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Waze lets you plan trips on the web and save them to your phone
Waze lets you plan a trip on its web-based Live Map and save it to your app.
Airbnb Luxe offers castles, villas and islands for $1,000 per night
If you've ever wanted to stay in a castle in France or book an entire island in the Pacific, you might appreciate Airbnb's new luxury travel offering, Airbnb Luxe. The company launched the long-rumored service today with more than 2,000 hand-picked listings, including award-winning homes in New Zealand and South Africa, historic villas in Tuscany and the Jamaican beachfront property where Ian Fleming wrote his iconic spy novels. But a stay in these high-end, Instagramable homes will cost you. Airbnb Luxe is designed for travelers looking to spend at least $1,000 per night.
Daily iPhone App: Tripcase hits version 3.0
I'm always on the lookout for a new travel app -- I've used TripIt a little bit and I don't mind it, but it hasn't really grabbed me a must-use way just yet. So when TripCase sent word that they'd just hit version 3.0 with a new design and some new features, I decided to give the app a quick look. What I found, as you can see above, was a really quality, straightforward travel tracking app with a lot of common features done well rather than anything really brand new. Like other travel trackers, you can just email TripCase with your travel plans and the app will automatically build an itinerary for you, and then update you as often as you need it on what's happening where. In addition to travel information, you can also add in items and tasks of your own, grab weather at your departure or destination city, and share plans out with friends or colleagues. The biggest difference between TripCase and other travel services like it is probably that TripCase is completely, 100% free -- other services often require a subscription fee or extra charges, but TripCase, as far as I can tell, earns its money through referrals and targeted messaging, so you as the customer have to pay nothing at all. That's pretty nice, and it means that if you've been looking for another travel tracking solution, you can try TripCase out for free. These services are so often just a matter of personal taste and whatever workflow you're used to, and I don't personally see anything in TripCase (other than the price) that stands out as extremely unique. But that's not to say it's not a well-designed, powerful travel app, so if you need one of those, give it a look.
Around the world Tesla Roadster tour back on track after swift repair job
While we might not have enjoyed the full story arc just yet, we came within an electric whisker of seeing the electric Roadster's around the world trip derailed completely. The team at Tesla service in Munich, however, obviously love a fairytale ending -- which is why they pledged to fix-up the car in the fastest time possible. Just four days after that show-stopping accident, de Mestre is back in the game, and heading south to Barcelona. The journey won't end there though, as to make up some lost miles on the French Citroen team, he'll travel back up to Strasbourg, and in turn roll over the virtual 25,000 km finish line. Assuming no other problems along the way, we'll be mentally cheering the him along.
Five apps (and more) for the summer road trip
The Independence Day holiday week is upon us, and millions of American families are heading out on the open road. Where past generations depended on paper maps and Mad Libs, the march of technology has given us new tools for kids and parents alike. Our five-plus apps for road trips are accompanied with standbys and alternates to match up with your specific travel needs. Got other favorites or recommendations? Give them a shout out in the comments. When I was young, in the pre-cellphone days, our road trips with other families included walkie-talkies or CB radios to help coordinate bathroom stops or route changes. Even with iMessage and hands-free headsets, there's something to be said for the one-button convenience of push-to-talk -- just ask the crowd of satisfied and loyal Nextel users who depend on the technology every day. Three popular apps that simulate the PTT experience on the iPhone are Voxer, HeyTell and Zello (all free). All the walkie-talkie apps offer one-to-one or group voice chat at the press of a virtual button. Voxer's got Facebook integration and a rapidly growing userbase, plus photo and text sharing (and some hefty funding); Zello's got a simple UI including "one big button" for PTT conversations with the other cars in your convoy; and HeyTell's got geographic indicators for your chat partners plus in-app purchases for fun items like voice changers. Any one may save you some dialing and phone calling while you're looking for your next pitstop, so consult with your fellow vacationers and settle on the one you like. Eyes on the road, please! If you want to automatically alert your friends or family at your destination that you're making progress, check out the free En Route! or the $0.99 just-released iETA. Both apps will automatically update your selected contacts with your expected arrival time and optionally share your location as you go. Other options in this vein: Glympse, Google Latitude or Apple's Find my Friends app. Want to make sure you've got solid 3G or LTE coverage where you're headed? Reader Chris suggests his $2.99 Coverage! app, which consolidates multiple carrier maps into one convenient view. Getting there is half the fun, and getting distracted along the way is at least 15% of the fun. Roadside America for iPhone ($2.99 + IAP) delivers a mapped guide to the