iPhone Travel Apps
If you have a new iPhone 3G or recently upgraded your iPhone to the new 2.0 firmware, you may already have noticed that you can download applications specially designed for your iPhone. As you may already have discovered, the iPhone is a great travel companion but the hundreds of applications now available at the iPhone App Store have really opened up new opportunities for travelers.
The many iPhone applications that are cropping up are taking full advantage of the technology in your phone and your surroundings. Many of the available applications are using the phone's camera, accelerator, and location base capabilities by offering pictures, notes, videos and reviews. These apps allow you to quickly look up restaurant and hotel reviews near where you are. The iPhone just became a great tool for the serendipitous tourist. Many applications are available for free while others cost between $5 and $10.
The iTunes App Store has a travel category which contains many application that overview and review hotels and restaurants, suggest itineraries and walking tours, as well as attractions and local favorites But you will as find many useful applications in the lifestyle and utilities categories.
One favorite travel iPhone application is UrbanSpoon, shake your iphone and UrbanSpoon will suggest a local restaurant near where you are. Another favorite is Local Picks by TripAdvisor. Frommer's also has available travel guides for San Francisco and New York that are especially designed for the iPhone and iPod Touch. I also like Nearby, this application lets you see notes and pictures posted near where you are. Along these lines you may also like Yelp which has reviews for businesses near you. These applications are also great utilities to discover the city where you live.
There are also many language and phrasebook applications from companies such as Lingolook, Lonely planet, and iLingo that cover languages such as Japanese, Cantonese, Spanish, Italian, French, German, Thai, and many more.
On long trips, I would also be sure to download games. The iPhone App store has a ton of games, both free and paid that will make will make time fly when you are grounded at some god forsaken airport.