps out there, but I keep going back to <em>AutoStitch</em> ($1.99, <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/autostitch-panorama/id318944927?mt=8">iPhone</a>) when I want to create a large-scale panoramic view.</p>
<p><img  title="Coverage Apps" src="http://gigaom2.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/coverage-apps.jpg?w=126&#038;h=41" alt="Coverage Apps" width="126" height="41" class="wp-image-538773 alignleft" /></p>
<p><strong>Stay connected along the way </strong>When traveling, there are few things more frustrating than losing connectivity.  With <em>Coverage?</em> ($2.99, <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/coverage/id388815949?mt=8">universal</a>) you can see where each carrier&#8217;s coverage begins and ends.  It even differentiates between the different types of coverage and works offline as well.  Other times locating a Wi-Fi hot spot is in order.  With <em>JiWire WiFi Finder</em> (free, <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/wi-fi-finder/id300708497?mt=8">universal</a>) you can locate hotspots even when you are not connected.  When you find one and get connected, you will find that not every hotspot is created equal, so a quick check of the connection speed may save you a lot of frustration.  <em>SpeedTest.net</em> (free, <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/speedtest.net-mobile-speed/id300704847?mt=8">iPhone</a>) has proven to be one of the more reliable network speed test apps that I have used.</p>
<div id="attachment_539071" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 614px"><img  title="Road Trip Apps" src="http://gigaom2.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/road-trip-apps-2.jpg?w=708" alt="Road Trip Apps"   class="size-full wp-image-539071" /><p class="wp-caption-text">TripAdvisor, PackingPro, TomTom</p></div>
<p>The last app on this list is one that you will hopefully never have to use.  Many car manufactures and auto insurance companies have their own custom roadside assistance programs and apps in the App Store to access their services.  The <em>AAA Roadside Assistance</em> (free, <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/aaa-roadside/id322490679?mt=8">iPhone</a>) is the one you&#8217;ll need if you&#8217;re a AAA member.</p>
<br />  <img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=gigaom.com&#038;blog=14960843&#038;post=538699&#038;subd=gigaom2&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" /><p><a href="http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?iu=/1008864/GigaOM_RSS_300x250&#038;sz=300x250&#038;c=942498"><img src="http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ad?iu=/1008864/GigaOM_RSS_300x250&#038;sz=300x250&#038;c=942498" /></a></p><p><strong>Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:</strong><br />Subscriber content. <a href="http://pro.gigaom.com/?utm_source=apple&utm_medium=editorial&utm_campaign=auto3&utm_term=538699+25-ios-apps-to-pack-on-your-summer-road-trip&utm_content=ggeoffre">Sign up for a free trial</a>.</p><ul><li><a href="http://pro.gigaom.com/2012/09/mobile-industry-2012-segment-analysis/?utm_source=apple&utm_medium=editorial&utm_campaign=auto3&utm_term=538699+25-ios-apps-to-pack-on-your-summer-road-trip&utm_content=ggeoffre">Mobile 2012 and beyond</a></li><li><a href="http://pro.gigaom.com/2011/11/connected-world-the-consumer-technology-revolution/?utm_source=apple&utm_medium=editorial&utm_campaign=auto3&utm_term=538699+25-ios-apps-to-pack-on-your-summer-road-trip&utm_content=ggeoffre">Connected world: the consumer technology revolution</a></li><li><a href="http://pro.gigaom.com/2011/09/tablets-wars-apple-is-from-venus-amazon-is-from-mars/?utm_source=apple&utm_medium=editorial&utm_campaign=auto3&utm_term=538699+25-ios-apps-to-pack-on-your-summer-road-trip&utm_content=ggeoffre">Tablets wars: Apple is from Venus, Amazon is from Mars</a></li></ul>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Hotel Tonight begins Euro invasion, goes live in London</title>
		<link>http://gigaom.com/2012/06/20/hotel-tonight-begins-euro-invasion-goes-live-in-london/</link>
		<comments>http://gigaom.com/2012/06/20/hotel-tonight-begins-euro-invasion-goes-live-in-london/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 20 Jun 2012 11:15:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Erica Ogg</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Hotel Tonight]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[le web 2012]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[London]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[travel apps]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://gigaom.com/?p=534113</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Starting Wednesday, Hotel Tonight users can use the app for the first time to book a last-minute hotel room in London. The company is staffing up its London office and has hired a respected travel industry veteran as it prepares for further expansion into Europe.