kayak.com

Kayak, the plane-booking service, released an upgrade on Tuesday for its iPad app, adding car reservation and trip-planning tools while introducing a brand-new design. The app, available as a free download in Apple’s App Store, allows users to book cars through popular rental services like Alamo and Avis. For planning trips, the Kayak app includes an itinerary manager for adding flight departure and arrival details, as well as lodging locations and check-in times. The trip planner had previously been exclusive to the iPhone version of the Kayak app, but with Tuesday’s update, the app has now been unified so that the same features are available on both the iPhone and iPad versions. Begun in 2005, Kayak is an online travel-booking service allowing customers to search for deals on plane tickets, rental cars and hotels offered by a wide range of companies. Read More

From one-person shops to giant enterprises, if businesses agree on anything right now it's "iPad Yay." The Apple tablet hasn't even reached the terrible twos yet, but it's clearly making its presence felt across countless verticals and different industries. For at least a couple of mobile professional writers (who might have been termed "ink-stained wretches" in times gone by), the iPad's capability as a writing tool has led it to largely replace their laptops for day-to-day work. While consumers may be the drivers behind most iPad sales, chances are that the iPad-toting professional on your gift list is using his or her iPad for a combination of personal enjoyment and work tasks, so why not find a gift that supports and extends the biz savvy of everyone's favorite quasi-computer? Here's our brief list of gift ideas that you could conceivably write off on your taxes. Cloudy Days If your business iPad user is a sole proprietor or running a small business, they don't have to compromise about getting big-biz-level enterprise tools anymore. The same Google Apps or Box.com infrastructure that supports huge corporations can be theirs for a modest investment. Consider gifting a pro Dropbox account (50 GB is quite a bit of room to maneuver), or going with Box or Egnyte for more sophisticated file services & sharing. (Dropbox's Teams product is great, too, but requires more coordination with other colleagues.) Maybe a Pogoplug account, or a subscription to one of 37 Signals' highly-regarded services? If your businessperson is already a user of 37 Signals' Backpack business collaboration tool, the $9.99 Pouch app makes their iPad a fully-featured Backpack client. Another collaboration platform, Pagico, just released its official iPad app last week. Then again, what we want from the cloud, often as not, is access to the files we have sitting right there on our computer at the office or at home. With the free Polkast service and iPad app, business users can quickly get to their PC or Mac storage over local networks or remotely as long as the computer is on. It's not the sort of thing that BigCorp IT departments find particularly appealing, but for a lean and mean solo operation or small team it might just do the trick. Speaking of big IT, the pricey ($29.99) but indispensable LogMeIn Ignition client makes it easy to remotely control one or hundreds of remote computers from the iPad's Read More

Planning a vacation? Need to get away for a night? Are you a frequent international traveler? With iPhone and iPad apps, you can research hotels, find great deals, and reserve in just minutes. We reviewed 11 free iOS apps for you to consider. Most of these booing apps are the streamlined app version of well-known and respected travel websites. Let us know what you think and if you have any others that you use regularly. Price: Free TripAdvisor’s app for iPhone and iPad is a handy research tool filled with honest reviews of hotels, restaurants, and attractions. You search via city, zip code, or location, and in seconds, your list appears. The TripAdvisor iPhone app interface is loaded with options, but organized neatly and intuitively. With a touch, you can check out reviews of hotels, restaurants, and attractions that are quickly and easily sorted by distance, rating, and price. To book a hotel room, you are linked to Booking.com, Orbitz, hotels.com, Expedia, PriceLine, and Travelocity. You can reserve a table via OpenTable.com. The TripAdvisor iPhone and iPad app incorporates rich content and great functionality. Price: Free hotels.com has developed an iPhone app that functions better than the website. From the home screen, you access deals, book a hotel, log into your account, and access reservations with a touch. The deals tab is filled with exclusive mobile promotions and discounts for last-minute getaways. You can search for hotels by using your device’s location services or plugging in a different city. The sorting and filter buttons are well-positioned at the bottom of the screen for an uncluttered feel. Also, the filters function well with responsive finger swipes on the screen. You have complete access to your hotels.com account including reservations and favorites. For a clean, lean, and mean hotel booking app, hotels.com iPhone app ticks all of those boxes. Price: Free If you travel overseas, Booking.com iPhone and iPad app should be on your device. The defaults on the app are user-friendly, as the currency is adjusted to the hotel’s currency. This useful feature prevents the hassle of changing settings. You will also appreciate the ease with which you adjust parameters and filters. The Booking.com iPhone app incorporates plus symbols, so you can add guests, nights, and additional features with a touch. The hotel information is thorough without overwhelming your device’s screen. You book hotels directly through the app, and the process is Read More

