USA Today's free AutoPilot app offers flight status, weather, travel blogs, and more.
The App Store is already replete with travel apps, so what's the big deal about USA Today AutoPilot?
For one thing, it's free--despite offering such advanced features as TripIt integration, real-time flight status, and quick access to travel blogs.
Then there's the branding: Last I checked, USA Today was a newspaper (with its own news app). So what's with the travel software?
"USA TODAY is synonymous with travel. Travelers love us and we love being everywhere they need us with innovative new products," said Matt Jones, vice president of mobile strategy and operations for Gannett Digital.
Ooooo-kay. What's next: Dunkin' Donuts Guitar Tuner? Anyway, AutoPilot offers some impressive features for a freebie, including the aforementioned TripIt support (which, to my knowledge, isn't available on any other free travel app except TripIt's own).
In other words, if you use the popular travel-management service, you can access your account (and trip details) within AutoPilot. Of course, you can manually enter trip info for AutoPilot to track as well.
The app provides real-time flight status, allowing you to search by flight number, airport, and route. There's also a flight-delay map that instantly shows you U.S. trouble spots, with specific details available when you tap through.
Other features include a handy directory of airlines, hotels, and car-rental companies; weather reports and radar; city-specific Flickr photo galleries; and an Articles & Experts section that links you to various features and blogs (such as USA Today's Destinations and 10 Great Places). Lots of good travel-related reading material.
In short, it's an impressive travel app, though for the moment it tracks only flights, not hotel or car reservations. But the price is right, so you've got nothing to lose by giving it a try.
In the meantime, check out a related post: Five must-have iPhone apps for your next trip.
CNET News Poll
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Microsoft)
Let's say you're staying at a nice hotel on vacation, and you'll have plenty of time to relax. As a reader of Crave, it's likely your relaxation has something to do with using gear. Hotels are starting to include gadgets (for free or for a nominal fee) as an incentive, and it's a great idea.
But we'd like to know which gadget offering would most entice you to choose one hotel over another next time you're on holiday. Vote in our poll. And if we missed anything, let us know in our TalkBack section below.
TravelTracker Pro keeps tabs on your entire trip, including real-time flight status.
I'm winging my way to San Francisco in a couple weeks, so I've been rounding up apps that'll make my trip easier and more enjoyable.
Obviously I'll stock up on e-books and movies for the flight (Wondershare's DVD Ripper Platinum is proving a great choice for copying my DVDs to my iPhone), and I've already got old standbys like Urbanspoon and Yelp for finding local grub and businesses.
But there's more to a trip than just food and in-flight movies. Here's a list of the iPhone apps I've decided to pack:
- HazelMail Postcards Sure, you can always e-mail photos of your trip, but doesn't grandma deserve a good old-fashioned postcard? HazelMail turns any iPhone snapshot into the real deal, then mails it (along with your custom wish-you-were-here message) to any address. First one's free; after that, each card costs $1.50 (or get 12 for $12).
- TravelTracker Pro A bit more robust than competitors SplashTravel and Travel Assistant, TravelTracker Pro helps you keep tabs on every aspect of your trip: flights, car/hotel reservations, weather, and even currency exchange rates. Plus, it integrates with the excellent TripIt service to automatically import/update your travel plans, and provides live flight tracking via FlightStats. Only gripe: It's a little pricey at $12.99.
- GadgetTrak A stolen iPhone could put a major damper on your trip. Free app GadgetTrak aims to help you get it back, and while it's not quite as effective as MobileMe, it can't hurt to install it before leaving. ... Read more
Natali Del Conte joins the show today to talk about how she won't be making an appearance on the Howard Stern's show, though he is looking for a brand-new 3G, touch screen phone with a keyboard. Jeff and Wilson told her that she needs to wear a muumuu and a turtleneck if she ever goes on the show. Best of all, it's Jeff's birthday! He's legal, girls!
On today's show, we talk about how the homeless in this country actually carry around cell phones. How else are you going to be able to reach them? Corner of 4th and Ave A isn't really good contact info. Along those same lines, the recession apparently is causing "nakations" to become a big thing. That's right; it's a naked vacation. Natali points out that most people that go to nude beaches aren't exactly the fittest. That, and her skin should never get exposed to direct sunlight.
Twitter ends Jennifer Aniston and John Mayer's relationship. Find out from Natali why this is empowering women. And another form of empowerment is drawing a 60-foot penis on your parent's rooftop. Yes, an ingenious boy in the U.K. drew the large "willy" in half an hour. For six months, no one noticed--except for Google Earth and passing helicopters. In response to this story and on his birthday, Jeff invents a new word that we're not allowed to write here at CNET. Needless to say, it's priceless. Listen in and send us your comments at the404 [at] cnet [dot] com. Or leave us a message at 1-866-404-CNET (2638).
EPISODE 305
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U-BoatWorx)
It may be hard to imagine if you're anywhere near Chicago right now, but summer will arrive before you know it. And what would the season be, pray tell, without one's own personal submarine?
The Dutch company U-BoatWorx is here to help with its "C-Quester," which MobileWhack says can dive up to 50 meters and cruise at 4 knots. You can even get a custom paint job. (How do you pimp a submarine?)
The underwater vehicles come in two sizes, at 9 and 11 feet, with the latter seating two--perfect for Valentine's Day, starting at a mere $127,000. For that much money, we'd just as soon get a bionic dolphin and maybe even save a few thousand bucks. Besides, we always wanted to grow fins.
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ExtremeToysForBoys.com)
Some people apparently think the "Scuba-Doo" is for sissies. So for these macho readers, we point to the "Aquascooter" selling for $900 on ExtremeToysForBoys.com. (Our masculinity isn't threatened. Really.)
It's touted as the "world's only totally portable, submersible, gasoline-powered personal water craft." We don't suspect there was a whole lot of competition for the title, but that's beside the point. The Aquascooter can travel 5 mph for more than 10 miles without refueling, according to Red Ferret, "which kind of blows away all the electric alternatives"--including the Scuba-Doo, we presume.
Ten miles? That's too far from the tiki bar for us anyway.
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Scuba-Doo Diving Equipment)
It's only January, but we may have already found our favorite item for all of 2007: The "Scuba-Doo." The name alone is reason enough to like it, but there are actually practical reasons to want one as well.
Just look at the picture. Who wouldn't crave a motorized scuba bike? No mask, no mouthpiece--just a clear dome filled with air pumped in from an on-board tank. You can travel up to 2.5 knots or just remain stationary while enjoying the spectacle of underwater life, according to Neatorama, with about 1.5 hours of battery power. (The air tank is estimated to last about an hour, so you should have battery juice to spare unless you're part amphibian.)
It looks as though the best Scuba-Doo experience may be in its native waters off the coast of Australia. There must be a gadget trade show coming up somewhere Down Under.
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