<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=gigaom.com&#038;blog=14960843&#038;post=534113&#038;subd=gigaom2&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://gigaom2.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/hoteltonight-london-iphone.jpeg"><img  title="HotelTonight London iPhone" src="http://gigaom2.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/hoteltonight-london-iphone.jpeg?w=307&#038;h=461" alt="" width="307" height="461" class="alignright  wp-image-534202" /></a>Hotel Tonight&#8217;s app is officially taking the giant leap across the pond. Starting Wednesday at noon local time, iOS and Android users can use the app for the first time to book a hotel room in London &#8212; just in time for next months&#8217; Olympic Games. While the app is available for last-minute hotel bookings in 40 U.S. cities and recently expanded to Vancouver and Toronto, the debut in London is the young company&#8217;s first foray into the European travel market.</p>
<p>The company signaled it had its eyes set on London after it announced the opening of an office there in April, and made its ambitions clear for all of Europe &#8212; and beyond &#8212; two weeks ago when it revealed a<a href="http://gigaom.com/2012/06/05/travel-app-hotel-tonight-gets-23-in-new-funding-to-go-international/"> huge funding round of $23 million</a>.</p>
<p>In a phone interview from London on Tuesday, CEO Sam Shank told me why the city was first on his list when thinking of expansion to Europe.</p>
<p>&#8220;It’s an English-speaking country, it&#8217;s got a lot of travel between the U.S., so there’s a lot of existing demand. And we’re already working with hotel groups with properties in the U.S. who were asking for Hotel Tonight in London,&#8221; he said. &#8220;And it has lot of characteristics of some of our most successful U.S. cities, it&#8217;s similar to New York in a lot of ways.&#8221;</p>
<p>And that&#8217;s promising, he says, because New York City is one of the company&#8217;s most successful markets, along with San Francisco, Chicago and Boston.</p>
<h2>Localization efforts</h2>
<p>Hotel Tonight is also plunging into the growing London tech scene: its office &#8212; which currently is staffed by two people but will be expanding soon &#8212; is in the city&#8217;s tech hub in the Shoreditch neighborhood. The London office will act as the launchpad for the company&#8217;s eventual expansion to the European continent.</p>
<p>That effort will be overseen by Heather Leisman, who was just hired as Hotel Tonight&#8217;s Managing Director for Europe. Leisman recently left Jetsetter, the<a href="http://betabeat.com/2012/05/kevin-ryan-drew-patterson-mutiny-jetsetter-ceo-dismissed-05152012/"> struggling luxury travel deals subsidiary</a> of Gilt Groupe, where she was head of supply and operations. &#8220;She&#8217;s just phenomenally well connected in the travel industry,&#8221; Shank says.</p>
<p>The list of London hotels available upon launch with Hotel Tonight&#8217;s app is small and carefully curated &#8212; which is the company&#8217;s m.o.. Like in other cities, the hotels were chosen based partly on reviews from consumer review sites like Yelp and Trip Advisor, as well as editorial reviews and competitors&#8217; reviews.</p>
<p>&#8220;We<strong> </strong>ask [other hotels] who they want to be featured with,&#8221; Shank explained. &#8220;Even if they’re competitors, they want to be featured with other hotels on the same level of quality.&#8221;</p>
<p>In London&#8217;s case, the selection of hotels is focused on hip, luxury lodging: Belgraves, Blakes Hotel London, St. Martins Lane London, The Langham and The Cadogan.</p>
<p><a href="http://gigaom.com/2011/12/31/the-mobile-apps-that-changed-our-lives-this-year/">Hotel Tonight is based in San Francisco and launched in early 2011</a>. To date there have been 2 million downloads of its mobile apps.</p>
<br />  <img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=gigaom.com&#038;blog=14960843&#038;post=534113&#038;subd=gigaom2&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" /><p><a href="http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?iu=/1008864/GigaOM_RSS_300x250&#038;sz=300x250&#038;c=343370"><img src="http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ad?iu=/1008864/GigaOM_RSS_300x250&#038;sz=300x250&#038;c=343370" /></a></p><p><strong>Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:</strong><br />Subscriber content. <a href="http://pro.gigaom.com/?utm_source=tech&utm_medium=editorial&utm_campaign=auto3&utm_term=534113+hotel-tonight-begins-euro-invasion-goes-live-in-london&utm_content=ericaogg">Sign up for a free trial</a>.</p><ul><li><a href="http://pro.gigaom.com/2011/12/facebooks-tactical-retreat-on-privacy/?utm_source=tech&utm_medium=editorial&utm_campaign=auto3&utm_term=534113+hotel-tonight-begins-euro-invasion-goes-live-in-london&utm_content=ericaogg">Facebook&#8217;s tactical retreat on privacy</a></li><li><a href="http://pro.gigaom.com/2010/12/google-and-the-ghost-of-silicon-valley-past/?utm_source=tech&utm_medium=editorial&utm_campaign=auto3&utm_term=534113+hotel-tonight-begins-euro-invasion-goes-live-in-london&utm_content=ericaogg">Google and the Ghost of Silicon Valley Past</a></li><li><a href="http://pro.gigaom.com/2010/05/newnet-market-overview-q1-2010/?utm_source=tech&utm_medium=editorial&utm_campaign=auto3&utm_term=534113+hotel-tonight-begins-euro-invasion-goes-live-in-london&utm_content=ericaogg">NewNet Market Overview, Q1 2010</a></li></ul>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>JetBlue debuts iPhone app as big travel gets social, mobile savvy</title>