silly and serious attractions that make a road trip memorable. Buying the app unlocks a single region of the US & Canada, with a $1.99 option in-app to purchase additional regions or $5.99 to unlock them all permanently. You can track your attraction visits, upload photos, get sunset alerts to time your visits to scenic sites, and of course get directions/hours and phone numbers. Not to be confused with the one and only Roadside America miniature village in Shartlesville, PA, which is absolutely mandatory if you're taking I-78 through southeastern Pennsylvania. Speaking of I-78, I'm positive that my wife and I have made the same mistake at least four times on that highway -- taking an exit for lunch at Friendly's only to find that it's a five-mile winding drive to get to the restaurant, when there's one right off the highway two exits further on. The solution may be iExit for iPhone and iPad (now on sale for $0.99, usually $1.99), which gives you a list of all the amenities and dining options for up to 100 exits on down the road. You can sort your iExit results by type (hotels, gas, fast/slow food, coffee) or identify favorite outlets for more filtering choices. iExit also comes in $0.99 Food and Hotel versions (not much point in buying them while the main app is on sale, though) plus a free Lite version; the Lite version only shows what's coming up at the next exit. There's a similar free app called RoadAhead that Mel reviewed last year; on my next highway drive I'll compare it to the Lite version of iExit and see which one stacks up better. Hat tip to CNN for Roadside America and iExit. Of course, the king of the American road guide castle is the venerable AAA Triptik. Readers of a certain vintage may remember the paper strip maps from AAA with manually highlighted routes, mileage indicators and approved motels & restaurants marked along the way. Triple-A has also changed with the times, as seen in the AAA Triptik Mobile app (free). Integrating maps and navigation details from NAVTEQ, the app simulates the experience of the old paper Triptiks by letting you shake your iPhone (or press an onscreen button) to announce the next navigational maneuver; not exactly turn-by-turn, but not bad. It also lists AAA-approved hotels, restaurants, campgrounds and more. You can also get navigational help and geosearch from the built-in Maps app, naturally, and from apps such as Mapquest (free) and MotionX GPS Drive ($0.99 plus subscriptions). AAA's separate, free Roadside app is also a must-have for members, as it ties into the complimentary roadside service and towing options from the association. If you'd rather document your journey with a photo journal, there are apps for that too. The latest entry is the free Rough Guides Trip Lens, incorporating technology from the HipGeo trip journal app. Trip Lens gives you an Indiana Jones-style map path with your photos along it, even if you took them far away from WiFi or cell towers -- the geocoded photos are cached and uploaded when you're back in range. You can share or send photos, see other shots taken nearby, and give family or friends a custom URL where they can follow along with your travels. Keeping pointed in the right direction is one thing; keeping everyone from boredom-induced road coma is another thing entirely. BoingBoing points out the social trivia app Trivi.al, available in ad-supported or paid ($2.99) versions. Compete against other quizmasters around the country to see who's got the fastest finger and the sharpest recall... and watch the miles fly by. Being on the road means being away from your familiar -- and presumably secure -- home and work WiFi networks. To keep your mobile connections protected on Random Truck Stop Network, a VPN is a good idea. The commercial VPN service Hotspot Shield secures your data with a bonus; compression routines squeeze your data requirements down so that if you're stuck using your 3G or 4G connection, you can minimize the amount of your quota that gets chewed up. Hotspot Shield subscriptions for a single iOS device run $0.99 a month or $9.99 per year, but there is a current deal via Parallels that gets you protection for up to five computers and five iOS devices for a year for $39.95. Finally, when you do step away from the car for a few minutes of sunbathing, you'd better know how much UV you're absorbing before you burn (sticking to the car seat = an uncomfortable ride). Katie Couric's blog, of all places, points to the UV Safe Timer app (free). This tool takes the actual weather at your location into account when computing your sun exposure, along with your activities and skin type. A timer alerts you when you're due for a reapplication of sunscreen. And wear a hat! Photo by C.G.P. Grey | flickr cc
Norway's Zero team crosses Europe in hydrogen cars without a backup
It's not quite a trip around the world, but a trek that Norway's Zero team recently undertook in a pair of hydrogen-fueled cars is certainly an impressive enough feat in its own right. Late last month, they drove two Hyundai Ix35 FCEVs from Oslo to Monte Carlo (admittedly one of the easier ways to technically "cross Europe"), relying solely on the existing hydrogen refueling infrastructure -- that's as opposed to other trips that brought along fuel trucks as backup. As the team explains, the key to the trip was some careful planning at the outset, but they apparently still wound up cutting it close a few times, and were forced to put their hypermiling skills to the test. Not surprisingly, they found that the hydrogen infrastructure still needs to be considerably improved for such trips to become commonplace, but they seem hopeful that things could soon improve.
