Urbanspoon Team

Urbanspoon, the mobile restaurant recommendations and reservations application, is today adding a new feature called “Dineline,” which allows users to check-in to restaurants in order to track their dining habits. While most check-in apps are meant to register your presence at a venue for the purpose of game play, social networking, or receiving offers or discounts, Dineline is meant to be used to remember a meal, something more akin to Foodspotting than Foursquare. The feature, rolling out to iOS users this morning via an app update, adds a new icon to the Urbanspoon homescreen. For those of you who haven’t been on Urbanspoon for a while, it’s no longer just a clever slot machine-style toy to find new places to eat. It also lets you browse and search for restaurants, connect with friends, and snap and share photos of the restaurant or your meal. It’s this latter feature – the photo-sharing aspect to the service – that is most improved with the addition of Dineline, as it now gives that photo a more personal context and purpose. When you launch Urbanspoon now, a check-in button appears on the top right of the homescreen, allowing you to enter the “Where” and “When” of your latest meal. If you choose to share more information, you’re able to add a photo, meal price, notes and tap “I like it” or “I don’t” to save your quick opinion. From then on, that check-in and the additional information you added will be available in the Dineline section of the app for future reference. The app will even make you charts and graphs about your favorite cuisines, restaurants, neighborhoods and more. One nice thing about the check-in feature is that all this info can be added after the fact – which is great for those of you who don’t want to be the nerd at the table taking notes about your food. Just steal a quick photo and you can do the rest later. This is also handy for the security-conscious, who don’t want to broadcast where they are when not at home. Despite being called a “check-in,” the addition is clearly not mean to pit Urbanspoon against Foursquare or Facebook, as it’s more of a utility than a social feature. That makes a bit more sense than Yelp’s check-in, for example, which blatantly rips off Foursquare’s idea of “Mayors” for its “Dukes.” However, at least Yelp’s check-in Read More

Urbanspoon, the mobile restaurant recommendations and reservations application, is today adding a new feature called “Dineline,” which allows users to check-in to restaurants in order to track their dining habits. While most check-in apps are meant to register your presence at a venue for the purpose of game play, social networking, or receiving offers or discounts, Dineline is meant to be used to remember a meal, something more akin to Foodspotting than Foursquare. The feature, rolling out to iOS users this morning via an app update, adds a new icon to the Urbanspoon homescreen. For those of you who haven’t been on Urbanspoon for a while, it’s no longer just a clever slot machine-style toy to find new places to eat. It also lets you browse and search for restaurants, connect with friends, and snap and share photos of the restaurant or your meal. It’s this latter feature – the photo-sharing aspect to the service – that is most improved with the addition of Dineline, as it now gives that photo a more personal context and purpose. When you launch Urbanspoon now, a check-in button appears on the top right of the homescreen, allowing you to enter the “Where” and “When” of your latest meal. If you choose to share more information, you’re able to add a photo, meal price, notes and tap “I like it” or “I don’t” to save your quick opinion. From then on, that check-in and the additional information you added will be available in the Dineline section of the app for future reference. The app will even make you charts and graphs about your favorite cuisines, restaurants, neighborhoods and more. One nice thing about the check-in feature is that all this info can be added after the fact – which is great for those of you who don’t want to be the nerd at the table taking notes about your food. Just steal a quick photo and you can do the rest later. This is also handy for the security-conscious, who don’t want to broadcast where they are when not at home. Despite being called a “check-in,” the addition is clearly not mean to pit Urbanspoon against Foursquare or Facebook, as it’s more of a utility than a social feature. That makes a bit more sense than Yelp’s check-in, for example, which blatantly rips off Foursquare’s idea of “Mayors” for its “Dukes.” However, at least Yelp’s check-in Read More

Any foodie knows you can never have too much of a good thing, which must explain the hundreds upon hundreds of food-related iPhone apps available these days. Whether you are soaking everything in and teaching yourself new recipes or looking for a quick bite to eat, these no-hassle iPhone apps are easy to use and get straight to the point. Share with us your favorite foodie apps in the comments below. Read More

You may not think it, but your smartphone can be an asset when you're eating out. Whether you want to locate your nearest restaurant, work out what's in the meals offered or even just decide what wine to drink with your meal, there are plenty of apps to help you. Some are even free. Here's five of the best for Google Android devices. Improve your dining experience via your smartphone We love this app that has a unusual way of offering users a list of restaurants in the nearby area. Simply shake your Android handset and UrbanSpoon will utilise the phone's GPS to suggest restaurants nearby. If you don't like the choices offered, just shake your phone again. The app's developers say it covers most major cities in the UK. EatOutApp offers nutritional values, allergen information, and suitability for vegetarians and vegans, about food served in popular UK restaurant from Burger King to TGI Friday's. It's a trial version so there's a restriction on the number of times it can be used. Confused about which wine you should be drinking with your meal? Fear not, this free app has over 75 foods, listed into different categories. Simply select the food you eating to see which wine pairs with it perfectly. You can even search by wine, if you'd rather choose your meal around you favourite vino. A great way to impress your friends. Lost of the UK's popular restaurant chains frequently offer two-for-one (or similar) deals ensuring you save money when eating out. But what happens if you've forgotten to print a voucher? Fear not, with VoucherCloud you can find a suitable offer and then get a code on your handset, which will be accepted in place of a printed voucher. If you fancy a quick beer either before or after your meal but you're not sure where to go, then this app is ideal. Find Pubs & Bars reveals the establishments nearest your current location. Read More

