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Muji launches calendar, notepad and travel apps for the iPhone and iPad

Samuel Gibbs — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 14:30:00 EST

iOS apps are, perhaps, not the first thing you think about when Muji's concerned, but the modernist homeware and clothing brand has launched three iPad apps, two free, one paid for, and a Japanese-language only iPhone apparel catalog app. We'll start with the iPad apps.

Muji Calendar

Although the iPad comes with a calendar app built-in, Muji thinks it can do better. In their words, 'MUJI's scheduler for iPad is so instinctive and smooth to use that it becomes part of your life before you realize it'. It'll sync your calendar with Google, and there's all the usual calendar refinements you might expect, including day, week, month or year view. You can also search for calendar events, and there's a little Muji suitcase that rolls along the top in response to the accelerometer, but there's no landscape support at all. So, nothing special here. One for die hard Muji fans. Still it is free.

Muji Calendar [iTunes] - Free

Continue reading Muji launches calendar, notepad and travel apps for the iPhone and iPad

Muji launches calendar, notepad and travel apps for the iPhone and iPad originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 03 Nov 2010 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A Rough Guide To The World showcases our beautiful planet and IE9 hardware acceleration

Erez Zukerman — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Video, Browsers

This one's mainly for Internet Explorer 9 users: When you first load the Rough Guides' A Rough Guide To The World, you find yourself staring at a map -- it's divided into many many tiny little squares, and each one has a spinner.

After a short while, the spinners start disappearing, replaced by tiny thumbnails. Click on a thumbnail, and get a beautiful Creative-Commons photo of that location, courtesy of Flickr. You will often get much more than one photo -- sometimes even thousands. The tool includes a nice way of browsing them all, in a sort of internal gallery.

The initial thumbnails are tiny, so you can zoom in on whatever part of the globe you find interesting. But there's a more interesting way to get a closer look: a loupe that you can drag around to look at the map. There's a beautiful effect showing the thumbnails enlarged through the loupe (they're kind of distorted), but more importantly, the loupe lets you filter the thumbnails: You can filter by "experience type" (think "Eating", "Shopping", "Festivals"), see all places included as "Experiences" (which contain a bit more detail), or show everything. There's also an option to show a "Rough Guides Map" but it's not very clear - I couldn't figure out exactly what this does.

The whole thing is HTML5 and feels incredibly slick. It's a promotional piece both for IE9 and the Rough Guides series, but it does work on other browsers -- and I wish all marketing would be this beautiful and useful.

After the fold you can watch a short video tour.

Continue reading A Rough Guide To The World showcases our beautiful planet and IE9 hardware acceleration

A Rough Guide To The World showcases our beautiful planet and IE9 hardware acceleration originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 01 Nov 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Bing Maps adds public transportation directions

Lee Mathews — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Microsoft

Bing Maps has added another nice feature, adding public transportation routes to 11 major U.S. cities. It's a good first step for Bing, though there's certainly a lot of work left to do to catch up to Google Maps -- which covers more than twice that many in California alone and a total of 446 cities around the globe.

In cities with coverage, Bing now includes routes for bus, rail, and subway. The official blog post states that the update wasn't just about transit routes, noting that more detailed information is now available for landmarks and businesses.

Even if you're a with-it Seattle resident you might not know that the #48 bus will take you from Cowen Park to the Peet's Coffee on 15th Ave., right, Jay?

Bing Maps adds public transportation directions originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 17 Sep 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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FourEyesUp is a great resource for nerdy travellers and geeky sightseeing

Sebastian Anthony — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fun

I've often thought that guide books should dedicate a few more column inches to geeky attractions.

Why must holidays be about food and wine tasting, or strolling along a sun-kissed seaside boulevard? 'You must see the original Renaissance paintings! And the sculptures!' -- why?! 'The ruins of...' Shut up! I'm a geek! If I had to choose between surfing the 'Net in a coffee shop and tasting wine, I'd choose Starbucks every time!

Which is why FourEyesUp has become one of my primary travel planning resources. Did you know that you could visit Bletchley Park, birthplace of the modern computer? Or how about the MIT Museum? Philips, that omnipresent electrical manufacturer, has a really cool museum in the Netherlands; the list goes on, and on.

FourEyesUp doesn't just list museums, either. There are places, like the island of Svalbard, home of the largest Arctic research team (it's beautiful, too -- I intend to photograph it one day!). Or the Bell Homestead in Canada, home of the first telephonist, Mr Alexander Graham Bell. You can search by country, or show every science centre...

With so much attention on location independent living, and with geeks surely comprising a huge percentage of that crowd, I think FourEyesUp will do very well indeed. Here's hoping that all future travel guides -- printed and digital -- cover geekier and not-so-stereotypical 'must see' attractions.

FourEyesUp is a great resource for nerdy travellers and geeky sightseeing originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 08 Sep 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple patent controversy: patent diagrams look a lot like existing apps

Jay Hathaway — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 07:00:00 EST

Filed under: Business, Apple, iPhone

Apple's got an interesting new patent application for a location-based suggestion system to be used in travel apps. There's nothing too controversial about the idea, but the patent diagrams have third-party iPhone developers taking notice because they look an awful lot like existing apps. Drawings in the patent closely resemble Where To?, GuideYou Amsterdam and an official Ralph Lauren app.