		<link>http://gigaom.com/2012/02/06/jetblue-iphone-app-website-redesign/</link>
		<comments>http://gigaom.com/2012/02/06/jetblue-iphone-app-website-redesign/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 07 Feb 2012 02:18:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Colleen Taylor</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[@CNN]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Apple]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[iOS Apps]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[iphone apps]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[JetBlue]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[travel apps]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[travel search]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[travel websites]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://gigaom.com/?p=481460</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Well-designed websites and snazzy mobile apps aren't just for travel search engines anymore. JetBlue Airways just debuted its own native app for the iPhone, along with a redesigned website. It's a sign of how web startups and new apps are spurring innovation from bigger travel companies.<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=gigaom.com&#038;blog=14960843&#038;post=481460&#038;subd=gigaom2&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_481470" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 218px"><a href="http://gigaom2.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/mzl-hkdgorfw-320x480-75.jpg"><img  title="jetblueiphoneapp" src="http://gigaom2.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/mzl-hkdgorfw-320x480-75.jpg?w=208&#038;h=300" alt="" width="208" height="300" class="size-medium wp-image-481470" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Screenshot of JetBlue&#39;s iPhone app (click to enlarge)</p></div>
<p>Well-designed websites and snazzy mobile apps aren&#8217;t just for travel search engines anymore. JetBlue Airways just debuted <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id481370590">its own native app</a> for the iPhone, an app that lets users search for and book flights from their mobile phones. The low-cost airline also unveiled <a href="http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/jetblue-smartly-redesigns-jetbluecom-and-launches-new-iphone-application-138777739.html">newly redesigned</a> web and mobile sites with clean user interfaces and new features such as personalized flight recommendations based on users&#8217; travel history and geolocation data.</p>
<p>It goes to show just how much startups such as <a href="http://gigaom.com/2011/06/08/hipmunk/">Hipmunk</a>, <a href="http://gigaom.com/2011/11/16/hotel-tonight-funding/">HotelTonight</a>, <a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-19882_3-57321958-250/precision-hotel-room-finder-room-77-now-does-booking/">Room77</a> and others have spurred innovation for the travel industry&#8217;s more-established players. And more such developments are on the way: A recent Airline IT Trends survey found that 90 percent of airlines are increasing their investment in mobile capabilities, according to a <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/07/travel/smartphones-air-travel/index.html">report by CNN</a> published this past fall. Another notable example of this larger trend is luxury hotel chain <a href="http://www.fourseasons.com/">The Four Seasons</a>, which last month gave <a href="http://travel.usatoday.com/hotels/post/2012/01/four-seasons-new-website-makes-bold-bet-on-social-media/600989/1">its website a makeover</a> that taps into social media and incorporates user-generated reviews and photos of its properties. In all, it is nice to see large corporations such as these tapping into newer technologies and investing in mobile app development, realizing that spending the money on making these tools can ultimately drive more business.</p>
<p>Of course, as these established travel companies step up their game in a bid to bring customers directly to their sites, aggregation engines will in turn have to bring even better user experiences to the table. It is a competitive cycle that should ultimately benefit us consumers more than anyone else, which is always a good thing.</p>