Magellan announces RoadMate RV9145 GPS device, offers campground navigation for $350
Looking to get a jump start on your summer road trip? Magellan wants to help out, with the RoadMate RV9145. This latest addition to the RoadMate family of GPS devices features an "extra-wide" seven-inch display, which drivers can use to locate campgrounds and navigate the open road, even in low light conditions. With the RV9145, you'll have access to the Good Sam Trailer Life RV Parks & Campground Directory, which offers information on more than 11,700 campground locations across the US and Canada, including those with WiFi and other amenities. Each route, moreover, can be tailored according to your vehicle's height, width and weight, as well as your own preferences for scenic or expedient traveling. The device also comes packed with Magellan's Smart Detour, which offers alternate routes whenever traffic gets unexpectedly thorny, and offers both 2D and 3D mapping capabilities. No word yet on when this device will hit the market, but when it does, you'll be able to grab it for $350.
Google and ITA's OnTheFly app update puts flexible flight planning in your pocket
Google went through a lot to buy ITA and its travel software, and we saw the acquisition first bear fruit in the form of Mountain View's web-based Flight Search. Now the partnership has produced version 1.2 of the OnTheFly airfare booking app for Android, iOS and BlackBerry. What's new? Flexible date searches that let you peruse departures 35 days at a time, plus a price graph that shows the most fiscally prudent times to travel. Additionally, globetrotters can access their itinerary search history and see price changes for those fares throughout the year. Nice job fellas, now let's work on bringing bargain-basement fare finding for the final frontier in the next revision.
Google launches Flight Search service, Kayak shrugs it off (video)
Google's DOJ-approved acquisition of ITA has finally borne fruit, in the form of Flight Search -- a new tool that aims to streamline the chaos that is online travel booking. The Mountain View contingent unveiled the interface yesterday, with an "early look" at what appears to be a fairly straightforward service. Once you enter your starting point, destination, price range and duration, a list of results will appear in ascending order of fare and duration, below a map displaying each flight's trajectory. From there, you can filter your results by airline, number of layovers or specific departure times, before booking your itinerary on the carrier's site (Google was careful to point out that flight selection and results will not be "influenced by any paid relationships"). At the moment, the service is restricted to a select group of US cities and only features round-trip economy class flights, but Google says future updates and expansions are on the way. We're eager to see how the company dresses up this relatively bare bones platform and, perhaps more importantly, how competing travel sites react to it. Kayak, for one, responded with confident nonchalance to Flight Search, explicitly describing it as an inferior product. "We're confident in our ability to compete, and we believe our flight search technology is superior," the company said, in a statement. "We recognize Google is a formidable competitor but they haven't been successful in every vertical they've entered." Let the games begin. Demo video after the break.
New contest for Gods and Heroes offering a toga getaway
To look at most of the screenshots for Gods and Heroes, you might think that life in ancient Rome was nothing but gladiators fighting mythical monsters and one another. But if you went to college (or watched Animal House at some point), the first element of Roman culture that springs to mind is the toga. Heatwave Interactive is capitalizing on just that by offering fans a chance to spend a weekend in Las Vegas with all expenses paid -- just for wearing a toga. Running until June 6th, the contest asks for players to don a toga, upload a photograph to the official site, and then take part in the voting to determine who looks best in a tastefully arranged bedsheet. The full rules are naturally a bit more elaborate than that for legal reasons, but the important point is that you can get a free trip just for dressing up in a ridiculous but appropriate outfit. That's something any Gods and Heroes fan can get behind.