Dan Wineman caught the similarities on his blog, and the story was picked up by TechCrunch and others. Should developers be worried that Apple is going to patent their apps and put them out of business? Probably not. Apple's patent is for the very general purpose of "integrating travel services in a single application available to a portable electronic device." Whatever they're planning is probably a lot bigger than any of these individual apps, and won't end up looking like any of them.

I'd actually be excited if Apple came out with a full-service travel app like the one described, that could be used for "reserving a travel itinerary, checking-in remotely for a reservation, providing airport information, providing for social networking, obtaining dining or entertainment during travel, controlling and requesting cabin services, providing arrival notifications to third parties, providing destination location information, and the like." That's a little more than just finding relevant location-based suggestion while you travel.

Apple patent controversy: patent diagrams look a lot like existing apps originally appeared on Download Squad on Sat, 07 Aug 2010 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Expatistan helps you make quick cost of living comparisons

Erez Zukerman — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 16:30:00 EST

Filed under: Business, Utilities, Web

Expatistan is a simple website that lets you pit two cities (only two at a time) against each other and compare the relative cost of living in each.

Using the site, I was able to discover that the cost of living in NYC is 67 percent higher than the cost of living in Tel Aviv. Now, I've been to New York, and I beg to differ. The cost of living may be more expensive, but I'm really not convinced that it's 67 percent greater. The site does provide a disclaimer about the comparison, however: "This comparison has some inconsistent or sparse data. It already provides a reliable comparison but it is not bullet-proof. "

The site seems to get its data from users. When I tried to check a random city, it did recognize the city, but it had too little data about it. So, it asked me to feed some sample prices, and I was presented with a form that made clear what the most important metrics were.

According to the "How does it work" page, the site uses Prague as a "reference city," and it orients all other prices around it. You don't feel it when you're using the site (you are simply comparing two cities), but that's how the algorithm works.

I thought that Wolfram Alpha might provide me with some more reliable data, but when trying to compare Tel Aviv to New York City, I got no financial data whatsoever. If you know of a more reliable way to compare the cost of living between two cities, please do share in the comments.

Expatistan helps you make quick cost of living comparisons originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 06 Aug 2010 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Meego in-vehicle infotainment remix now available for download

Lee Mathews — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 11:30:00 EST

Filed under: Linux

Meego -- the Linux effort headed up by Intel and Nokia -- recently scored a fairly major win, with GENIVI selecting it as the platform of choice for in-vehicle infotainment. In case you're not familiar with GENIVI, it's a consortium comprised of several high-profile companies including GM, BMW, Hyundai, Intel, Nokia, NVidia, ARM, Freescale, and many others.

On GENIVI's about page, they speak of "developing a reusable, open source IVI platform" with the hope of driving "broad adoption of [a] development platform." Enter Meego, which now appears poised to face off against Android on an even wider variety of upcoming devices.

Just days ago, the Meego IVI version was made available to the public. If you've got a car PC (or you plan on knocking one together), you can now download the remix and give it a go. As you'd expect with an IVI OS, Meego supports road-friendly tech like Bluetooth and Navit. Fennec is included for web browsing and Totem currently handles audio/video duties.

Right now, the Meego IVI interface isn't quite as polished as the netbook version, but it's a nice start and should be a nice fit for small-screen in-dash systems.

If your luck is better than mine, feel free to send over some screenshots -- I couldn't get Meego IVI to do anything other than boot and freeze at the desktop, and it wouldn't install.

Meego in-vehicle infotainment remix now available for download originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 03 Aug 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google Latitude + Google Location History = very cool and kinda scary

Sebastian Anthony — Thu, 27 May 2010 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Internet, web 2.0

Google has just launched a new service -- Location History -- that keeps track of your movements.

Before you get your panties and/or beard in a twist, you can delete your location history at any time. It's private, too: neither your friends or the public can see your location history.

Now, with that out of the way, are you grinning like a fool at the prospect of how awesome such a tool is, or petrified of the potential privacy issues? The paranoid amongst us will point out that government agencies could request your location history -- but at the same time, if you're innocent, you have a rock-solid alibi!

Then there are the value-added features: not only is it kinda cool to see where you've been, but you can also revisit your travels via Google Earth and Maps. You can also check at a glance where you were on a given day, which can be handy if you're one of those busy people whose days seem to all merge into one.

Finally, with Location History bonding to Latitude (it's a Latitude app, in fact), you can have Google send you a notification when you are physically near to a friend. Because Location History knows your regular locations, you can set it so that notifications only trigger when you are in an unusual place... such as a large park... at night... in the bushes.

Google Latitude + Google Location History = very cool and kinda scary originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 27 May 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fun Tourist Attractions is a curated, visual guide of places to visit

Erez Zukerman — Tue, 04 May 2010 15:54:00 EST

Filed under: Fun, Video, Education

Fun Tourist Attractions calls itself a "visual travel guide," and the name is pretty fitting. It's a large, carefully curated collection of attractions in places all over the world. You won't find stuff that is really "off the beaten path," but it's great for quickly figuring out what some of the most popular attractions are, wherever you're going.