When it comes to travel and local apps, Android is a step ahead of other mobile operating systems. The integration of Google Maps plus free navigation is a bonus for Android users, while often-updated popular apps like Kayak, TripIt, GasBuddy and FlightTrack continue to grow in popularity. But we’ve seen a number of new kids on the block this year, so without further ado, here are five of the best Android travel apps we came across in 2011. Skyscanner is an app that’s great for booking flights from your Android device. While other travel offerings let you select hotels, rental cars, vacation packages and so on (and that’s certainly valuable for many consumers), Skyscanner keeps things straightforward by focusing solely on flights. Once you do a simple search, Skyscanner lets you get more picky, narrowing down all possible airlines, departure times and airport connections so you can choose wisely. Well-received by the press and public alike, Skyscanner is worth adding to your Android app collection if you’re a frequent flyer. Another flight search app? Sure, but Hipmunk is a little different to Skyscanner and its ilk. What makes it unique is its ability to single-out the potential ‘agony index’ of your chosen flight. Once you’ve selected your destination, airline, time/date and all that good stuff, Hipmunk takes into account things like how long you’ll be traveling, how many stops you’ll make and various other algorithms to return results ranked on how ‘enjoyable’ a potential flight may be. You still could be delayed of course, or face a crazy surcharge for carrying-on a bag. But in the initial stages of booking a flight, Hipmunk proves a worthy companion. You finally made it to the airport and now you’re facing a six-hour layover due to delays, errant birds or a massive snowstorm. Here is where GateGuru can help. The app covers a bunch of world airports already (though not all of them) and offers full maps of the terminals and in-depth details of shopping, restaurants and amenities plus reviews and photos from fellow travelers. If you’re a user of KAYAK and TripIt too, it syncs-up nicely with either of those apps. Some security wait-times have not been updated for a while, and some big airports are missing, but GateGuru seems to be on the right track with plenty to offer travelers everywhere. In these lean financial times, traveling to distant locales is not Read More

Illustration by Michael ByersNavigating an app store can be tricky, with vague descriptions, dubious user reviews, and sometimes buggy apps. We searched for the best apps available. Locale$1 Locale lets you create location-based tasks. For example, you can have your phone turn on Wi-Fi when you get home, or have the phone silence itself when you get to work. It’s a great way to automate minor tasks, saving you a few extra minutes—and the embarrassment of having an overly noisy ringtone go off in the middle of a meeting. Head to Locale. SpringpadFree Create notes and reminders about movies you’d like to see, books you’d like to buy, or just events you’d like to remember. Springpad is also great for putting together shopping lists: You can quickly create checklists and scan barcodes to keep track of items you’ll need in the future. (Also optimized for tablets.) Head to Springpad. WunderlistWunderlist for AndroidFree Wunderlist syncs your to-do lists across all your devices, so you al­­ways have your tasks with you. Wunderlist will also email you when you are close to a deadline, in case you don’t check the app every day. (Also optimized for tablets.) Head to Wunderlist. Minecraft Pocket Edition$7  When you need to kill time on the go, you’ll find no better game to play than Minecraft Pocket Edition. Al­­though the app lacks the Survival Mode found in the desktop version, its Create Mode lets you mine and build to your heart’s content. (Also optimized for tablets.) Head to Minecraft Pocket Edition. Reckless Racing$3 Reckless Racing is one of the best-looking racing games available for mo­­bile devices, and it has dozens of courses to choose from, some with hidden shortcuts (a huge advantage if you know them). Then, once you’ve sharpened your skills, you can challenge friends and strangers to online multiplayer contests to find out who really is the most reckless racer. Head to Reckless Racing. StumbleUponFree StumbleUpon lets you “channel surf” the Web to find things that are relevant to your tastes. You list the topics that you’re interested in, and the app will recommend websites to match. On Android devices, it will even recommend other apps based on what you have already installed. (Also optimized for tablets.) Head to StumbleUpon. Toddler LockFree Warning: Eventually your toddler is going to get hold of your phone and wreak havoc upon it. Solution: Toddler Lock can keep the little one entertained but out of your phone’s precious contents. It lets your Read More