<br />  <img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=gigaom.com&#038;blog=14960843&#038;post=481460&#038;subd=gigaom2&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" /><p><a href="http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?iu=/1008864/GigaOM_RSS_300x250&#038;sz=300x250&#038;c=419303"><img src="http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ad?iu=/1008864/GigaOM_RSS_300x250&#038;sz=300x250&#038;c=419303" /></a></p><p><strong>Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:</strong><br />Subscriber content. <a href="http://pro.gigaom.com/?utm_source=tech&utm_medium=editorial&utm_campaign=auto3&utm_term=481460+jetblue-iphone-app-website-redesign&utm_content=colleengigaom">Sign up for a free trial</a>.</p><ul><li><a href="http://pro.gigaom.com/2011/11/connected-world-the-consumer-technology-revolution/?utm_source=tech&utm_medium=editorial&utm_campaign=auto3&utm_term=481460+jetblue-iphone-app-website-redesign&utm_content=colleengigaom">Connected world: the consumer technology revolution</a></li><li><a href="http://pro.gigaom.com/2012/12/connected-consumer-2013-how-2012-laid-the-groundwork-for-change/?utm_source=tech&utm_medium=editorial&utm_campaign=auto3&utm_term=481460+jetblue-iphone-app-website-redesign&utm_content=colleengigaom">How consumer media will change in 2013</a></li><li><a href="http://pro.gigaom.com/2012/10/the-state-of-cross-platform-measurement-across-tv-online-and-social/?utm_source=tech&utm_medium=editorial&utm_campaign=auto3&utm_term=481460+jetblue-iphone-app-website-redesign&utm_content=colleengigaom">The state of cross-platform media measurement</a></li></ul>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Kayak: Lessons learned as it relaunches on the iPad</title>
		<link>http://gigaom.com/2011/12/20/kayak-lessons-learned-as-it-relaunches-on-the-ipad/</link>
		<comments>http://gigaom.com/2011/12/20/kayak-lessons-learned-as-it-relaunches-on-the-ipad/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 20 Dec 2011 18:14:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Erica Ogg</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[@CNN]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Apps]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[iPad]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kayak]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mobile]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[travel apps]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://gigaom.com/?p=457982</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[On Tuesday Kayak plans to launch a new app for iOS. It's throwing out its old Kayak HD app and making a universal app for iOS. We talk to its head of mobile about the lessons learned since the launch on the original iPad.
<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=gigaom.com&#038;blog=14960843&#038;post=457982&#038;subd=gigaom2&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://gigaom2.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/trips-ipad.png"><img  title="Trips - iPad" src="http://gigaom2.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/trips-ipad.png?w=386&#038;h=290" alt="" width="386" height="290" class="alignright  wp-image-457992" /></a>The first iPad app from Kayak arrived in March 2010, with the sweet deal of being handpicked by Apple as one of the few apps to be available at the launch of the original iPad. The only downside? Kayak&#8217;s designers had approximately two weeks to get an app together. Oh, and they&#8217;d never felt or seen an iPad before. So 22 months later, the team behind the <a href="http://gigaom.com/apple/go-away-the-most-useful-iphone-apps-for-getting-out-of-town/">most popular free iPhone travel app</a> think they&#8217;ve got it right for the iPad this time.</p>
<p>On Tuesday, Kayak plans to launch a new app for iOS. It&#8217;s throwing out its old Kayak HD iPad app and making a universal Kayak app for iPad and iPhone.</p>
<p>We got a preview of the new app and the overall theme of the changes can most easily be summed up with the word &#8220;consistency.&#8221; For instance, now the navigation is all left-aligned, with the same icons that will be familiar to users of previous versions of the app. All the filters for searches (flight, cars, hotels) are on the left and the results on the right.</p>
<p>The designers in Kayak&#8217;s mobile development lab in Concord, Mass. spent a lot of time &#8220;nitpicking&#8221; and making the design language universal for the brand, said Bill O&#8217;Donnell, Kayak&#8217;s GM of mobile and chief architect.</p>
<p>&#8220;With this new release, we wanted to bring it up to modern iPad app standards and our own modern visual look we have in our iOS applications,&#8221; he said in an interview Tuesday. And making the way the app is navigated and making all the functions consistent (the UIs for flight and hotel search were different in the previous app) was a huge priority.</p>
