November 2010
11 posts
Rough Guides launches World Lens app →
“Rough Guides has launched the World Lens app, which is its first application for the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. The free tool showcases 200 images from the travel guide publisher’s picture library.” Very weak first offering.
paidContent founder Rafat Ali on touchscreens and... →
Um, me. “I think it requires a lot more than publishers can grasp at this point. It means re-architecting your company around this evolving mode of media consumption. It means bringing design thinking around every piece of content being created within a media company. It may also mean that the start of your media strategy going ahead could be based around portability and mobility, not just...
Plastic Logic Gets Second Chance With Russian... →
It won’t work this time either. You need serious consumer design chops for this, which PL doesn’t have.
Lonely Planet Gets Its First GPS Trip Out
Navteq and Lonely Planet have teamed up to give domestic travellers personalised location-based travel information on 25 recommended planned trip itineraries in Australia. It’s the first time that Lonely Planet trip information has been integrated into Navteq’s mapping technology as well as Navman’s MY Series range.
TripSwarm startup lasts all of a few weeks | Tnooz →
Wow. Online sucks for most travel startups.
BBC Worldwide and Lonely Planet make apps free for...
BBC Worldwide will make its BBC Good Food Healthy Recipes app, usually £1.79, free for iPhones and iPods during the week. Lonely Planet will make its London City Guide app free.
Travel + Leisure Magazine's New iPad App →
The Travel + Leisure iPad version is for the iPad and this month’s issue is free. Future editions will run you $3.99.
First JV Between LP and BBC, Since It Got Bought
The first joint publishing venture by Lonely Planet and its parent company, BBC Worldwide, The Traveller’s Guide to Planet Earth…
October 2010
8 posts
Lonely Planet In Custom Publishing Deal With...
Lonely Planet, the world’s leading travel content provider, will create editorial guides across multiple channels—including print, digital, and mobile—to compliment the VCB’s promotional campaigns and expand its marketing reach. Lonely Planet will produce a customized printed guide for the destination, and a digital version will be posted online at www.fortmyers-sanibel.com. The...
Starwood Launching Travel Guides
Starwood-owned luxury hotel chain The Luxury Collection has launched its own series of travel guides…the Luxury Collection will publish six travel guides to cover Italy, Argentina, India, Spain, Greece and the United States in association with top-end publisher Assouline. The set of six will be available in rooms at The Luxury Collection properties, in Assouline boutiques in Las Vegas, Los...
Notes on iPhone Photography →
spiegelman:
I think Richard Blakeley just discovered the photography section of the iTunes app store, because his Tumblr has become a gallery of processed iPhone photography. Hipstamatic and AutoStitch are both represented, sometimes in tandem. Blakeley is one of the more talented people I know. He’s…
10 Things Guidebooks Won't Tell You - Spending →
Great article. This is why this industry is ripe for disruption.
Fodor's Launches Its First Apps →
Finally, but why do all of them focus on launching city apps only?
Green Mountain Digital Gets $1.5M for Digital... →
Great niche. Only on portable platforms.
“The death of the guidebook has been predicted for some time. And if the roaming...”
– Are guidebooks facing extinction? | Travel | The Observer
AARP Debuts Four Apps for iPhone, iPad and iPod...
The new AARP app for iPhone and iPod touch enables AARP members to carry a digital version of their membership card, allowing them easier access to member benefits, activities and programs. AARP is also introducing three separate apps for AARP The Magazine, AARP Bulletin and AARP VIVA that will be available for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch users.
September 2010
103 posts
How the iPad is Transforming Web Design →
Very similar to my ideas on move from flow to flip. Will have implications on how web design will move, in particular for travel guide sites as well.
“The application uses a weather algorithm developed by CBS meteorologist Lonnie...”
– Wearcast - New iPhone app offers the weather forcecast - and fashion tips! | Gadling.com
Rand McNally iPhone app integrates Tripology →
Rand McNally launched an iPhone app, Explore America, which combines travel inspiration, maps, games and referrals to Tripology-affiliated travel agents.