Each location has a list of attractions that are rated "Top," "Good," and "Popular" (with five, four, and three stars). Each attraction has a clear thumbnail and text description, and when you click into it, you get related videos (collected off of YouTube) and blog posts from around the Web.

The information seems to be carefully curated; there doesn't seem to be a lot of noise or spam on the site. I wouldn't use it to plan a whole trip, but if there's a city that you'll just be popping through (say, on a long layover), this site can quickly give you some nice places to visit.

Fun Tourist Attractions is a curated, visual guide of places to visit originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 04 May 2010 15:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Disgruntled ex-employee bricks and "honks" over 100 cars using the web

Erez Zukerman — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 10:02:00 EST

Filed under: Security

Take a car. Put in a black box, hooked into the horn and the ignition. On the other end of the box, put a website (connected wirelessly). Let employees use the site to honk the car's horn remotely or prevent it from starting.

Reads rather like a nerdy college prank, doesn't it? I'm afraid this is actually a commercial system, deployed on thousands of cars, used to "get the attention of consumers delinquent in their auto payments". In other words, this is trouble just waiting to happen. And indeed, trouble struck. Allegedly, a disgruntled employee by the name of Omar Ramos-Lopez was fired, and then logged onto the system using another user's credentials to wreak said havoc. He targeted specific cars at first, but then found out he could go through them alphabetically and went on like that for about a hundred cars. Much fairer that way, I guess.

That's just one good reason to pay for your car in full (or get one without a web-connected black box!).

Disgruntled ex-employee bricks and "honks" over 100 cars using the web originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 19 Mar 2010 10:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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TripIt released for Android, updated for iPhone, coming soon for Blackberry

Paul O'Brien — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: BlackBerry, iPhone, Mobile, Android

Travel management site TripIt have launched their mobile companion application for Android, available for download free of charge from the Android Market.

The new application, which is usable with both Standard and Pro TripIt accounts, allows you to access your travel itinerary direct from your Android phone, get maps and directions, make calls to airlines, hotels etc. as well as enabling flight alerts and alternate flight details for Pro users.

As well as launching on Android, TripIt have released an update to their iPhone application, available for download now from the App Store. The iPhone version adds support for Pro account features, as well as a number of useful travel tools including terminal maps, seating advice and live flight status.

If you have a Blackberry and you're feeling left out, fear not! The TripIt Blackberry application is currently in Beta, with release expected before the end of the year. Now how about good old Windows Mobile and that young upstart WebOS...?

TripIt released for Android, updated for iPhone, coming soon for Blackberry originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Weird Wednesday: how to make a font with your car

Lee Mathews — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fun, Text, Weird Wednesday

Ok, so maybe you don't have access to all the necessary equipment to pull this off, but if you did...It would look a lot like the contents of this Flickr gallery.

Professional race driver Stef van Campenhoudt, typographers Pierre and Damien of PleaseLetMeDesign, and interactive artist Zachary Lieberman collaborated to create iQ font using a compact Toyota hatchback and an array of computer and video hardware. You can watch things unfold in a Vimeo clip after the break.

The resulting font is actually quite good, with a hand-drawn, script look to it. You can view sample images of iQ font and download it from Toyota Belgium's web site.

Scriptiness is fine and dandy, but let's see if they can pull off something with a nice, scholarly feel to it like Book Antiqua.

Thanks for the tip, Ramin!

Continue reading Weird Wednesday: how to make a font with your car

Weird Wednesday: how to make a font with your car originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 22 Jul 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Learn to Fly - Time Waster

Jason Clarke — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fun, Games, Kids, Time-Wasters, Web

There's a certain style of time waster that I find incredibly addicting - those in the "see how far it can fly" genre. Two previous favorites include Shopping Cart Hero, and Air Voltare. If you like those games, you're going to love today's Time Waster, Learn to Fly.

In Learn to Fly, you play the part of a penguin who is not happy to be a flightless bird. Your job is to research the best way to achieve flight, which in this case involves sliding down a ramp and flying through the air with a glider strapped to your back and rockets strapped to your sides.

There are 4 increasingly harder levels to master in Learn to Fly, but as you go you can purchase power-ups for your equipment and your abilities. To beat each level, you must exceed set goals for height, distance traveled, length of flight, and top speed. To win the game you must travel at least 6000 feet, and you then receive a rating based on how many "days" (test flights) it takes you to get there. It took me 25 days to achieve flight.

I have to say, this sort of time waster often does not have an end goal, but rather continues on ad infinitum. It's nice to know that once you hit the 6000 foot mark, you've won the game. How many days will it take you to achieve flight?

Learn to Fly - Time Waster originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 15 Jun 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pack everything on your list with Packwhiz

Jay Hathaway — Fri, 01 May 2009 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Productivity, Web services

If you're planning for summer travel, you might want to check out Packwhiz before you leave. It helps you generate thorough packing lists that will make sure you don't leave anything behind on your trip. Just check off some quick boxes about how you're traveling, what kind of weather you expect, and whether you're camping or staying in a hotel, and PackWhiz does the rest.