<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s more consistent than before,&#8221; O&#8217;Donnell said. &#8220;Before, three different pieces of the app were developed by different people at different times.&#8221;</p>
<p>They also added in some features that have been on the Kayak website and in the iPhone app to this new universal iOS version, like rental car search and the <a href="http://www.kayak.com/explore/">Kayak Explorer</a> (a favorite of those of us with wanderlust), an expanded trips management feature that allows you to send any reservation confirmation emails to the app, including concerts and restaurant reservations, and an auto form filler optimized for tons of travel sites Kayak works with.</p>
<p>Another major lesson learned is the implementation of <a href="http://gigaom.com/2011/03/14/kayak-checks-into-direct-hotel-booking-as-ipo-approaches/">direct booking of hotels</a>. There&#8217;s a big impediment to being a an aggregator of travel deals when you&#8217;re working with mobile users: When you direct those customers to outside airline or hotel websites, you never know what exactly you&#8217;re sending them into.</p>
<p><a href="http://gigaom2.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/flights-ipad.png"><img  title="Flights - iPad" src="http://gigaom2.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/flights-ipad.png?w=386&#038;h=290" alt="" width="386" height="290" class="alignright  wp-image-458025" /></a>&#8220;In mobile, you can get wildly varied experiences across airlines and hotel sites,&#8221; said O&#8217;Donnell. Some are Flash-based, some are just terrible quality. &#8220;And that&#8217;s a problem for us; we make money through referral fees. If you find something in our app and you can&#8217;t book it…we lose.&#8221;</p>
<p>Kayak introduced direct bookings for some hotels and flights a few months ago, but this is the first time it&#8217;s coming to the iPad app.</p>
<p>So what has the iPad team been doing these past two years? Since the 2010 iPad launch, Kayak has had a lot to figure out about the space &#8212; as in what users want, and what other developers are doing that&#8217;s cool and innovative &#8212; and learning to evolve with the maker of the iPad and arbiter of iOS app taste and style, Apple itself. &#8220;We had to learn all that. There&#8217;s no way around that except time and experience,&#8221; O&#8217;Donnell said.</p>
<p>It was also a challenge to figure out the difference between designing for a tiny iPhone screen, a much larger computer browser and an iPad screen. It takes far more time to design well for the iPad, according to O&#8217;Donnell.</p>
<p>&#8220;When you&#8217;re dealing with an app on an iPhone or an iPad, your application is the only thing on the screen. The big thing you control is edge to edge and top to bottotm; there&#8217;s nothing else to distract the user. To some extent, you can get away with a plain or sparse or austere website, because it&#8217;s framed in a Safari window or a nice Mac desktop or Windows desktop,&#8221; he said. But, &#8220;when you&#8217;re the only thing on the screen, that can look really bad. You have to pay attention to use of white space, lines, separation of colors and spend more design time on it.&#8221;</p>
<p>There&#8217;s also something in here for users of Kayak&#8217;s iOS apps to learn: The new app, as mentioned before, is universal. So if you have the old iPad HD app, that one&#8217;s dead now and won&#8217;t be updated again. The new iOS app, which is still free, will have to be downloaded anew. It will detect if you&#8217;re downloading it on an iPhone or an iPad. It should be in the App Store later today.</p>
<br />  <img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=gigaom.com&#038;blog=14960843&#038;post=457982&#038;subd=gigaom2&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" /><p><a href="http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?iu=/1008864/GigaOM_RSS_300x250&#038;sz=300x250&#038;c=264510"><img src="http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ad?iu=/1008864/GigaOM_RSS_300x250&#038;sz=300x250&#038;c=264510" /></a></p><p><strong>Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:</strong><br />Subscriber content. <a href="http://pro.gigaom.com/?utm_source=apple&utm_medium=editorial&utm_campaign=auto3&utm_term=457982+kayak-lessons-learned-as-it-relaunches-on-the-ipad&utm_content=ericaogg">Sign up for a free trial</a>.</p><ul><li><a href="http://pro.gigaom.com/2011/11/connected-world-the-consumer-technology-revolution/?utm_source=apple&utm_medium=editorial&utm_campaign=auto3&utm_term=457982+kayak-lessons-learned-as-it-relaunches-on-the-ipad&utm_content=ericaogg">Connected world: the consumer technology revolution</a></li><li><a href="http://pro.gigaom.com/2011/09/tablets-wars-apple-is-from-venus-amazon-is-from-mars/?utm_source=apple&utm_medium=editorial&utm_campaign=auto3&utm_term=457982+kayak-lessons-learned-as-it-relaunches-on-the-ipad&utm_content=ericaogg">Tablets wars: Apple is from Venus, Amazon is from Mars</a></li><li><a href="http://pro.gigaom.com/2011/07/mobile-q2-smartphone-growth-surges-ipads-rule-continues/?utm_source=apple&utm_medium=editorial&utm_campaign=auto3&utm_term=457982+kayak-lessons-learned-as-it-relaunches-on-the-ipad&utm_content=ericaogg">Mobile Q2: Smartphone growth surges; iPad&#8217;s rule continues</a></li></ul>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Hotel Tonight raising $9.1M, filings reveal</title>
