Whether you’re planning a trip or want to explore your local area, a new app from Google will help with your excursion. Google Trips is a free app that helps you plan and organize trips.
Connect your Google account(s) and have the app scour your inbox for both past and future trips. The app lets you type in a location if you want to explore possible destinations. You can even discover interesting places near your home.
This video introduces the app:
The app requires you have a Google account to use it. You can connect multiple Google accounts so you can have separate trips for business and pleasure.
People who are concerned about privacy may want to read the app’s Privacy Policy as Google does track the information shared in this app.
Google Trips can help you keep your itinerary organized and available, even when you’re not connected to the Internet.
The app can also help you discover places, once you’ve chosen a destination. The app has sections such as:
Reservations
Things to Do
Saved Places
Day Plans
Food & Drink
Getting Around
Need to Know
Reservations is filled with items found in your Gmail accounts. If you don’t use your Gmail account for travel confirmations, you cannot add reservations manually. A calendar view would be helpful but isn’t included in the app.
Things to Do offers ideas of places to explore. This section is divided into helpful tabs, including:
Indoors
Outdoors
Kid-friendly
Farther Away
Places A-Z
Check out useful information such as user reviews, links to websites, hours of operation and location on a map.
Saved Places lets you see at a glance the places you’ve starred.
Day Plans suggest tours, organized by area and interest. The app shows you how long it would take for you to get to each place and how much time people typically spend at a location.
For example, NYC with Kids takes you through eight sites that would be appropriate for children, including Central Park, the American Museum of Natural History and the Rose Center for Earth & Space.
Tap on the Plus sign in the red circle to search for Day Plans on a map. You can choose from a full day, morning or afternoon.
Get ideas on where to eat in the Food & Drink section. You can read reviews, get links to websites and call for reservations within the app.
Restaurants are suggested by category, such as location, family-friendly, brunch, pre-theater, etc. Unfortunately, you can’t search for a restaurant within the app.
Getting Around is available for larger cities to help you navigate public transportation, driving, parking, walking and biking.
Need to Know is a helpful section with tabs such as:
Health & Emergencies
Shopping
Money
You can call for emergencies from within the app and be guided to medical facilities such as hospitals. Get advice on shopping, tipping and currencies from the app.
Maps
As you may expect from Google, maps are a big part of this app. Within each section you can see places on a map.
You may see a red circle with a wand on maps. Tap that wand to get inspiration for places to visit.
Offline
After you’ve created a trip, you are given the option of saving it for offline use. This feature is especially helpful when you’re traveling in remote locations where there is no Internet connection or in a foreign country and don’t want to use cellular data.
=> See, Using Wi-Fi vs. Cellular Data (and Why You Should Care)
Availability
Google Trips is available for:
Google Trips for Android
Google Trips for iPhone and iPad
Your Thoughts
Are you excited about having your travel information organized in one place? Do you like the ability to have the information available offline? Which features would you like to see added to Google Trips?
Share your thoughts in the Comments section below!
Kindle for Kids Bundle
If you’ve been thinking of getting a Kindle ereader for your child, now may be the time. Amazon is offering a special deal with their Kindle for Kids special offer.
From Amazon:
Amazon is introducing an all-new Kindle for Kids Bundle. The Bundle includes the latest Kindle e-reader without sponsored screensavers, a kid-friendly cover available in black, blue, green, pink and purple, and a two-year worry-free guarantee. If anything happens to the e-reader, send it back to Amazon and they will send a new one for free. No questions asked.
All Kindle e-readers come with tools and features to provide an improved reading experience for students:
· Zero Distractions — Unlike tablets, Kindle e-readers are designed just for reading, which means kids can lose themselves in a good book rather than get distracted by videos or games.
· Vocabulary Builder — Compiles words readers look up in the dictionary into an easy-to-access list from words readers explore through the dictionary option. Readers can use these lists to quiz themselves with flashcards and instantly see words in context until they have mastered them.
· Word Wise — Short and simple definitions automatically appear above difficult words to help readers take on more challenging books. The reader can adjust the level of help needed.
· Kindle FreeTime — With Kindle FreeTime, kids can read books in a simple, fun, and safe environment designed specifically for them. Kids are rewarded with achievement badges when they reach their reading milestones, and a progress report keeps parents updated on total time spent reading, number of words looked up, badges earned, and books read.
To learn more about the all-new Kindle for Kids Bundle for just $99.99, visit the Amazon Kindle for Kids page.
Plug
If you have a need for electricity away from a wall outlet, check out Plug, a product currently being offered on Indigogo. Billed as the “world’s most powerful battery pack,” Plug is a 48,000mAh portable battery the capacity of 250Watts.
This video shows you what Plug can do:
The Plug can be charged via a wall outlet and/or an optional solar panel.
Plug is offered by Charge Tech, the company that makes the Portable Power Outlet, featured in my 2016 Father’s Day Tech gift list.
The campaign has been fully funded and, as of this writing is at 929% of its flexible goal. I backed this campaign at the $349 level for a Plug with a solar panel.
If you’d like to learn more, check out the campaign: Plug at Indigogo.
Voice of America
If you want to have fun learning English, you should read about tech. Even more fun, check out my column at Voice of America Learning English. This week’s article is: New iOS 10 Features for iPhone.
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