Illustration by Michael ByersNavigating an app store can be tricky, with vague descriptions, dubious user reviews, and sometimes buggy apps. We searched for the best apps available. Locale$1 Locale lets you create location-based tasks. For example, you can have your phone turn on Wi-Fi when you get home, or have the phone silence itself when you get to work. It’s a great way to automate minor tasks, saving you a few extra minutes—and the embarrassment of having an overly noisy ringtone go off in the middle of a meeting. Head to Locale. SpringpadFree Create notes and reminders about movies you’d like to see, books you’d like to buy, or just events you’d like to remember. Springpad is also great for putting together shopping lists: You can quickly create checklists and scan barcodes to keep track of items you’ll need in the future. (Also optimized for tablets.) Head to Springpad. WunderlistWunderlist for AndroidFree Wunderlist syncs your to-do lists across all your devices, so you al­­ways have your tasks with you. Wunderlist will also email you when you are close to a deadline, in case you don’t check the app every day. (Also optimized for tablets.) Head to Wunderlist. Minecraft Pocket Edition$7  When you need to kill time on the go, you’ll find no better game to play than Minecraft Pocket Edition. Al­­though the app lacks the Survival Mode found in the desktop version, its Create Mode lets you mine and build to your heart’s content. (Also optimized for tablets.) Head to Minecraft Pocket Edition. Reckless Racing$3 Reckless Racing is one of the best-looking racing games available for mo­­bile devices, and it has dozens of courses to choose from, some with hidden shortcuts (a huge advantage if you know them). Then, once you’ve sharpened your skills, you can challenge friends and strangers to online multiplayer contests to find out who really is the most reckless racer. Head to Reckless Racing. StumbleUponFree StumbleUpon lets you “channel surf” the Web to find things that are relevant to your tastes. You list the topics that you’re interested in, and the app will recommend websites to match. On Android devices, it will even recommend other apps based on what you have already installed. (Also optimized for tablets.) Head to StumbleUpon. Toddler LockFree Warning: Eventually your toddler is going to get hold of your phone and wreak havoc upon it. Solution: Toddler Lock can keep the little one entertained but out of your phone’s precious contents. It lets your Read More

Fire up KAYAK on your Android tablet and you could save some money and some hassle with the app’s massive amount of travel information. KAYAK can help you pick and book a flight, track how airfare is fluctuating, find a hotel and just about everything else involved in travel. The app includes all kinds of info, even down to what you can expect an airline to charge you for an extra bag. A big, clean interface makes navigating around KAYAK easy and fast on tablets. There’s a little bit of wasted real estate on a large tablet screen, but big maps, photos and menus make up for it. It’s hard not to recommend KAYAK. It seems to be a great app to start with when booking travel plans. It doesn’t have everything, but for the most part, it’s just brimming with useful travel information and functions. Read More

