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'Pokémon Go' creator Niantic to develop GPS-based tourism games
It was at the helm of GPS/AR/Maps-based "exergaming" in 2013 with Ingress, saw phenomenal success with Pokémon Go, and will launch a location-based Harry Potter mobile game next year. Now, Niantic is making the natural move into tourism-focused games. In partnership with the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), as part of its Travel.Enjoy.Respect program, the games company will create new experiences that encourage players to explore and discover the hidden histories of both their own neighborhoods and further afield.
How to use your existing phone overseas
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TSA outlines its plans for facial recognition on domestic flights
The Transportation Security Administration is determined to make facial recognition and other biometrics a regular part of the airport experience, and it now has a roadmap for that expansion. The effort will start by teaming with Customs and Border Protection on biometric security for international travel, followed by putting the technology into use for TSA Precheck travelers to speed up their boarding process. After that, it would both devise an "opt-in" biometric system for ordinary domestic passengers and flesh out a deeper infrastructure.
Google makes it easier to keep track of travel research
Google is introducing new features that will make it easier for you to keep track of your travel plans. When you're putting a trip together, you might end up juggling a lot of information like flights that you're keeping an eye on, hotel options and restaurants or sites you're interested in visiting. Beginning in October, Your Trips will help you manage all of that info, organizing what you've saved and searched for and letting you resume planning where you left off. Additionally, Google will assist with your planning, surfacing things to do, day plans and travel articles in Search that will become more customized as you settle your dates and hotels reservations.
Airbnb hopes to give hosts a stake in the company
If Airbnb has its way, hosting travelers won't just get you some spending money -- it'll get you a stake in the company's future. Axios has discovered that Airbnb sent a letter to the SEC asking for the regulator to permit offering equity to hosts. Airbnb primarily supported changes to Securities Act Rule 701 that would allow offering shares to gig economy workers, not just investors and staff. CEO Brian Chesky characterized it as vital to rewarding the company's supporters.
Greyhound joins the modern era with e-tickets on iPhones
Intercity bus service Greyhound might not be the quickest way of getting around, but purchasing tickets is at least a bit faster now thanks to the new (and arguably well overdue) e-ticketing feature on its iOS app. Passengers can buy tickets directly through the app, then simply flash their device at the driver as they board the bus. Every aspect of a trip can be managed through the app, including check-in, updates and live departure times, plus member rewards. And if you're about to get on a long bus journey, chances are your phone's already juiced up, so you needn't worry about misplacing your info -- unlike Android users, who still have to wait for their update.
Volvo's autonomous concept car is about more than commuting
Autonomous vehicles are supposed to make our daily commutes more pleasant and potentially quicker. But Volvo wants to take that idea a step further with its 360c concept vehicle. Unveiled at its Gothenburg, Sweden headquarters, the automaker envisions a world where cars become mobile offices, sleep quarters and even a way to skip the airport for short trips.
Mophie co-founders launch eco-friendly mobile accessory brand
Some of the folks behind Mophie have launched a new company called Nimble dedicated to eco-friendly smartphone accessories. Nimble launches today with a slate of new products, including wireless charging pads, stands and travel kits, along with four portable charges, all ranging in price from $40 to $100. Each product is built using plant-based bioplastics, hemp fabrics, recycled plastic bottles and recycled aluminum. The company uses speckled TPE texture rather than toxic paints and the packaging is plastic free and 100 percent compostable.
T-Mobile's $5 international day pass offers 512MB of LTE
T-Mobile is expanding its One plan to give travelers unlimited data and texting across 210 countries. Those who are on the road can use as much 2G data as they like at no extra cost, and the plan offers flat-rate calling at 25 cents per minute (which is an increase of five cents per minute). There's a new pass you can add to your line which includes unlimited calling and 512MB of LTE data every day you're away at a cost of $5 per day. But,you can still use up to 5GB of data at LTE speeds in Mexico and Canada for no extra charge.
August automatically creates smart lock codes for Airbnb guests (updated)
Locks are a pain with home rental services like Airbnb, whether you're a host or a guest. Do you really want to pick up a spare key, or make the host generate a smart lock code just for you? August thinks it can make life a little easier on that front. If an Airbnb host has August's Smart Keypad, and one of its Smart Locks, they can automatically generate an entry code the moment you make a reservation. The code is timed for the length of the reservation and adapts to changes, so hosts won't have to worry about unscrupulous guests wandering in after their stay is over.
Netflix will keep streaming Anthony Bourdain's 'Parts Unknown'
Netflix's deal to carry Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown in the US was due to expire on June 16th, and that was understandably distressing if you wanted to pay tribute to the late chef by streaming his last series. You won't have to rush through them after today, however. The service has extended its arrangement to keep Bourdain's food and travel show available in the US "for months to come." The firm hasn't named a new expiry date, but you now have the freedom to watch at a more relaxed pace.
