GLOBAL – Ready or not, the holidays are here. If you haven’t worked out where you’re going, or how you’re going to get there – we’ve got some apps for your Nokia Lumia 800 and 710 to help you. And if you’re already there and you want a break from the family, a trip to the cinema, or a meal with some friends try a couple of the augmented reality services that can point you in the right direction.
You can get all of them – apart from Wikitude World Browser – on Nokia Lumia 800 and 710. TripAdvisor and the Wikitude World Browser, are available for Symbian smartphones like the the Nokia 700, 701 and N8 too.
Travel safely, and have fun!
KAYAK
KAYAK is a must-have app if you’ve got a new Nokia Lumia, and it’s free. You can compare deals for flights, hotels and car rental bookings – and then book your hotel on the phone. When you’ve done that you can track your flight status, manage your trip itinerary, and get information about your destination airport. It’s all in one place, and it’s handy.
TripAdvisor
It seems like the days when you took pot luck with a hotel booking, or raged at the travel agent’s misleading description, were the Dark Ages.
TripAdvisor lets you compare hotels, food and things to do – as well as book flights.
Really though, we all love to read those candid traveller reviews, and snoop on someone else’s holiday photos.
Tripmate247
With Tripmate247 you can book flights, hotels, rental cars, events and tourist attractions straight from your phone – and then keep all your information up to date regardless of whether you want to check it on a mobile or computer.
You can also share trip details with your calendar, SMS, email or Facebook.
We like that you can create a profile – complete with local currency – so that you add up and keep track of how much your trip costs.
Wikitude World Browser
Wikitude World Browser (for Symbian) was one of the first augmented reality apps out there, and it’s still an information-packed way to find out what’s going on around you.
You can scan your surroundings and see geo-referenced content where the real object is.
This app collects the closest places from all local content providers – then you can watch it in a List, on a Map or on screen.
Poynt
Poynt is a great way to check the weather and find the nearest restaurants, movies, businesses and services wherever you are. We tried it out on the Nokia Lumia and found our favourite Burrito Bros for lunch (Trevor prefers Noodle Express which was also flagged up) I checked the time of a screening of Alvin and The Chipmunks, and we confirmed that yes, it is cold outside – so we need our woolly hats.