New, Lighter iPad Could Include Camera, USB Port,... →
Analysts at Goldman Sachs say Apple’s next-generation iPad will likely include a camera and a mini USB port and will be lighter. The company is also considering making a smaller tablet, they say.
Bing rolls out travel and mapping updates for... →
“The latest version focuses on improving the mapping experience for the user as well as offering a couple new travel features.”
Zinio Wants Visual Digital Books →
Hoping it can make the transition to iPad-like platforms. Pitching full data info back to publishers, unlike Apple.
“The survey found that 40% of affluents downloaded travel apps and 39%...”
– The Mobile Apps That Affluents Download - eMarketer
Case Study: Lonely Planet's augmented reality... →
Will Lonely Planet Magazine be Sold off? →
At least part of its parent might be…
The Future of Context: From Flow to Flip
These are the notes from my presentation today at the European Journalism Center’s “Future of Journalism” conference in Amsterdam, as part of the larger PICNIC conference. I intend to flesh this out in a larger column. For now, this is a but conceptual, though I do think and hope this is how media consumption and interaction evolves.
— This is my personal story, as well...
French Travel Search Site Gets Acquired →
Everything You Need to Know About Tablets Right... →
Like the article says. A great primer on the current state of new tablets. “For starters, design is less a factor for tablets than in the other categories. A tablet is supposed to be a mostly featureless panel of glass: that’s the whole point. The hardware will also be fairly standardized (display, cameras, microphone, chipset)—the only question will be who has the most and best apps. And if...
TeleNav Prepares For Drop In Revenues From Its... →
TeleNav’s troubles continue…
10 Beach Blogs You’ll Love →
A nice list.
1 tag
Intel's Context-Based Computing Could Be Boon For...
Still a bit in the future, but Intel’s new mantra, context-based computing, may have some major applications in the travel guides space. From this article, Fodor’s is interested in it, apparently. “Context-based computers would be useful in helping develop online travel apps, especially as they could monitor where a person was, what he liked, and what he was looking for. Tim...
Afar Launches To Connect Like-Minded Travelers...
A new travel social network of sorts, from the publishers of the newish Afar travel magazine. Afar Connect uses a proprietary ‘Travel Personality’ technology to create a customized profile for each user. Types of profiles range from the Florida-bound “Vacationer” to a “Discoverer” volunteering in Haiti. Users can then ask questions on the site about their upcoming travel plans and the site will...
Sabre TripCase goes Pro with premium version →
Pricing will be $9.99 per month or $69.99 for an annual subscription. TripCase Pro, a product from Sabre Holdings, is adding seat maps with available seats; turn-by-turn driving directions from locales within your itinerary; SMS flight alerts within the TripCase application; flight search up to one year in advance, and sharing of full travel itineraries with assigned recipients.
Bing Travel Holiday Forecast: Thanksgiving and... →
Not sure if I can believe that. NYT in a story couple of weeks ago had the opposite conclusion: that prices for airfares and hotels are on the up and up this year.
TripAdvisor Launches Lists
These lists, written by real travellers, offer inside tips and secrets for travelling to cities around the world, from “Cheap Eats in San Francisco” to the “Must See Museums in Paris.” There are more than 7,500 lists and tours now available at travellers’ fingertips on TripAdvisor Mobile.
Rethinking the Publishing Company | Booksquare →
You may not agree with most of it, but it surely is provocative. And creative.
WatchA review of three iPad ebook reading apps: iBooks, Kindle and Nook. None tower over others, the conclusion.
Mossberg Review: Three E-Reader Apps for the iPad | Walt Mossberg | Personal Technology | AllThingsD
Women-Focused Travel Guides? →
The opportunity is big.
Augmented Reality Conference →
Wish I could go. On Sep 27th in Munich.
I want
sashalina:
this to be my future more than anything.
1 tag
Confirmed: Google Buys Video Tour Startup Quiksee →
“With Quiksee, users shoot video of a location, and Quiksee’s software then puts the clips together as a 3-D video tour. Videos are shared on Google Maps.” Interesting application and possibilities for guide companies.
“I do think brands matter in this industry. Imagine the content dropped into...”
– Me, quoted on Poynter.