PAX East 2011: Stalking through DDO's Update 9
One of the scariest games I ever played has to be the original Silent Hill. A nearly empty town shrouded with fog and featuring one of the most terrifying elementary schools ever devised? Yes, this is why I didn't sleep much in 1999. So when I started to get flashbacks as Fernando Paiz took me through the creepy alleyways of Dungeon and Dragons Online's upcoming update, I had to excuse myself and run around the PAX East show floor for a few minutes while shrieking like a tormented cat. OK, it wasn't that frightening, but I definitely was getting a Silent Hill vibe from the latest adventure pack that Turbine has crafted for the game. Coming "soon" (TM, all rights reserved, void in Utah and the Yukon Territories), DDO's Update 9 promises to bring a wide assortment of lavish treats to a hungry populace. At the center of it is a level 15 quest chain that centers around mysterious abductions, a skittish population, and nightmares made flesh. Hit the jump as I recall my brush with certain death in these adventures and relate the other jewels of Update 9!
Exclusive: A day trip to Meizu's factory (video)
Jack Wong is a very lucky guy. Or you can say he's very unfortunate. On one hand, his eight-year-old Meizu label -- literally meaning "the captivating tribe" -- has rapidly become one of the most popular brands amongst Chinese gadget lovers, yet all he's producing right now is just the one phone: the M9. On the other hand, the now-discontinued M8 had notoriously caught unwanted attention from Apple, and even the recent M9 launch saw accusations of Meizu hiring people to stand in line. But the latter points are irrelevant for now -- what we're really interested in is how a teensy MP3 player factory managed to outpace its numerous competitors to become a reputable smartphone maker with a huge fan base. To help us understand what drives the company, we decided to pay Meizu a visit. Go on, you know where to click. %Gallery-115342%
TravelTeq's 'The Trip Sound' luggage boasts integrated speaker, USB charging port
Heaven only knows if you could actually squeeze this thing into the overhead bin of an Airbus A319, but darn if we wouldn't give our left arm to try. TravelTeq's newest piece of luggage makes just about every other average piece of zip-up cloth look downright antediluvian, but with a price tag well north of $700, that's certainly to be expected. It's engineered to be toted onboard your aircraft, with the top doubling as a seat and a set of pull-out wheels ensuring that you never tip it over whilst darting from one end of PHX to the other. It's fairly clear that the technophile was in mind during this unit's creation, as it touts a dedicated laptop pouch, a reinforced aluminum exterior, inbuilt speaker system (two drivers and 15 total watts of power), a 3.5mm auxiliary input, and a port for charging your mobile (or anything else with a USB port, save for an iPad). The Trip Sound is up for order right now, and we're guessing the toughest decision of all will be deciding between white or red wheels.
Win a trip to BlizzCon from the official WoW magazine
If you are one of the many people who were unable to get tickets to BlizzCon or just couldn't afford to go, the World of Warcraft Official Magazine is giving away two tickets, airfare and a hotel stay for the event. Andy Salisbury, an editor at the magazine, had this to say about the contest: I know as well as anyone that getting a ticket to BlizzCon is difficult. Having sat in the ticket queue with six browsers open across two computers I understand that they can go fast, and despite your best efforts you'll be left peeking in through the Anaheim Convention Center's windows. However, today those of us with the World of Warcraft Official Magazine are announcing a contest which will allow you to get your very own pair of BlizzCon tickets (with your room and airfare paid for) on us. In order to find out more, either crank up your World of Warcraft launcher, or head on over to our website at www.worldofwarcraftthemagazine.com. No purchase is necessary to enter, but there are rules and restrictions just like with any contest. Good luck!
