“Downloadable applications for the iPhone, Blackberry and other smartphones are fast becoming indispensable among business travelers who use their phones to help them organize and navigate trips with little more effort than a few taps on a touch screen.
And looking ahead, technology experts envision tools that will be, in effect, personal concierges — handling everything from reservations to reimbursements.
Even with the applications available today, Chris Selland, a technology development and marketing consultant who travels frequently for business, is a fan of smartphones. “Basically, you’ve got everything in your pocket,” he said, adding that he switched to the iPhone specifically because of the greater number of applications.
Alan Warms, a technology entrepreneur and a former vice president at Yahoo, said travel applications were the third most popular type of download after social networking and gaming apps. Roughly a third of the members on his Web site, Appolicious.com, which reviews mobile applications, have downloaded one or more travel-related tools, he said.
This proliferation of downloadable applications can be attributed, in a large part, to the pervasiveness of GPS functions in smartphones. Previously, if a visitor to an unfamiliar city wanted to find, say, a Japanese restaurant, he would have had to type in the starting address. Now, the phone automatically knows its current location, eliminating one step and streamlining the process.
In interviews, business travelers indicated that the most popular travel-related apps fell into two categories: organization aids and location-based tools. Apps like TripIt, for example, allow travelers to consolidate their itineraries into a single digital version that can be shared with co-workers or an assistant.
“To me, the most valuable thing is you have all this itinerary information in one place, and it’s easy to get to,” said Pete Davies, who travels several times a year for his job at a clean technology company. “A year ago, I would carry a whole sheaf of printouts and confirmations with me, and now I have them in one simple place.”
Tools like iReceipt allow travelers to store and organize receipts for expense reporting, reducing the number of hard copies that need to be shuttled around on a trip.
Location-based apps use GPS technology to give users information about restaurants, tourist attractions and even taxi services in their immediate vicinity. Some, like Urbanspoon, focus exclusively on restaurants; others, like Yelp and Google Maps, offer information about everything from dry cleaners to coffee shops. Some also include user reviews.
Downloadable applications have some advantages over their digital alter egos, mobile browser versions of company Web pages. Since the apps are stored on a phone instead of on a distant server, the information can be accessed even when the phone is not connected to the Internet. This means that travelers in an airplane or other location without Internet access can still use the program. ” ( via nytimes.com ) by MARTHA C. WHITE
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