Travel

Anyone who follows my 4Square updates on Twitter will know that I travel a lot. This week it was a quick jaunt to Waterloo. Next week, I’ll be in Las Vegas for CES 2012. In February I’ll be at BlackBerry DevCon Europe in Amsterdam, and Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. And in March, I’ll be taking a short vacation with my wife and kids!

With that in mind, here are the killer travel apps I use on BlackBerry.

The big Kahuna is BlackBerry Travel. I’ve used other apps in the past, on other mobile devices, but BlackBerry Travel blows them all away. When you first book a trip, the incoming email from your travel agent triggers the creation of an itinerary on your behalf, that BlackBerry Travel then manages and updates in real time from that point forward. Forget to book a hotel? It suggests one. Gate changes at the airport? You already know, because Travel knows. And on arrival at your destination, Travel updates your LinkedIn profile to let folks know that you’ve arrived. Plus it has local and destination weather updates, points of interest, and more. Free from RIM. Alternatively, Tripit is a similar app to BlackBerry Travel – a little less automated, but with more itinerary sharing options.

BlackBerry Traffic is the next. BlackBerry Traffic is a simple nav system that uses GPS to provide turn by turn directions to your destination. It finds your destination from an address, and then barks out directions clearly and loudly, taking into account real time traffic information, even when left on the passenger seat. In fact, it can even message ahead to let others know your time of arrival! Travel is simpler than a full blown nav, like the brand-name system I paid $70 for on my previous phone, but it gets the job done quickly and efficiently, and the price is right. Free, from RIM, and BBM enabled so you can easily share it with your friends as well!

For local search, I use Poynt. Poynt is a local restaurant, event, and shopping guide all rolled into one. Need to find a restaurant? Poynt knows. Tickets to an event? Poynt knows. Also free. Urban Spoon is also available for older BlackBerry’s.

See you next week in Las Vegas!