Must-have iPhone travel apps
Road warriors should get ahead with these Apple services
At last count, there are more than 106,000 active iPhone apps ready for download (according to 148Apps.biz, a site that monitors Apple's candy store). You can track your diet, scan barcodes while you shop and even hear your own voice in Auto-Tune.
While the utility of some apps may be questionable, the App Store's wealth can turn your iPhone into a handy travel device. Some of the most well-known travel-friendly apps include: FlightTrack, which tells you if your plane is running late; Next Flight, which tracks upcoming departures; and Currency, which gives you updated exchange rate information. But of course, since there's more to travel than airplanes and Rupees, we rounded up four less-known apps for those on the go--all less than a buck to download.
Yelp's "Monocle"
Yelp isn't exactly a secret. The crowd-sourced reviews site has been a hit on both the Web and on the iPhone. Here's a new feature, however, that not everybody knows about. Just shake an iPhone 3G S with the latest version of Yelp's iPhone App three times to activate a feature called "Monocle." The idea, dubbed 'augmented reality,' is to point a screen, in any direction, and see information about what you're looking at superimposed over an image of the real world. Great concept. Skeptics have always wondered, however, who could possibly gather a big enough pile of information about the world around us to make such a service useful. Now we know: Yelp.
Cost: Free
Brian Caulfield
Email 'n Walk
Sometimes you need to both get things done and get where you're going. For that, the Email 'n Walk application is a nice addition to your phone's app portfolio. It uses the iPhone's internal camera to project a video behind the e-mail you're working on. So whether you're on a sidewalk, escalator or airport walkway you can multitask without tripping over yourself.
Cost: $0.99
-Taylor Buley
I'm In Town
Most travel iPhone apps focus on tracking flights, local information or language help. But if you think about it, having a convenient way to notify friends and family that you're in town is equally useful. The application "I'm In Town" does just that. With one click, it searches through your contacts list to find people in your vicinity and tells them--via e-mail or text message--that you're in town and how to get in touch with you. You can specify how many miles from your current location you want the app to search: five, 10 or 25 miles, for instance. You can also alert people before you arrive, basically saying that you're coming to town. That's pretty useful for 99 cents. The app works by searching address data in your contacts list, so you do need to fill out that information first. It's not flashy-looking. The cool part of "I'm In Town" is the functionality, not the design.
Cost: $0.99
-Elizabeth Woyke
Shoot It!
This travel app allows you to send personalized post cards through the mail, straight from your iPhone or Blackberry. The App is $0.99 and each post card sent within the U.S. is $0.99, including postage. Outside the U.S., it doesn't cost more than $1.50 total. Post cards at a store can cost $0.99 and up, plus postage. On top of that, you have to find a mailbox or post office. With 'Shoot It' you can take your own picture with your iPhone or Blackberry, type a personal message, and it's automatically sent to your friends and family with one click. Another helpful download: the Postcard Express App. Your friends can view those postcards on any smart phone, Mac, or PC.
Cost: $0.99 for the app, $0.99 to send a postcard in the U.S.
-Kym McNicholas