How is technology changing the way we travel?

Smarter search

Searching the web means typing in words and expecting Google, Bing or Yahoo! to deliver the answer. It’s the way we’ve got used to working, but it’s not how real human beings sift information. We want to know what’s nearby, what our friends like. Improvements in local search, social search and visual search will do just that.

An Android-iPhone Shootout

Apple won’t have it all its own way this year. We’ll hear a lot more from Google’s Android mobile operating system, which is available free for phone hardware manufacturers to install. Several new handsets from Sony Ericsson, Motorola, HTC, Samsung and Google itself (the Nexus One) are Android-powered.

Read it all at Telegraph.co.uk


Then read my guide to the best iPhone and Android apps, eReaders, Augmented Reality, travel inspiration websites, and freebies for travellers (also at Telegraph.co.uk).

So, my ‘Google phone’, the Nexus One, arrived and has already busted a whole afternoon of non-work, just as it promised. The good stuff is really good: crisp OLED screen, super-fast 1 GHz Snapdragon processor. Battery life sucks, of course, though turning off the pointless ‘active wallpaper’ helps.

I love the fact that Google integration is just there. No syncing with the desktop, or plugging into the laptop. Everything is there: contacts, Gmail, calendar, the lot. Admittedly no one has yet rushed up to me and spluttered ‘OMFG is that a Nexus One?‘. But it still feels like they might, at any moment.

Anyway, this isn’t a Nexus One review (plenty elsewhere), but a selection of recommended apps from the Android Market for anyone new to the phone or operating system. [Read more →]

Imagine how much better your guidebook would be if it knew exactly where you were as you read it, what time of day it was and your interests. Welcome to the world of the app.

An “app” (short for application) is basically a program designed to perform a task. You use them already: your word-processor is an app, so is your internet browser. Now the smartphone – mobile phones that do a whole lot more than make calls – has put the app into your pocket.

For travellers the app is big news.

Read the rest at Telegraph.co.uk.