National Geographic releases Trail Maps app

by Kraig Becker on

Last week, National Geographic added yet another offering to their growing list of mobile apps available for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch. The newest app, entitled Trail Maps, offers a host of options for navigating both urban and wilderness environments, while also remaining useful even when you wander outside of cell service coverage.

The app uses both topographical maps from the U.S. Geological Survey and high resolution satellite imagery provided by Microsoft Bing. The software comes pre-loaded with maps of Yellowstone National Park, and surrounding areas, but you can also download highly detailed maps of just about any other place in the lower 48 States, and add them to your library. The files are quite large – about 100 MB each – but having them installed on the device allows you to use the maps even while you have no data connection.

The amount of detail on the maps is highly impressive to say the least. The app allows you to quickly, and easily, zoom in and out using typical iOS gestures, such as pinching and double tapping. When zoomed out, you get a nice overview of the region the map covers, but as you slowly zoom in, more and more details emerge, right down to topographical lines for indicating slope and elevation. You’ll also find the locations of hundreds of landmarks, including campsites, rest areas, and even mountain peaks, or – in the case of Yellowstone – individual geysers. If the map you add to your device is for a city, you’ll find even more points of interest.

Of course, detailed maps aren’t the only thing that National Geographic brought to the table. The app also allows for live route tracking using your device’s built in GPS chip. It also provides detailed reports of your treks, both urban and wilderness, charting speed, altitude change, direction, distance and so on. There are also built in tools that allow you to measure distances on the maps, place waypoints, and even navigate by compass. In short, everything you need to find your way around just about any place in the U.S.If you already own an iOS devices, you probably know that there are a plethora of navigation apps available, including Apple’s very own Maps app that comes pre-installed. The Trail Maps app is specifically designed for hikers, backpackers, and campers however, giving them the option to download insanely detailed maps for use in the backcountry, where they are not likely to have any kind of data connection or cell service at all. That alone makes it unlike any other navigation tool in the App Store.

Over the past few days, I’ve had the opportunity to play with this app, and I’m quite impressed with the GPS tracking functionality and the level of detail on the maps. However, while those details are fantastic, I didn’t actually see any trails listed, which is surprising since the app is called “Trail Maps.” The maps are also confined to the 48 contiguous States at the moment as well, which means those wanting to go hiking in Hawaii or Alaska are out of luck. It shouldn’t come as a surprise, but using the GPS also drains your battery rather quickly, which has the potential to be problematic while using the app in the wilderness. If you’re using Trail Maps while on an extended hike, you’ll need a way to charge your device while away from civilization.

Those shortcomings aside, the potential to have all those USGS topo maps on a portable device is pretty impressive for any hiker or backpacker. With a price tag of just $2.99, Trail Maps offers a lot of value for anyone in need of backcountry navigation.

September 11 Memorial distributes more than 24,000 passes in first day

by Sean McLachlan on

As we mentioned yesterday, the National September 11 Memorial & Museum started handing out free passes on Monday in anticipation of their opening to the public on September 12. Everyone anticipated a huge response, and there certainly was one. In just the first few hours that tickets were available, 24,000 were been handed out. Figures for the whole day are not yet available.

The memorial in New York City will open for a private ceremony for the victims’ families this September 11, the tenth anniversary of the attacks.

While the 9/11 memorial is free, because of high demand and limited space within the grounds, tickets must be reserved in advance for a particular entry date and time. Once inside, visitors may stay as long as they like, so this could mean slow lines. You can reserve your tickets online.

[Photo courtesy National Park Service]

Get free Delta miles by using their mobile app

by Grant Martin on

As mobile applications take a larger and larger role in our daily travel lives, airlines are starting to respond with their own widgets and tools to make working with them easier. After all, the better that they can facilitate your transactions with them, the more likely that you’re going to return a happy customer.

To that end, Delta Air Lines just rolled its new iPhone/Android app out that should help streamline the whole mobile boarding pass process. Instead of clicking through an email or navigating to delta.com on your browser, the new tool lets you check in, download your boarding pass and keep it stored for future use — without dealing with any browsers or caches or non-Delta tools.

Big deal, right? Anyone can use a mobile boarding pass irrespective of the app, and you’re still constrained by battery life and the whims of the TSA and the equipment along the chain. Fact of the matter is, mobile boarding passes are still probably not worth your time.

Still, an engaged traveler is one that’s more likely going to return (and Delta knows this), so they’re offering a 1,000 mile bonus for any passenger willing to download and try out the app next them they go to the airport. All the passenger has to do is sign up, get to the airport and check in with the app to get the reward, which should be just about the easiest 1000 miles that anyone can earn.

You can sign up for the promotion here and download the app via your favorite app store. You’ve got until September 7th to redeem.

New Florence App hits app store (and it’s free!)

by Grant Martin on

Update! The app is now also available for Android devices.

Our old friend and partner-in-crime Leif Pettersen has been busy since his departure from Gadling in 2007. The wayward Lonely Planet author, travel guru and generally affable guy has been bombasting around the planet on various projects, but one in particular recently got our attention at Gadling Labs.

Turns out, Pettersen just finished putting the final touches on a new digital travel guide to Florence, the product of which is currently available in the app store for all iPhone, iPad and iVanity hardware. And best of all, it’s free for the next day. All that you have to do is scoot over to the site, click download and get your hands on the full product. In Leif’s words, “your review can be the payment.”

Here at Gadling Labs we’re itching to try out the app, but with our Android phones on a Linux operating system (in a Faraday-cage newsroom no less) it’s really difficult to jump into the river of mainstream app culture. Regretfully, our 8″ thick binder of printed AAA maps, hand written notes and excerpts from Herodotus will have to continue working as our guidebooks.