Now that I've had my iPhone 4S for a couple of days, I'm amazed with what Siri can do. I've asked a number of questions -- real ones, not questions like "What is the meaning of life?" -- and have been totally impressed with how my interaction with the iPhone has changed. But there are more things I'd love to be able to do with Siri, which is the reason for this post. Everyone should understand that Siri is currently a beta product from Apple. A lot of the things I'm talking about here should happen once the product is out of beta and developers are given access to a Siri API. This is my way of letting some iOS developers know that I'd love to see Siri integration in their apps. Here we go: I think that Siri has the ability to become the intelligent agent that the mid-90s MagicCap mobile operating system always wanted to be. While MagicCap's TeleScript agents suffered from the lack of cheap and ubiquitous Internet service as well as public acceptance of electronic commerce, those barriers are no longer a problem. Add Siri as a super-friendly interface, and the future is going to be very nice indeed. What are some of your ideas for "serious" integration of Siri into your daily life? Leave your comments below. Read More

Labor Day Weekend grew out of the strife unions faced during the early reform of U.S. labor laws. And to commemorate, we take an extra Monday off and say farewell to summer. The holiday has become many things to many people, and Android can accommodate every last one. Whether you celebrate with a backyard barbecue, or spend a day sniffing out a good sale, Labor Day Weekend has become a welcome and necessary transition into a new season. Planning a party this Labor Day weekend? Allrecipes is a handy resource for finding easy meal ideas for any pallet. Its extensive database gives you a crowd-sourced treasure trove that’s bigger than menu listings on fancier recipe apps like Epicurious, and it’s easy enough to spot the popular recipes from the Allrecipes site. With the pro account you get some extra perks that come in handy for party-planning, such as the ability to modify a recipe based on the number of servings you need. Search by ingredient to narrow things down, add recipes to your box, and share favorites with friends. Labor Day weekend is also the kick-off for Autumn sports, including football. This action-packed holiday weekend was made for sports fans, and whether you’re traveling with family or at a parade, you don’t have to compromise your love of the game. Yahoo!’s Live Scores Android app delivers up-to-the-minute updates directly to your phone, keeping you in the center of the action even when you’re on the go. Live Scores has updates, news, highlights and scores for several sports leagues, so even if you’d rather track tennis than baseball, this app is still useful to you. If you’re taking a road trip this weekend, a good navigation app will undoubtedly be your best friend. I prefer Google Maps because it’s free, supports voice-navigation for turn-by-turn directions, and saves my locations from previous trips and searches. Google Maps also has a useful search tool to help me find nearby recommendations once I reach my destination. The inclusion of Google Layers means I can see friends’ shared locations, check the weather, and get traffic updates in real-time. For a free app, Google Maps is rather inclusive, making it a one-stop shop for road hogs. Many will want to take advantage of the three-day weekend to go on vacation, and Kayak is a handy app for tracking down last-minute deals. With flight and hotel search, as Read More

Travel site Kayak.com has released its first OS X app, Kayak Explore. The app works as a sort of travel guidebook that helps users make up their minds about what destinations they should explore on their next trip. When you launch the app, you're presented with a map and five photos, each of which represents a different vacation destination. Beneath the photo, you'll find a price for the trip, including flights and hotel. At the bottom of the screen is a slider with back and next arrows, which cycles through the list of destinations. Adjusting the slider to the left or right allows you to select a price range. The filter bar allows you to customize the auto-generated vacation destinations. You can select from categories such as romantic, shopping, urban, historic, and more; change your departure airport; adjust the number of travelers and narrow your trip to a specific month. Clicking on any of the destinations brings up a details windows that shows flight prices from different airlines and details about the hotel, such as maps, photos, reviews and rates. If you want to book any of the flights or destinations, click the Book Now button, and it will take you to the provider's website where you can complete your purchase. I'm a fan of Kayak.com, and I think their Kayak HD app is one of the best travel apps for the iPad. However, the Kayak Explore Mac app seems almost pointless. It's more of a kiosk you'd expect to see at an airport or Kayak's website. While the effort is appreciated, I hope this isn't a sign of things to come in the Mac App Store: apps that are little more than branding materials for companies, serve little purpose or provide little more than shallow benefits for users. Kayak Explore is a free download from the Mac App Store. Read More