PackWhiz's lists aren't written in stone. If you need to add some kind of unusual item, or if you don't need to bring some the things it suggests, you can just make the changes manually. Packwhiz also lets you specify whether men or women will be going on the trip, which seems trivial, but it saves you the time of adding and removing gender-specific toiletries from your list. Sign-in is done with Google Accounts, so if you already have gmail, you can get started right away.

Pack everything on your list with Packwhiz originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 01 May 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Figure out how much gas money you need with Cost To Drive

Brad Linder — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Internet, Web services, web 2.0

Planning a road trip in the near future? Cost To Drive is a web application that can help you figure out how much cash to take out of the ATM before you hit the road. Sure, you could certainly get a rough estimate by dividing the number of miles you have to drive by your car's average mileage and then multiplying that figure by the average price of gas. But where's the fun in that?

Cost To Drive lets you select from a long list of automobile makes and models dating back to 1999. Just select your car from the list, plug in the locations for the start and end of your trip, and the web site will spit out an estimate of how much gas money you'll burn through. The figure is obtained by looking at the mpg for your car and the average price of gas in various spots along your route.

[via TechnoSpot]

Figure out how much gas money you need with Cost To Drive originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 03 Oct 2008 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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TaxiMe Does Fare Estimations, With Some Help

Lee Mathews — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Internet, Web services, web 2.0

While it's not any great benefit to someone living in the middle of nowhere like me, TaxiMe offers a nice service for city dwellers.

By querying Google Maps for distance information TaxiMe will quickly provide you with an estimated cab fare. It's a great concept, but I ran into a rather bothersome issue. While Google Maps will handle input like "Polo Park Winnipeg mb" without a hitch and automatically find the street address, TaxiMe won't.

While the TaxiMe form does ask you to "please make sure the address is typed in the following format," most of us probably don't know the street address of our shops or restaurants. That means you've got to go to Google Maps first to locate the address, then head back to TaxiMe and execute your query.

Still, the estimation is pretty slick, its rates are adjustable, and you'll also be given phone listings for relevant taxi companies. For anyone that needs to cab it to an unknown destination, TaxiMe is a nice way to figure out how much cash you're going to need to get there.

[via Listio]

TaxiMe Does Fare Estimations, With Some Help originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 08 Sep 2008 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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TripSay like Twitter... with a map... for travelers... sort of

Christina Clark — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Internet, Social Software

TripSay is hard to explain. It combines travel information, social networking, maps and reviews of places. As someone who enjoys traveling, I think it has potential.

Basically, you log in to TripSay and build your world by entering places you have traveled. Each place you enter can get a rating from a smiley face to a butt (really!) and a short tip or comment for which you can, thankfully use more than 140 characters. You can join groups with similar travel interests like a particular place or type of travel.

Based on your rating of places you will get recommendations on the map that match what you have indicated you enjoy. Most of my recent vacation have been to beaches, so the majority of my recommendations were for beachy places. Tripsay uses a recommendation engine to generate your results.

If you want to look for something different, you can click on different icons on the main map to see mountains, shopping, cities, etc. that have been rated by other users.

TripSay calls itself an intelligent social network (that) delivers highly targeted travel information, recommendations and tips based on one's unique preferences and social network.

I think if TripSay gains a large user base and lots of information it could be really useful to find interesting restaurants and out of the way places that guidebooks don't cover. But, it will really depend on the amount of users the site attracts.

It is now in free public beta.

TripSay like Twitter... with a map... for travelers... sort of originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dopplr's "Copenhagen" release tempts travelers with new features

Jay Hathaway — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Utilities, Social Software, web 2.0

We haven't written much about Dopplr, a social network for travelers, since we talked about its launch last year. If you're a jetsetter, or even someone who travels a couple of times a year and has a lot of friends, we'd like to direct your attention to the new features in Dopplr's "Copenhagen" release, which has been out for less than a month. The key improvements include the ability to add trips by e-mail, Twitter and SMS, and the introduction of public profiles.

These new methods of adding trips are a followup to the iCal and Google Calendar support that Dopplr added earlier this year. Now you can either automatically update your Dopplr by updating your calendar, or you can send in your trips in almost any way you could wish for, short of mental telepathy. Public profiles mean you can show your trips to anybody, not just your Dopplr contacts, and choose how much information you want to share. At this point, we're basically looking for excuses to travel, just so we can use Dopplr.

Dopplr's "Copenhagen" release tempts travelers with new features originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 29 Jul 2008 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PlanetEye: One stop travel planner

Brad Linder — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Internet, Web services, Social Software, Search, web 2.0

PlanetEye is a new travel site that uses Microsoft technology and partnerships with third party services like OpenTable and Travelocity to provide a ton of information about in one place. Just enter a destination and PlanetEye will bring up a map with a bunch of dots representing points of interest. Click on a dot to see shared pictures from that location.

You can also click on the hotels, restaurants, or attractions buttons in the sidebar to switch from the picture view to something a bit more useful. Or you can turn off the map and click on the City Guide to bring up a list of places to eat, sleep, and visit.

If you've registered for a free account, you can save information you find on the site to a "travel pack" which you can share with other users or just use as a tool for planning your own vacation.