		<link>http://gigaom.com/2011/11/16/hotel-tonight-funding/</link>
		<comments>http://gigaom.com/2011/11/16/hotel-tonight-funding/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 16 Nov 2011 23:22:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Colleen Taylor</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[funding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hotel Tonight]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mobile Apps]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[travel apps]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[VC funding]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://gigaom.com/?p=440561</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Hotel Tonight, the app that lets you book last minute hotel rooms  for discounted rates, is currently raising a $9.1 million funding round, according to documents filed with the SEC Wednesday. The company has raised $8.65 million in the round so far, the filings show.<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=gigaom.com&#038;blog=14960843&#038;post=440561&#038;subd=gigaom2&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img  title="HotelTonight" src="http://gigaom2.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/hoteltonight-e1317254771493.jpg?w=708" alt=""   class="alignleft size-full wp-image-412949" /><a href="http://www.hoteltonight.com">Hotel Tonight</a>, the app that lets you book last minute hotel rooms  for discounted rates, is currently raising a $9.1 million funding round, according to <a href="http://sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1520184/000152018411000003/xslFormDX01/primary_doc.xml">documents</a> filed to the Securities and Exchange Commission Wednesday.</p>
<p>The company has raised $8.65 million in the round so far, the documents show, with $446,000 of the offering remaining to be sold. Hotel Tonight previously raised around $3 million in venture capital earlier this year, so this new batch of funding will bring its total outside investment to around $12 million.</p>
<p>Hotel Tonight launched in December 2010 and has been <a href="http://gigaom.com/2011/09/29/hotel-tonight-looks-beyond-biz-travelers-to-vacations/">growing steadily</a> since; it now offers deals in more than 25 cities. But the company is not without competition &#8212; Priceline <a href="http://gigaom.com/2011/09/30/priceline-targets-hotel-tonight-with-day-of-hotel-booking-service/">recently debuted</a> its own day-of hotel booking feature &#8212; so the money will certainly come in handy as it works to keep its edge in the <a href="http://gigaom.com/apple/go-away-the-most-useful-iphone-apps-for-getting-out-of-town/">increasingly hot</a> travel app space.</p>
<p>We&#8217;ve reached out to Hotel Tonight for comment on the funding but have yet to hear back; we&#8217;ll update this post with any new information we receive.</p>
<br />  <img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=gigaom.com&#038;blog=14960843&#038;post=440561&#038;subd=gigaom2&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" /><p><a href="http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?iu=/1008864/GigaOM_RSS_300x250&#038;sz=300x250&#038;c=138287"><img src="http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ad?iu=/1008864/GigaOM_RSS_300x250&#038;sz=300x250&#038;c=138287" /></a></p><p><strong>Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:</strong><br />Subscriber content. <a href="http://pro.gigaom.com/?utm_source=tech&utm_medium=editorial&utm_campaign=auto3&utm_term=440561+hotel-tonight-funding&utm_content=colleengigaom">Sign up for a free trial</a>.</p><ul><li><a href="http://pro.gigaom.com/2012/04/how-to-stand-out-in-the-app-development-game/?utm_source=tech&utm_medium=editorial&utm_campaign=auto3&utm_term=440561+hotel-tonight-funding&utm_content=colleengigaom">How to stand out in the app development game</a></li><li><a href="http://pro.gigaom.com/2012/04/google-doesnt-like-walled-gardens-except-its-own/?utm_source=tech&utm_medium=editorial&utm_campaign=auto3&utm_term=440561+hotel-tonight-funding&utm_content=colleengigaom">Google doesn&#8217;t like walled gardens &#8212; except its own</a></li><li><a href="http://pro.gigaom.com/2012/04/connected-consumer-q1-controversy-courtrooms-and-the-cloud/?utm_source=tech&utm_medium=editorial&utm_campaign=auto3&utm_term=440561+hotel-tonight-funding&utm_content=colleengigaom">Controversy, courtrooms and the cloud in Q1</a></li></ul>]]></content:encoded>
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