iPhone vs. Pre: The best air-travel companion
I'm by no means a frequent flyer, but I'm preparing for a trip to Vegas to get hitched in just about week. I'm loading up my iPhone with applications to make my vacation a little easier, like Flight Tracker and TripIt. Even with all these apps, I was left wondering if my iPhone would really be the perfect air-travel companion (other than my wonderful fiancée, of course). Fortunately, Ars Technica was there to put some of my fears to bed, putting the Pre up for battle against the iPhone as the ultimate travel companion. Thankfully for me, the iPhone ends up as the clear winner. The article notes the wide availability of iPhone charging accessories if you happen to be short on battery with your charger stashed away in your checked baggage, as well as the huge number of apps available in the App Store to aid in your travel or supply time-wasting entertainment for long layovers or flights. It also notes the iPhone's battery-saving options (like Airplane Mode, turning off WiFi/Bluetooth, screen brightness, etc.) as extremely valuable when you're traveling and don't have immediate access to a charger. What are your tips for traveling with your iPhone?
Star Trek references in the World of Warcraft
Wait, what? Star Trek is now cool you say? What is my nerdy self going to cling to? What's going to make a geek above other geeks as I recite the Klingon alphabet backwards in the Qo'noS dialect? Oh wait, there's WoW! And what's more geeky than taking a look at all the Star Trek references in the game?Well, the answer is not much.But that's okay, because it's geek-chic, or whatever those babbling idiots on What Not To Wear say.So take a look my geeky bretheren, all the Star Trek references in the World of Warcraft after thy break.
SteelSeries and Blizzard partners offer BlizzCon Sweepstakes
A few of Blizzard's partners (including Jinx, Upper Deck, and SteelSeries) have all teamed up to offer you what for many, Blizzard couldn't: two tickets to BlizzCon in October. Yes, in the first of what we're sure will be many contests and sweepstakes for BlizzCon tickets, these guys have set up a giveaway to hook up one lucky winner with passes for two to the event that's a Blizzard fan's dream.All you've got to do to enter is put your info in over on their site -- the Grand Prize winner will pick up an all expenses paid trip to BlizzCon, and ten other winners will get some WoW-related gear from the contest's sponsors (SteelSeries makes the Zboard, and apparently they're releasing one for Wrath, so you might get one of those as well). There is a checklist that you can leave unchecked to supposedly keep the sponsors from contacting you, so even if you don't want your info opt-ed in, it looks like you're in the clear.If you do enter, good luck! (And if you win, we'll see you at BlizzCon!) There are bound to be a few more of these contests showing up before the big event, so even if you don't walk away with a trip from this one, stay tuned.
All of E3's 'Showcase Pavillion' in about five minutes
At last year's E3, the place to go to try out games without a behind-closed doors appointment was the "Summit Sotware Showcase" in the relatively tiny Barker Hangar. This year, the place to browse was the similarly small "Showcase Pavillion" in the similarly small L.A. Convention Center's Concourse Hall. Thus, we decided to reprise last year's double-time video trip through the Barker Hangar with a similar, double-time video trip through this year's version of the showloor, embedded below. Can you spot your favorite company/game? Find out after the jump.
Suzuki offers up Garmin GPS on all 2009 SX4 vehicles
Back in the day, integrated GPS units were the stuff of luxury cars, gargantuan SUV cruisers, and lost old ladies. Suzuki is looking to change all of that by including the Garmin T.R.I.P. on all 2009 SX4 Sport and SX4 Crossover vehicles -- at no extra charge. As Suzuki gleefully points out, this marks the first time a sub-$16,000 car has included a GPS unit as standard equipment. The T.R.I.P. (Travel, Real-time traffic, Information and Play) sports a flip-up 4.3-inch screen and Bluetooth connectivity. As for software, it will include real-time traffic, weather forecasts, local event listings, community-based recommendations, and a gas station finder that can filter based on fuel prices. We're still fans of portable GPS units, but there is something elegant about those big-screened integrated monsters.
A BlizzCon packing list
Elizabeth's guide about what to bring and what not to bring onto the show floor at BlizzCon was helpful, but if you only brought what she suggested, you'd show up naked and without your ID. Those of us packing right now to travel across the country and spend the weekend in Anaheim need a little more guidance than that!And so we've put together a checklist, so you can make sure that from the second you leave your hometown to the second you return, you're well equipped for everything you need to make this BlizzCon perfect. The checklist, perfect for cutting, pasting, and printing as you pack, starts right after the jump.