[via AppScout]

PlanetEye: One stop travel planner originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 10 Jul 2008 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Simple but powerful Drivepricing helps calculate gas costs

Drew Olanoff — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Internet, Utilities, Productivity, Web services, Social Software, web 2.0

Sometimes the best web services are the simplest ones. Drivepricing lets you calculate the cost of gas for your road trip.

With gas prices so high its nice to be able to know how much to put in the piggy bank to save up for the trips you have coming up this summer.

So when you're going to visit grandma in Albany from Philly, you can drop your gas mileage in there and get an estimated cost of what you're going to have to beg her for so you can get home.

Even if you don't know your gas mileage they have a link to FuelEconomy.gov for you. Drop your zipcode in there, start address, end address, the type of gas you use (which is a great feature) and whether its a round trip or not.

After a few seconds of loading, booya there you have it. Price per gallon and cost for trip.

Simple but powerful Drivepricing helps calculate gas costs originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 09 Jul 2008 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Socialize your next trip with tripwolf

Joey Celis — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Social Software, web 2.0

Planning a vacation always starts with one thing... where to go. You could always ask a friend or a family member for their suggestions but then you would be only limited to where they've been. Tripwolf hopes to change that with there social travel website.

There are different ways you can use the site, if you already have an idea of where you would like to go enter it in the search box and Tripwolf will display the location along with places of interest, photos, videos and reviews by members of the site.

But the strongest feature of the site are the Trip Gurus. The trip gurus are self-proclaimed experts in their chosen areas of travel. Simply ask them a question and most will respond back with helpful suggestions.

So if you're thinking of planing a trip you might want to see what Tripwolf has to offer.

Socialize your next trip with tripwolf originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 03 Jul 2008 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft relaunches Farecast, changes almost nothing

Brad Linder — Thu, 22 May 2008 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Internet, Web services, Microsoft, Search, web 2.0

Just over a month after paying $115 million for travel planning site Farecast, Microsoft has relaunched the site. And after spending countless hours integrating the site into Microsoft's Live Search suite of web applications, the result is... basically identical to the old site. The biggest difference we can find is the Live Search label appended to the Farecast logo.

Microsoft has folded Farecast user accounts into the Windows Live suite, which means you can login using your Windows Live ID.

You won't find Farecast results from the main Live Search page. You'll have to click the More tab, and then select "See All" to find Farecast. But eventually we wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft started bringing up Farecast results for regular travel-related search terms. That clearly hasn't happened yet. When we entered the search query: "New York to Philadelphia flight" the top search result was a link to TripAdvisor.

[via Mashable]

Microsoft relaunches Farecast, changes almost nothing originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 22 May 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Interview: Michael Dalesandro, CEO "Where I've Been"

Chris Ullrich — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Features, Web services, DLS Interviews, iPhone

The "social networking" space is chock-full of applications, plug-ins and other bits and pieces designed to hopefully enhance the user's experience online and potentially in their real lives as well. Unfortunately, some of these applications or plug-ins are often uninspired and do little, if anything, to accomplish this goal.

Sometimes, however, an application or plug-in is able to provide user's with useful services and a forum to express themselves. Case in point, "Where I've Been," an application and a stand-alone website which can actually enhance the user's experience by providing useful tools such as travel-related tips, interactive maps and a forum to showcase and discuss where they've traveled to.

At the helm of "Where I've Been" is CEO Michael Dalesandro who, in a short time, has managed to transform "Where I've Been" from its humble beginnings into a very successful application in use by millions of users each day. Recently, I sat down with with him to discuss "Where I've Been," what it does and where its going.

CHRIS ULLRICH: Michael, thanks for taking the time to talk with me.

MICHAEL DALESANDRO: Not a problem.

CU: How and when did you first get involved with "Where I've been"?

MD: Craig Ulliott was working for Blueye.com as a developer when he brought me the concept for "Where I've Been." He wrote the application and then it launched on Facebook first. That's where it all started.

CU: For someone unfamiliar with "Where I've been", can you describe it?

MD: "Where I've Been" is a simple way for people to connect and express themselves primarily through their travel experiences. It allows the user to highlight their travels graphically and show what places, cities, countries they've been to.

The can share where they have been, where have lived and where they want to go with friends, family and others.

CU: How does "Where I've been" benefit the user? Why should someone use it?

Continue reading Interview: Michael Dalesandro, CEO "Where I've Been"

Interview: Michael Dalesandro, CEO "Where I've Been" originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 29 Apr 2008 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft buys Farecast for $115 million

Brad Linder — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 21:30:00 EST

Filed under: Internet, Web services, Microsoft

Microsoft has purchased Farecast, a travel pricing/comparison/booking service that competes with similar web services like Travelocity, Orbitz, and Kayak. What sets Farecast apart from other services is the site's focus on predictions. Based on trends over time, Farecast can help users predict whether prices will go up or down in the future.

The Seattle Post Intelligencer says Microsoft paid $115 million for the company. In a blog post, Farecast says very little about the acquisition other than that it "created tremendous opportunities." Farecast is already prominently featured on Microsoft's MSN Travel site. It's not clear if and how Microsoft will utilize Farecast and its technology beyond the travel site.