Airbnb pulls over 48,000 rentals in Japan following recent law
If you're planning to stay at an Airbnb rental in Japan in the near future, you may be in for an unpleasant surprise. Airbnb has removed about 48,200 rentals (about 78 percent of those in the country) after the Japanese government ordered home sharing companies to pull any rentals booked before June 15th that didn't have license numbers issued under a recent law regulating home-based accommodations. This wouldn't be such an issue if it weren't that the June 1st order was "contrary" to previous guidance from the Japanese Tourism Agency, Airbnb said -- and officials didn't appear to care that "many" of the hosts were already registering or waiting for their licenses.
Airbnb tests its own version of Snapchat's Stories for rentals
Even Airbnb can't resist the urge to copy Snapchat, it seems. The home rental outfit is quietly beta testing a Stories feature in its iPhone app that (surprise!) lets you document your trips with photos and short videos. You can view the resulting productions both on your phone and the web, and they appear to automatically link to places in the stories along with the related accommodations. Clearly, Airbnb sees this as a marketing tool -- you might be more likely to book a rental if you see examples of what people did during their stays. It doesn't hurt that this could get you to use the app beyond scheduling your own trips.
Spirit is first budget airline in the US to offer WiFi
As a rule, traveling with a budget airline in the US means foregoing any kind of mid-flight WiFi access. Not so with Spirit, though. The no-frills air carrier is rolling out internet access to its aircraft this fall, with the entire fleet expected to have connectivity by summer 2019. It might even be usable, unlike some options -- Spirit is relying on Ka-band satellite access, and is promising another speed upgrade when the SES-17 satellite reaches orbit in 2021.
Airbnb just opened an 'Office of Healthy Tourism'
In a bid to counteract tourist saturation in major cities around the world, Airbnb is opening a new global Office of Healthy Tourism. The move is designed to bring the economic benefits of tourism to small businesses and local residents in destinations off the beaten track, while lessening the burden on popular holiday hotspots.
Airbnb starts sharing Chinese hosts' info with the government
China is determined to make foreign companies bow to its surveillance rules, and that extends to home rental services. Airbnb has told hosts that it will start providing their information to Chinese government agencies on March 30th in order to obey regulations. The country requires that citizens and visitors alike register their addresses with police in the first 24 hours after they either arrive in the country or stay at a hotel.
Airbnb makes it easier to find accessible rentals
Airbnb is making quick use of the travel accessibility startup it bought a few months ago. The rental service has introduced 21 filters that help you find disability-friendly listings that meet your exact needs. You can look for ramps, wide hallways, roll-in showers and other features that can help if you use a wheelchair or otherwise have special mobility requirements. Previously, Airbnb had a simple "wheelchair accessible" filter that frequently left glaring omissions.
Flying with a VR headset isn't as dorky as it sounds
As a somewhat regular flyer, I had always been intrigued by the concept of wearing a head-mounted display for some immersive in-flight entertainment. However, I never really found the "cinema" part of existing "personal cinema" headsets pervasive at all. Watching a tiny video through those headsets is like sitting in the last row of an empty theater. I'm not going to pay $800 for that. Then came the smartphone-powered VR headsets, but their three-degree-of-freedom (3DoF) tracking for just the head was never precise enough for prolonged usage. It wasn't until the Vive Focus, HTC's $630 standalone 6DoF VR device for China (about $100 of which goes to local taxes), that I finally decided to give virtual reality a chance to prove itself as a worthy alternative to those in-flight touchscreens. Luckily for me, my wife didn't forbid me from bringing this bright blue headset to our vacation, as long as it would fit into my carry-on.
Panasonic's ZS200 compact camera doubles down on zoom
Along with the all-new GX9, Panasonic launched the ZS200 compact superzoom, a successor to the excellent ZS100. The new model hasn't massively changed, as it still offers a 1-inch, 20.1 megapixel sensor, 5-axis stabilization, 4K, 30 fps video and more. However, there's enough new stuff there to make it interesting. Mainly, the Leica-built zoom lens has an increased range of 24-360x, compared to 25-250x (35mm equivalent) for the last model, albeit at a loss in aperture speed from f/2.8-5.9 to f/3.3-6.4.
Get your hotel rooms and flights right from Google search
Google Flights is already a great place to search when you're headed out on vacation or business trips. It uses AI to predict possible flight delays, too, and helps you find rate information on hotels and airline tickets based on peak travel times. Now some new updates will help you find and book hotels and flights right in a Google search.
