Want to make airport parking easier? Develop an app for it. JFK Airport‘s parking facility, SmartPark JFK, today announced the launch of their iPhone app for placing parking reservations. An update to the existing app, launched in 2009, now allows customers to not only make their parking reservation but also to earn free days with a Frequent Parking Program.
Also available online, the app is available on iPhone, iPad, and Android devices.
[Flickr image via Kriston Lewis]
Thanks to a new law, visitors to Malaysia‘s capital city of Kuala Lumpur will be able to enjoy WiFi in all local restaurants and bars starting in April.
The New Straits Times reports that the law, passed yesterday, will make it mandatory for restaurants, cafes, pubs, bars, and clubs larger than 120 square meters in area to offer wireless Internet services free of charge, or for a reasonable fee. Kuala Lumpur’s city council intends to extend the requirement to public food courts, or hawker centers, later in the year.
While the law will certainly cement Kuala Lumpur’s reputation as one of the most connected cities in Southeast Asia, one has to wonder how the proliferation of WiFi will affect the dining experience, especially for travelers. It’d be a shame to be distracted from Malaysia’s mind-blowing cuisine by email and Facebook.
[Via The Next Web Asia; Flickr image via the trial]
In 2012, finding the price of a flight is something I could probably ask my five year old to help with – she’ll probably go for my phone and find the Kayak or Hipmunk app icon and tap away. It wouldn’t even surprise me if she managed to get close to the results I was looking for.
In 1991, things were different; Airfare came from your travel agent, and you did not have to concern yourself with anything technical. In fact, chances are, your travel agent wouldn’t let you anywhere near their cherished green-screen terminal.
The business traveler had different needs, and for them there was the OAG guide (Official Airline Guide), a large book with the times and prices of almost every flight in the world. In 1991, OAG released their book on a CD-ROM (and delivered the required equipment with it since nobody back then owned a CD-ROM drive).
For the real hardcore users, a version was also released on the Sony DATA Discman, pictured here on the left. Think of this contraption as a very early Amazon Kindle. The unit read data off small CD’s in a cartridge, and was the worlds first portable electronic flight guide.
With this in hand, you could call yourself the ultimate frequent flier – and probably find airfare quicker than the local travel agent. OAG CD’s for Sony came in the mail every three months, keeping your data up to date with the latest flight times and prices. Sony discontinued the DATA Discman in the late 90’s as the technology moved on to PDA’s.
Procrastinated on sending Christmas cards this year? It’s not too late to send a holiday greeting to say “Happy New Year” (or Mutlu Yillar in Turkish) with a travel theme. Turkish Airlines has a fun website for generating a virtual holiday greeting with a view of the wing. On Above the Clouds, you can choose a cloud image like a snowflake, Christmas tree, or angel and add a brief message (limited to 40 characters), accompanied by a jaunty version of Turkish Airlines’ theme song, and it will generate an e-card from your window seat.
Make your own greeting at www.newyearclouds.com and Happy New Year!
Sometimes, your basic camera just doesn’t cut it. With all of the advancing technology we now have, the possibilities for travel photography are endless. Before your next trip, make sure to download these ten photography apps that will help you capture, edit, and share the perfect picture.
Pro HDR
Pro HDR is perfect for people who want to take high dynamic range shots without investing in an expensive DSLR camera. It’s also extremely helpful when the scene you’re trying to snap contains a lot of contrast. What’s really useful about the app is that it has a manual mode for you to choose where you want to adjust brightness and darkness in your shot, as well as an automatic mode. Final images are shown almost instantly, and you can save, edit further by adjusting the brightness, contrast, saturation, warmth, or tint, or discard your finished product. There is also an option to e-mail your photo to others.
Pro HDR is available for Android, iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. $1.99. A free version is also available that takes smaller shots. Instagram
This free photo sharing application is extremely popular among travel photographers and those who just enjoy taking pictures. Instagram allows you take a photo with your device, choose a filter to manipulate the look and feel, and then instantly send to Facebook, Twitter, or Flickr. There are tons of mood-altering filters, like 1977, Earlybird, Kelvin, Rise, and Nashville, to name a few.
Available on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Free.
TiltShift is a photography app that mimics a tilt-shift lens, transforming photos into miniature worlds. Basically, your photos will appear like small-scale models by manipulating different effects and contrasts, like creating a focus and blurring the surrounding area (as shown right). You can also adjust brightness, color saturation, and contrast and even choose a shaped aperture, such as a dollar sign, heart, or hexagon.
Available on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. $1.99.
iSynth
iSynth brings Photosynth to the iPhone and allows users to not only take great photos but also allows viewers to immerse themselves in the photos as if they were actually there. The app transforms photographs into 3-dimensional worlds that people can virtually explore. There are also different “modes” you can use, such as the Orbit Mode, which allows users to circle around the synth as well as move in all different directions on the screen in order to get the desired shot.
Available on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Free.
CameraBag
CameraBag is a filter app that uses many different camera and video simulations. The app gives you the chance to choose from a range of different camera styles all in one application, some of which include:
Available on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. $1.99.
Luminance allows for powerful and professional photo-editing for those on the move. With this app, you can easily add special effects to your pictures as well as edit numerous photos at one time. Filters include white balance, exposure, brightness/contrast, hue/saturation, tone curve, split toning, vignette, colors, and sepia. The app also makes it easy to crop and rotate photos, as well as share them via social media, Camera Roll, e-mail, copy, or print.
Available on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. $0.99.
360 Panorama
360 Panorama is a must-have for anyone looking to take panoramic photos. While many cameras and apps with a panorama feature have users stitch multiple photos together, 360 Panorama allows you to simply pan the camera around the scene that you want included in the picture. Sharing your photos is simple, as well, and no app is necessary for viewing.
Available on Android, iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. $0.99.
ShakeIt
ShakeIt combines modern day technology with old-school photo developing methods as users can watch as their instant pictures are developed slowly. To speed up the process, simply shake the photo. It’ll take you back to the days of dark rooms and photo labs.
Available on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. $0.99.
Camera+ is one of the best apps there is for taking high quality photos as the shots appear to come from a SLR lens. With an array of features and editting capabilites, you can literally take the perfect photo. Another useful feature is the ability to set the focus and exposure separately by tapping the screen, allowing you to have the photo come out exactly how you want it. A photo flashlight to brighten photos, a stabalizer to fix blurry pictures, a grid to line up shots, a zoom feature, scene modes, and special effects make the possibilities limitless for your photos.
Available on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. On sale now for $0.99.
Camera Zoom 3
Camera Zoom 3 is perfect for those times when you see the perfect picture you’d love to take but are just too far to get a good shot. This app allows you to zoom in and out up to eight times by simply moving a slider. For clarity and focus, just tap the screen. There is also a useful anti-shake feature as well as an auto-adjust that sets the photo to its best quality.
Available on iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. $0.99. If you’ve got an Android, a similar app you can use is the Camera ZOOM FX, which is on sale right now for $2.99.