[via Profy]

Microsoft buys Farecast for $115 million originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 17 Apr 2008 21:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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InsideTrip searches fast, comfortable flights

Jay Hathaway — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Productivity, Web services, Beta

Finding a cheap flight isn't too hard these days. At least a half-dozen major sites search for the best fares, and many of them will search their competitors and compare rates for you. InsideTrip is trying to carve out a new niche in this crowded market by focusing less on the cheapest flights, and more on the easiest, most comfortable ones.

InsideTrip rates flights on its TripQuality scale, which includes your choice of 12 different factors. Sick of flights being late? Check the "on-time stats" box. Is sitting in the middle seat one of your pet peeves? InsideTrip has a box for that, too: you can search by historical load factor.

We conducted a few test searches to see how much more you could be paying for these amenities, but it turns out that it's not that expensive. InsideTrip just lets you narrow down the same cheap results the other sites offer, based on what's most important to you. If you'll gladly endure a few hours of wait time or some lost bags to save money, skip it. If you're concerned about everything from security wait times to the age of your plane, you might want to give it a look.

[Via TechCrunch]

InsideTrip searches fast, comfortable flights originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 03 Mar 2008 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Kayak buys SideStep: Travel web shakeup

Brad Linder — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: News, Web services

We're fairly certain that one day there will only be two or three sites on the web. We're not saying the web will look like it did in 1994, but that two or three companies will have a stake in every site you ever visit. We're probably exaggerating, but every time we see a major acquisition/consolidation of competing services, we start to wonder.

Today's big acquisition? Travel site Kayak is reportedly paying $200 million for SideStep. Both companies have web sites that do pretty much the same thing: let you find cheap airline tickets by searching multiple airlines for deals.

VentureBeat reports that Kayak will maintain two separate sites at Kayak.com and SideStep.com, but that SideStep will begin to use Kayak's search technology. What does that mean for people looking for cheap plane tickets, hotels, or rental cars? We're not really sure. While we tend to check out several online travel sites each time we travel we're not really convinced that one has a better track record than another of providing the best deals.

What's your favorite online travel site, and why? Let us know in the comments.

Kayak buys SideStep: Travel web shakeup originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 21 Dec 2007 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Plan your trips at TripCart

Chris Gilmer — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Business, Design, Fun, Internet, Productivity, Web services

As the weather slowly shifts from summer to fall, many of us are left thinking about traveling south for some sun. With plenty of trip planning websites out there, TripCart focuses on combining all attractions into a single convenient location.

When the time to getaway rolls around, check in with TripCart. This travel website focuses on attractions that would be interesting to hit up when traveling in the U.S. Select a destination and TripCart pulls up Google Map with pinpoints of places to check out, including hotels, places of interest, theme parks, shopping, golf, sporting events, nature/parks, zoos and aquariums. It certainly takes the hassle out of visiting multiple locations for vacation planning.

Even more useful are the in depth descriptions of cities and the locations around where you are searching. Great if you have never been to the area before.

[via profy]

Plan your trips at TripCart originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 19 Sep 2007 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Virgin America to offer in-flight WiFi, Google Talk

Ted Wallingford — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Internet, Productivity

In previous experiments, in-flight WiFi Internet access failed to capture much attention, either because consumers thought it was to expensive or because it wasn't ubiquitous. Ie. if it's not on every aircraft, it's hard to plan your travel time around being productive, sleeping, or watching a movie on your iPod. For those of us who typically only travel on business, in-flight WiFi is a huge productivity enhancer, if only because it saves us from suffering through the naked feeling of offline e-mail.

Virgin says they'll have the service deployed by mid-'08, and while they haven't talked much about pricing, we're guessing this will be a premium service, since the airline has invested a new in-flight portal called "Red" that will allow passengers to surf and chat even if they don't have their own laptops on board. Red will offer access to Skype and Google Talk, too. Very handy indeed.

But this stuff needs to become ubiquitous. Show us a major domestic airline that offers always-on, zero-premium WiFi access and we'll show you an airline that takes a bite out of business traveler market share.

Virgin America to offer in-flight WiFi, Google Talk originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 17 Sep 2007 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Could you bringsome stuff from abroad?

Brad Linder — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 08:30:00 EST

Filed under: Internet, Web services

Say on your last vacation you traveled abroad and found a candy, coffee creamer, or consumer electronic device that just wasn't available in your home. Sure, you could buy a plane ticket and fly halfway across the world to pick up some more chocolates. But even if they were really good chocolates, it's probably not worth it (unless you buy in bulk).

Bringsome is sort of like an international Craigslist. Just post what you're looking for, preferably with a photo, and what you'll offer in exchange. One person from Kuala Lumpur would really like some Greek Pepperonci and would be happy to buy someone a beer if they pick some up and bring it back to Malaysia on their next trip. Another user is willing to pay someone $270 to pick up a digital camera that's not available in Romania. Of course, that's only a few bucks over the sale price in the US, so you'd do this out of the goodness of your heart, not to make a quick buck.

Overall it's a pretty nice idea. But as with any online classified site, whether or not bringsome is successful will depend on its ability to build a user base. Right now there are only 60 active ads.