One of the all-time most popular restaurant apps on mobile is Urbanspoon (iTunes link). It is still one of the top 10 travel apps on the iPhone. The app’s signature gesture is a shake to find nearby restaurants. Urbanspoon just passed one billion shakes and has been downloaded 20 million times across all mobile platforms (iOS, Android, Blackberry). In March 2010, it hit 500 million shakes, so it’s doubled in less than a year and half. But what exactly is the value of a shake? Well, the apps run ads as does the website. With 100 million pageviews a month across those apps and the web, shakes turn into ad impressions. But the real play here is restaurant reservations. Urbanspoon is going after OpenTable. Last year, Urbanspoon launched Rezbook, an iPad app that allows restaurants to take reservations directly from the Urbanspoon app and site. “Two years ago, an online reservation system required a massive upfront investment,” notes Kara Nortman, the senior VP at IAC in charge of Urbanspoon (and CityGrid Media). Now, all they need is an iPad and a simple app. Currently, only about 800 restaurants are on the Rezbook system, out of 800,000 listed in Urbanspoon. When they show up in Urbanspoon, users can book a table. Nortman says that Urbanspoon is seating 19,000 diners a month at those 800 restaurants, which comes to about 24 diners per month per restaurant. OpenTable, in contrast, seats an average of 450 diners a month per restaurant, but it’s been at this a lot longer. Urbanspoon has only tapped one thousandth of the restaurants in its listings, and is now starting to sign them up in a more serious effort after testing the service. “As more and more consumers think of Urbanspoon as a place to discover and then follow-up with a real-time reservation, we should see this number grow,” says Nortman. She sees her mobile app as her competitive advantage because it is more immediate. For reservations made from the Urbanspoon app, 22 percent are made within the hour and 77 percent within 24 hours. Of course, OpenTable also has a great mobile app for making reservation which covers many more restaurants right now. But Urbanspoon sees an opening and is going after it. Read More

...of the all-time most popular restaurant apps on mobile is Urbanspoon (iTunes link). It is still one of the top 10 travel apps on the iPhone. The app’s signature gesture is a shake to find nearby restaurants. Urbanspoon just passed one billion shakes and has been downloaded 20 million times across all mobile platforms (iOS, Android, Blackberry). In March 2010, it hit 500 million shakes, so it�... Read More

Foodies are their own breed, hunting down the best restaurants, unique ingredients and living to tell the tale. And there’s no better foodie pairing than a wine connoisseur, bringing their own history and knowledge to the table. And if you’re a foodie, you probably enjoy a good glass of vino, too. To make your food and wine adventures all the more memorable, your faithful Android is by your side. Search recipes and restaurants, discover new wines and take notes and photos of labels. These Android apps will help you along your way, whether you’re an aspiring foodie or a well-aged bon vivant. From the Food Network comes a very useful Android app for foodies and wine lovers alike. Centered around the celebrity chefs and experts you already know and love, this app has tons of recipes and articles to follow, with videos and specialized categories for holidays and events. In the Kitchen will get you started with recipes and shopping lists, with a wealth of new menu items to try out on any given day. Save the recipes you like, get pairing recommendations and get going in the kitchen. The app includes a unit converter and a kitchen timer as well, so you’ll feel like a pro in no time. Urbanspoon is great for foodies hunting for a new local dining spot, or for travelers seeking a new discovery. Known for its appeal in foodie groups, Urbanspoon helps you uncover just the type of restaurant you’re looking for, whether you’re looking for something familiar, well-reviewed or completely out of the ordinary. This Android app promotes discovery, with an option to shake your phone to receive new recommendations for nearby restaurants. Shake to your heart’s desire, adding a bit of random adventure to your palate, or drill down with Urbanspoon’s categorized filters to find exactly what you want. Evernote’s productivity app may not be the first to come to mind for foodies or wine lovers, but it’s a great note-taking tool to remember your favorite meals, ingredients and experiences. Incorporate location, photos, audio and written notes to “bookmark” these experiences, aggregating and sharing them at any point in the future. Evernote’s search functions work similar to your brain’s recollection methods, enabling you to pull up your past experiences from a variety of triggers. You may remember the raspberry tart from that Manhattan cafe, but what was the name? Evernote will help you Read More