For those heading or planning to head to Florence with an iPhone, however, give Leif’s Florence guide a spin. For the cost, we’re sure it’s worth at least checking out.

[Flickr image via Arianna M]

10 smart phone travel tips

by Chris Owen on

There is a side of me that would love to just leave the cell phone at home, turned off, never to be used until I return from traveling. That would be the dumb side of me. The smart side says to bring along a phone if for no other reason than for personal safety in a foreign land. Beyond that, a variety of travel apps could help navigate the worlds I might visit, provide all the information of a guide book and help me make friends in my new surroundings. But having those capabilities and doing something useful with them are often two very different animals.

One no-brainer use for just about any brand of smart phone is taking pictures. Duh. Remembering to use this device to your advantage will take integrating it into what you do and the way you approach travel.

For example, these are some must-do photo opportunities

  1. Take a photo of your hotel– Before going on a walk or cab ride, take a photo of your hotel including any signage that indicates were it is and its name. If in a foreign land where you do not speak the language, this is really important. In Venice I walked around for hours with a note written by the front desk bellman at our hotel that said “This American needs a plug adapter” as I tried to find power conversion adapters for my American plugs in a country where they don’t work. Looking back, I think I would also have taken a shot of that renegade American plug that won’t work if for no other reason that to amuse the natives.
  2. Take a photo of where you parked- This one is really good for at home too. If just a level of the parking lot or slot number of where you parked does not trigger instant recall of where the car is, shoot photos of other landmarks on the way like elevator buttons pushed to get inside the terminal so you can reverse steps later. At Disney World we take a photo of our car in Goofy Row 123. Seems like we would remember that but by the end of the day characters sort of run together to where I ask “Where were we parked? The Fred Flintstone lot?” Extra tip: Text that photo to someone you arrived with so they have it too in case something happened to you along the way.
  3. Photograph your checked luggage- Make it part of packing to follow this plan: Pack/unpack/photograph everything in the bag/repack/photograph all packed/photograph outside of bag. Do this on every piece of checked luggage in addition to tagging it inside and outside with your contact information both at home and at your destination. Best bet on outside tagging: Covered tags that do not easily show your contact information to casual observers (crooks).
  4. Don’t forget the juice. Odds are you will need power where power is not available on your travels at one point or another. Backup power sources like Duracell’s Powerhouse Charger that provides up to 60 hours of charge time are a good bet.
  5. Take a photo of your room number– This is good for finding your way back in unfamiliar surroundings/stumbling back after a night at a bar. If getting to and from that room to the hotel/cruise ship lobby takes more than 3 or 4 directions, you might consider making a movie of the walk with audio directions. This is one you might never use but if in a situation where you needed it, you would be a hero for thinking of it.
  6. Take a photo of new people you meet- This is great for people who can’t remember names (me) very well but never forget a face. The trick is to somehow get that person’s name on that photo. I keep an email or text window open to insert my new friend’s photo in along with their name for sure and maybe where I met them. Be sure location tracking is turned on so you know what country they are from too.
  7. Make sure you have the right plan for what you are doing- Cell phone service providers have a number of plans available, most of which can be added before you travel someplace where you need it and then taken back off after you return home. That’s a good idea and one worthy of a phone call to your service provider. I say “phone call” rather than suggesting going to their website to add on a package because you want that package to be the best value. Calling the service provider should get you that and a note on your account that you called. That’s important for later if something goes wrong and you have to call back with a problem. That note says “Hey, I called in and asked what the best option for me was. I did that. Now please have mercy on me because I didn’t pay attention/ignored warnings/did not follow the plan and wound up with a bill $500 higher than normal”. If you’d like to check e-mail, view maps or update Facebook with the iPhone, you should probably consider an international data plan.
  8. Prepare your phone for travel. Regardless of the phone brand, using 3 or 4G service is way more taxing on your phone than using WiFi. This will potentially save tons of money, since data roaming can be really expensive. Turn off automatic updates and reset your usage statistics so you can track how close you are to your limit too. If in doubt, choose “airplane mode” to disable pretty much anything that might come back to bite you later when your next cell service bill arrives.
  9. Take a photo of your passport, credit cards, other identification and travel documents. It may not be able to capture a perfect image of these important documents but having a digital backup of them might make a difference proving who you are if your hard copies of this stuff are lost or stolen. Email or text that information to your emergency contact person at home (the person you told the cruise line to call if the ship sinks) and to a traveling companion.
  10. Load up on the apps. Before you travel, make sure all the apps you have are updated as well as your phone’s software. It’s not a bad idea to have backup apps for things you use frequently. Twitter comes to mind here and I have every app available that does Twitter. I learned this the hard way on our #FollowMeAtSea Twitter press trip last year. When asked “What app are you using to tweet with?” my answer, deep in the Alaska wilderness, was “Any one that works!” .

Once you leave the warm and fuzzy happy world of your home internet service provider, strange things start to happen. The most obvious is slower service or no service at all. The next reality check comes when you try to shake hands with that new service who may or may not be into meeting new people. Odd things happen in lands other than your own and having the ability to maximize connection time you do get is critical.

On our recent trip to Italy on Carnival Cruise Lines new Carnival Magic I had taken along a AAA Guidebook to Europe. I did not open that book once for any information. I did, however, use 20-some different travel apps, some successfully, others not so much. My phone and our MacBook Pro computers worked pretty well in Italy, Croatia and Spain but not exactly like normal. I had to wait until we got back home for everything return to normal but it did. Eventually.