Photo Of The Day: Summer Sailing In Puget Sound

by Chris Owen on

This Photo of the Day comes from Gadling Flickr pool member APANCHA who captured this image of summer sailing in Puget Sound using a Nikon D90.

Puget Sound is a system of interconnected marine waterways and home to whales, eagles, herons, seals and salmon in the state of Washington. The South Puget Sound Region offers 30 recreational sites that include trailheads and picnic areas for day use and campgrounds for overnight use.

Recreational opportunities include hiking, mountain biking, 4×4 rock climbs, quad and bike trails, horseback trails, natural areas, paragliding, plus diving, boating and other marine activities.

Upload your best shots to the Gadling Group Pool on Flickr. Several times a week we choose our favorite images from the pool as Photos of the Day.

Tips for getting featured: in your Flickr account, check “Privacy and Permissions,” and check “yes” on “Allow others to share your stuff.” Adding information about your image does not hurt your chances either.

Space Center Adds Up-Close Tours

by Chris Owen on

While Kennedy Space Center will not be launching space shuttles anymore, the 39-acre complex in Florida has not shut down for lack of anything to do. In addition to ongoing space programs, travelers visiting the Space Coast of Florida have some new options with up-close tours, some that were never before possible in the 50 year history of the facility.

“You’re going to be close to where history has been made and will be made in the future with new programs currently under development for space exploration,” Bill Moore, chief operating officer of the center’s Visitor Complex, said in a Los Angeles Times story.

Kennedy Space Center has added new access to previously restricted areas, including Launch Complex 39 where space shuttles and six Apollo missions took off. Called “KSC Up-Close” a choice of three walking, guided tours bring a deeper look at specific aspects of Kennedy Space Center.
In June, Gadling featured the Launch Control Center (LCC) tour that gets visitors inside Firing Room 4, one of the LCC’s four firing rooms and the one from which all 21 shuttle launches since 2006 were controlled.

Other tours offered include the Vehicle Assembly Building tour, where visitors are granted access to the secure area, and the Launch Pad tour that goes nearly a quarter-mile within the perimeter security fence of Launch Pad 39-A.

All guided tours are $25 per adult and $19 per child (ages 3-11) plus tax and can be reserved online. Reservations, while not required, are suggested as tours sell out every day.


Flickr photo by mehul.antani

iPhone Travel Apps Ranked By Actual Usage

by Chris Owen on

iPhone Travel apps have been coming at us rapidly for quite some time now. Everyone seems to have their favorites, based on a variety of factors. Some iPhone travel apps are easy to use, quick to load and produce good results. Others, not so much. Knowing which one is most effective can be difficult but a new infographic takes a stab at sorting it all out.

Onavo is a data compression tech company that helps iPhone users get more from their data plan. How apps load and run is a topic they know all about. To feed this infographic, Onavo ranked travel search and booking apps by the percentage of U.S. iPhone users who activated them at least once during June 2012.

Onavo generated these infographic statistics using a sample of 100,000 U.S. iPhone users of their free iOS data-saving app that helps avoid overage fees.

“Acting as a proxy server, the Onavo Extend iOS version compresses data sent to your device from apps and websites, which means less bandwidth consumption,” reports Toonz.

[Flickr photo by mastrobiggo]

5 Stages Of Travel Interactive Infographic

by Chris Owen on

Saying that nearly 70 percent of all travelers begin planning online, Google has an infographic that details the five stages of travel. It’s a great look at how travelers move from merely dreaming about travel to sharing their travels with others.

Breaking the process down to Dreaming, Planning, Booking, Experiencing and Sharing, this infographic is part of Google’s multi-media research library of case studies, interviews with thought leaders, sound bites from their industry events and more.

Want to know more about why we click what we click and do what we do online when researching travel? Dive deep into insights around how consumers decide on airlines, hotels, car rentals and cruises for their travel needs with a series of Google studies.

Covering topics ranging from “Media Consumption In Israel” to “Travelers Road To Decision 2011,” trend-setting Google studies have interesting facts on a variety of topics.




[Flickr photo by Scurzuzu]

The Future Of Air Travel Looks Good, By Airbus

by Chris Owen on

The future of air travel can be defined in a number of ways. Right now more legroom, lower fares and a muzzle on barking luggage fees would be nice. But what will air travelers want and need in the future?

Aircraft manufacturers have to consider factors ranging from environmental concerns to building long-term business relationships, pitting face-to-face meetings (increasing demand for air) vs. communication via social media platforms (no air needed). Add in sourcing better, lighter building materials, fuel for new engines, and using cost-efficient construction techniques not invented yet and things can get confusing.

To help make sense of it all Airbus put together an infographic (below) that considers these factors and more as well as an ebook, “The Future By Airbus,” that provides some direction.

Airbus began looking to the next 40-plus years in 2010, seeking out other industry stakeholders and experts to anticipate the global needs of a better-connected and more sustainable world.

So what does the future bring? Well, there’s an app for that too.

Researching the world’s changing population, the Airbus Concept Cabin app shows what the future of flight might look like from the passengers’ perspective. The idea is that aircraft cabins of the future will be customized to the needs of individual passengers.

We see no mention of any concerns about legroom or baggage fees in the future. Now that’s something to look forward to.



[Photo: Airbus]