[via gHacks]

Could you bringsome stuff from abroad? originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 10 Sep 2007 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Track flights with a Google Maps Mashup

Chris Gilmer — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 09:30:00 EST

Filed under: Developer, Fun, Internet, Web services, Google

Have a friend that's coming in for a landing and want to see exactly where they are at the moment? Or if you just like watching planes, check out the GMaps Flight Tracker. This Google Maps mashup tracks the status of inbound flights scheduled to land in Atlanta, Boston, New York's JFK, LA, Miami and San Francisco. Pick your city, and a list of the arriving flights are displayed. Click or mouse over the airline flight number of plane icon and the altitude, speed and heading coordinates are displayed as well as flight trail waypoints so you can check out the travel path.

The inbound flight schedule refreshes every 40 seconds so flight statuses are ensured to be at their most accurate. Data is provided from fboweb.com and based on the position reports for each aircraft once per minute, and sometimes once every 20 seconds in high traffic areas. Want to check things out in 3d? Download the GE kml file and check out past flights and height profiles in Google Earth.

Track flights with a Google Maps Mashup originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 04 Sep 2007 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Save some green on gas this long weekend with Yahoo Widgets

Chris Gilmer — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fun, Internet, Productivity, Web services, Yahoo!, web 2.0

With the long weekend coming upon U.S. readers, many of whom will be driving somewhere to enjoy some rest and relaxation, let Yahoo Widgets save you some coin on gas.

The Gas Alert Savings widget built for Yahoo Widgets is a great tool to check on the latest gas prices right from your desktop. Plug in your zip code, mile radius, gas grade preference and sort by either price or location, and the widget will pump out the gas station locations as well as their current price.

Here's a list of the top 10 highest prices in the country:

Alaska - $3.07/gallon
North Dakota $3.05/gallon
Michigan - $2.95/gallon
Illinois - $2.95/gallon
Nebraska - $2.955/gallon
Wisconsin - $2.947/gallon
South Dakota - $2.946/gallon
New York - $2.923/gallon
Montana - $2.918/gallon
Minnesota - $2.910/gallon

With the AAA saying that gas prices are averaging $2.75 per gallon, every little cent can help. The gas savings widget was put together by Automotive.com.

Save some green on gas this long weekend with Yahoo Widgets originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 30 Aug 2007 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Riding the bus but miss driving your car to work?

Ted Wallingford — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Games, Time-Wasters

Just when you thought you were going to get away from the rat race of a freeway commute and take the train, Nokia and EA have found a way to get you back into the driver's seat. A version of Need For Speed: Carbon has been released for Java-supporting mobile phones such as the excellent N73. On Nokia N-series phones, you can grab the racer by launching the Download! option. Then strap in and hit the gas. Just be careful not to lean too hard into the passenger next to you on the subway as you drift around all those tight virtual curves.

And while you're checking out Carbon, you might want to sneak a peek at Need For Speed: Pro Street, which will be available for your mobile on October 31.

Riding the bus but miss driving your car to work? originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 30 Aug 2007 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Self guided tours are exposed at Chokti

Chris Gilmer — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 21:00:00 EST

Filed under: Audio, Fun, Internet, Blogging, Web services, Social Software, web 2.0

If you are thinking about traveling to a new destination, you most likely want to get in the mindset and have some ideas about what you will see, and most importantly, be prepared to hit the best spots.

Chokti is website where users can search for places to visit and check out actual amateur tours of the areas, podcasts, images and journal entries all about the areas attractions. Chokti also relies on RSS feeds to bring in information from different sites about the areas that users are inquiring about. Users can also submit their own content and share it with other fellow travelers.

Other traveling specific websites include New York Times travel guide, Vayama frugal international traveling, Dopplr's travel notification service, 71miles local travel, Yahoo travel, Yapta cheap travel, TripHub trip planning, and Trip Stalker low airline fairs.

[via FeedmyApp]

Self guided tours are exposed at Chokti originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 07 Aug 2007 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Japanese auto makers to develop a standard car OS

Brad Linder — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 17:40:00 EST

Filed under: OS Updates

The Japanese government is working with 10 major Japenese auto makers to develop a standardized automobile operating system. While we're tempted to make jokes about blue screens of death and unexpected errors, the truth is many cars now include complex electronics and require a computer system to coordinate all those newfangled parts. And developing a uniform operating system is going to make life a lot easier on your poor neighborhood mechanic.

JasPar, or the Japan Automotive Software Platform Architecture group will be responsible for developing the platform. JasPar is a joint venture that includes the cooperation of Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Toshiba, and other auto and electronics makers. Many of those companies are currently developing their own operating systems.

The goal is to have a prototype available in 2009, with a final version on the market in 5 to 10 years.

[via TechMeme]

Japanese auto makers to develop a standard car OS originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 30 Jul 2007 17:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Frekfly has some sensible info for air travelers

Chris Gilmer — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Internet, Web services, web 2.0

Air traveling is tiresome, boring, and downright unpredictable. So how can we get a little more comfortable with additional information about our journeys? Frekfly.

By dropping in your departure and destination information into Frekfly, users get Flickr images, details on where airports are located, currency, weather, city information and where to eat.

The site is still in its infancy, with some airports not yet in the database, users can however supply additional information. One wish, the site results could be displayed a little better, with pinpointed locations on the map for surrounding attractions, and additional images of the searched areas.