So you have a hot date this week and are really excited about it. Whether you're taking out someone new or you'd like to surprise that person you've been with for awhile, there are a handful of really great Android apps you can download to ensure that everything runs smoothly during your special evening. Have some flowers delivered, find a secret romantic hideaway, prepare an impressive meal and pick the perfect wine to complement dinner with these apps to prepare you for date night. People aren't always what they seem. Before you actually meet up with that guy from OKCupid or that girl you met by chance at a cafe, it's smart to make sure that he or she is not potentially dangerous. Background Check -BeenVerified allows you to be your own detective and search a perspective mate’s criminal history, property records (and their values), current contact information, and who their relatives and neighbors are based on name queries or email addresses. You can also search a person's entire web presence based on the social networking they belong to, including photos, blog posts and interests. The app is free to download and users are allowed one free background check per month. Unlimited access will cost you $8 per month. Make a good first impression by showing up with a pretty bouquet. Have the flowers sent to your home or deliver them to your date's desk at work so that the pre-date jitters/excitement can begin to set in earlier in the day. You don't have to stick with talking about things as basic as favorite movies and hobbies. Even if you do regularly pay attention to the news, it can't hurt to bone up on your current events. You know, just in case your date asks you your opinion about the Rupert Murdoch phone hacking scandal or what’s happening in Libya at the moment. NPR gets you quickly caught up by giving you the top stories at a glance—or you can even listen to hourly five minute newscasts or stream your local NPR station while you're running errands or cooking dinner. Get outside your comfort zone and try a completely new restaurant by using Urbanspoon. The app is like a restaurant slot machine and you actually shake your phone to find a random spot to eat. If you know which area you'd like to stick to or what kind of price range Read More

There are dozens of different search apps available on the Android platform to help you track down what you need. General browser apps like Google will point you in the direction of any general information you need, while others have more specific purposes. For instance, the Internet Movie Database is a resource geared toward helping you find out anything you want to know involving movies and film. Here, we have highlighted some of the most used and most reliable apps in the search genre. Whether you're looking up the weather, a recipe, instructions on how to sponge paint your bathroom, how to play Pinnacle, Van Morrison's entire bibliography or a listing of all the local restaurants, clearly, Google Search is the key to a ton of different information. It's also a pretty handy app to use if you don't know exactly what you're looking for, as the app will start to give you web site suggestions as you type. Because Google is such an easy to use and valuable resource, it's no wonder why this app comes standard on all Android devices. Voice Search is kind of like having your very own assistant. Quickly search your phone, the web, or navigate yourself to your destination—all by using voice commands. This is an especially helpful app when you're in the car and need to focus on driving, which will also save you some money on tickets. Sure, your hands are on the wheel and your eyes on the road in front of you, but you're still able to dictate a text message, call your mother or map out how to get to a client's house or your next lunch meet-up. You can use ShopSavvy to check the price of an unmarked item while you're shopping, but it does even more than that. When you scan a product, the app compares it with other prices listed online and even at nearby local retailers, just so that you can make sure that you're paying the best price. If you haven't done it already, now's a good time to toss out all those clunky phone books. Everything you need is in the White & Yellow Pages mobile app for Android. Look for people (that is, if the person you're looking for still has a land line) and businesses by name and use the app's GPS capability to navigate your way there. You can also add Read More

If you're in the market for a brand-new smartphone--or if you feel that you haven’t fully taken advantage of your current one--finding great apps is the last piece of the puzzle. The sheer number of apps available on the market can be daunting, but our package of essentials should be more than enough to get you started. In this article we've assembled the top software for Android phones; if you have a different mobile OS, be sure to see our picks for BlackBerry, iOS, or Windows Phone 7. Our list is selective: Apps such as those for Amazon, Facebook, and Google Maps aren’t included here, because if your phone didn’t come preloaded with those, you’ve probably already downloaded them. The apps we did choose to list are intended to expand the functionality of your smartphone and make tasks easier, faster, more secure, and even more fun. You may even discover a few items in this collection that you simply can’t live without. You can easily find the following apps by searching in the Android Market. You'll need to have an account there, and the apps may cost a dollar or two. Before you buy, read the minimum requirements for each app to confirm that it will run on your phone. Remember that downloading apps counts against your monthly data-usage limit. And for the latest app reviews, be sure to visit our Android AppGuide. Beluga The easy-to-use Beluga group text service allows friends to join conversations, coordinate activities, and update their locations on a map, making this app a perfect tool for organizing group gatherings in new places. Imo Have tons of friends? Do they all use different instant messaging services? No problem: Imo eliminates the hassle by allowing you to sign in to the most popular instant messengers all at the same time. Bump Pass information easily from one smartphone to another with Bump. When two devices both running the app are physically "bumped" together, the selected content transfers over, even if one is an iPhone and the other is an Android-based handset. Dropbox If you use Dropbox on your desktop PC, you already know that it's the easiest way to sync files across multiple systems. With Dropbox for your mobile device, you can quickly move files from your PC to your phone without having to plug your handset into the computer. Gmote Through this app, you can move the cursor Read More