Frekfly has some sensible info for air travelers originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 30 Jul 2007 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Vayama : Travel internationally in frugal style

Grant Robertson — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 21:30:00 EST

Filed under: Business, Internet, Web services

Vayama offers an exceptional selection of international travel options, many never previously available online before.

Low prices, a slick interface and a penchant for international travel make this an attractive option for the weary jet-setter on the move.

[via Emily Chang]

Vayama : Travel internationally in frugal style originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 27 Jul 2007 21:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Windows Mobile tools for commuters and travelers - Mobile Minute

Brad Linder — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 12:30:00 EST

Filed under: Audio, Games, Internet, Video, Features, Windows Mobile, Mobile Minute, Podcasts

Back when I was a full time commuter (spending almost as much time on the train every day as I did in the office), I spent a lot of time and energy converting my Windows Mobile PDA from a simple productivity tool into a one-stop entertainment shop. While you could buy a fancy phone that will be obsolete in a year and sign up for an expensive data plan so that you can watch the occasional YouTube clip, my weapon of choice was the off-line media viewer.

My commute is now much shorter, but every time I go away for the weekend or take a vacation I'm glad I spent so much time tracking down these tools.

News/eBook readers

During the early years of Windows CE, AvantGo was the undisputed champion of mobile web browsing software. The service allowed you to save mobile versions of selected web pages to your device's memory and catch up on news from The New York Times, CNet, and hundreds of other sources on the go. Every time you sync your device, your subscriptions are updated.

But the software hasn't been updated in years, and for many users it has become obsolete. While offering up hundreds of websites was sufficient a few years ago, today AvantGo's offerings seem terribly limited.

Continue reading Windows Mobile tools for commuters and travelers - Mobile Minute

Windows Mobile tools for commuters and travelers - Mobile Minute originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 23 Jul 2007 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Trivop hotel videoguides

Chris Gilmer — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fun, Internet, Web services, Social Software

Sometimes you just cant get a good picture of the hotel you are thinking about booking for a vacation or business travel. The pictures on travel websites might be too small, and of course they only show you the good angles, so it could be a gamble when booking; until now.

Trivop is a Google Maps mashup site that actually walks users through the hotel of their choice with actual video. Video cameras pan through the hotels surroundings, reception lobby, restaurants, and rooms to give users the full experience of what the hotel offers.

Trivop is currently only available in France and England, with a limited selection of hotels. To beef up the hotel offerings, Trivop will gladly accept your video for the website in order to help other travelers in a new feature that will launch in the near future.

Trivop hotel videoguides originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 12 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New York's live traffic Google Map mashup

Chris Gilmer — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fun, Internet, Productivity, Web services, Google

The New York State Department of Transformation has their Google on. They've created an intuitive Google Maps mashup that makes traveling through the state a little easier.

A Real-time transportation status map plots live camera feeds, roadwork, critical incidents, road closures, weather or alerts, and traffic speeds. A legend on the left side of the map allows users to plot one topic at a time to get a birds eye view where their might be trouble. Clicking on the pinpoints gives the user a larger description of the problem, including times for construction or lane reductions.

It's a great site to bookmark and load up just before taking a trip through the coverage areas. Unfortunately, it's not that great while you are already driving along, but then again, you can always call up a buddy and have him or her check the site out for a report!

If you find yourself in a traffic bind while in NY, you can always check out some mobile applications such as the DOT Traffic Management Center's Advanced Travel Information System, that is accessible by mobile devices and shows real time traffic cameras. We've also covered the WCBS mobile application that covers over 400 roadside traffic cams in the New York, New Jersey and Connecticut areas.

[via InformationWeek]

New York's live traffic Google Map mashup originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 11 Apr 2007 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Take to the skies with Farecast

Lisa Hoover — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Finance, Internet, Web services

Whether you're taking an impromptu trip to Milwaukee, WI next weekend or making arrangements for next year's Super Bowl in Glendale, AZ, consider using Farecast to book your next flight. In a niche already flooded with well-known travel websites like Orbitz, Expedia, and Travelocity, Farecast stands out for it's ability to determine where fares have been and, most important, where they're headed.

The ability to purchase airline tickets online is a great thing but it can lead to ulcers and grey hair when you're trying to decide the age-old question: "should I buy now and hope the price doesn't go down -- or wait another couple of days?" Using the magic of statistical analysis, Farecast compares the historical data of past airfares and makes recommendations on the best time to purchase a ticket.

The Farecast folks are so confident they can predict when ticket prices will be at their lowest that they offer Fare Guard, a for-purchase guarantee that protects shoppers from losing money if Farecast turns out to be wrong. For instance, if you're shopping for airfare from Denver to Australia and Farecast says prices are likely to go down in the next couple of days but you want more of a commitment than that, you may opt to purchase Fare Guard for $9.95. If prices go up and you end up paying more for that ticket to Oz, Farecast will refund the difference.

Since Farecast is still in beta, they only offer information on round trip airfare and still have some site performance issues largely related to sluggish search speeds. For quick and useful information while making flight arrangements, however, add Farecast to the list of places to check before booking those tickets.

Take to the skies with Farecast originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 05 Apr 2007 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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