The website, which specializes in providing data, including interior images and views, for individual hotel rooms, has this week added properties in Hong Kong.

It has also added the cities of Paris and Frankfurt to boost its coverage alongside London in Europe.

The number of destinations on Room 77 has now reached 32, with the remaining in North America.

The move comes two months after the company secured a $10.5 million funding round from General Catalyst Partners, backer of ITA Software and Kayak amongst others.

Room 77 says it is working with hundreds of hotels to verify the room data required to produce the maps and features for each hotel.

Hong Kong is expected to be the launchpad for the company’s Asian ambitions, with it likely to launch in other cities in China and Japan in the future.

The last funding brought the capitalization to the princely sum of $13.5 million for Room 77 following its official launch in March this year.

Via: tnooz

As the hint of summer vacation emerges on the horizon, wanna-be travelers begin sifting through travel guides, both real and online, to concoct just the right vacation getaway. Price matters hugely, especially for travelers heading overseas with anemic dollars. But just as important is getting the best value out of a trip.

That means before they plunk down thousands on a trip, travelers are craving real reviews and recommendations from others who have been there, eaten that. And online travel companies are snapping to attention.

A flock of relatively new online travel companies offer myriad ways to compare airfares and hotel rates and of course, book reservations. Others are promoting unpolished–and unvarnished–reviews contributed by fellow travelers. Still others promise to help keep us organized.

You can call it WebTravel 2.0–or you can just pull out what you need to plan your vacation.

“The influence of social networking and community services is growing significantly for online travel,” says Douglas Quinby, senior director of research at PhoCusWright. “Seeking information and looking for perspective–like-minded experience and judgments–are currently trumping the straightforward hunt for the best price. Services that facilitate a purchasing decision by aggregating or filtering content make [online travel information] relevant to the user.”

Online travel companies, including Travelocity and Expedia (nasdaq: EXPE – news – people ), are now some of the oldest Internet brands. But they’re buffing up how they serve vacationers by acquiring social networking sites that focus on travel. Travelocity’s parent company, Sabre Holdings, acquired social travel site IgoUgo in 2005. The following year, IgoUgo–which hosts user-generated reviews of travel destinations and hotels, photos and maps–was folded into Travelocity.

Travelocity wouldn’t say how much IgoUgo has helped boost bookings, but President and Chief Executive Michelle Peluso believes that social networking features are “democratizing.”

Such features “break down the hierarchy between users and Travelocity,” Peluso notes. “Consumers care about value and experience more than they care about finding the cheapest price.”

Expedia owns a social travel site called TripAdvisor, which is considered the premier site for user-generated travel reviews. IAC/InterActive, Expedia’s former parent company, acquired TripAdvisor in 2004 and rolled it into Expedia the following year.

Social travel sites can also foster real-world socializing. Some members of Travelocity’s IgoUgo, for instance, strike a rapport online and then make plans to meet in person at different places around the world.

Online travel agencies aren’t just investing in social networks to appease consumers, however. They also need to offer services that airline Web sites, which handle the majority of online bookings, don’t have. “There’s been a critical need for online travel agencies to differentiate their service from travel suppliers,” Quniby said.

Despite their efforts, some experts say online travel agencies have a long way to go. “The industry is sadly lacking in innovation to make the shopping experience better,” says Forrester Research (nasdaq: FORR – news – people ) analyst Henry Harteveldt. “A big reason is the back-end that travel sellers rely on. It’s going to take two to three years to make the necessary changes. It’s a multimillion dollar capital expenditure, and it will take hours of planning and [software] coding.”

But if the big travel organizations are moving slowly, little Web 2.0 start-ups are zipping in to fill the gap. Kayak, a so-called meta search engine for the travel industry, has come out of nowhere and grabbed market share from the big online agencies. The company, which was founded in 2005, saw the number of searches on its site double to 33 million last year.

The breadth of its searches makes Norwalk, Conn.-based Kayak a standout. The company crawls travel agency sites and hundreds of airline and hotel sites to find the best rates and compares them. Kayak is also different from online travel agencies because it makes money from advertising, while agencies make money from marking up discounted inventory from airlines and hotels. (For a more detailed peek at Kayak, see “The Gap In Google’s Defenses.”)

Seattle-based InsideTrip aims to come up with a “quality score” for flights based on a host of criteria other than price. For instance, InsideTrip awards different scores for the duration of a flight and the airline’s on-time performance, its lost-luggage track record, even the amount of legroom aboard planes. The higher the score, the better the overall value of the trip. For instance, InsideTrip gave a $386 round-trip flight from Seattle to Newark, N.J., a quality score of 62, but a slightly more expensive $395 flight had better overall value and received an 88.

Other Web 2.0 travel companies aim to offer concierge-like services. TripIt, for instance, calls itself “an online manila travel folder.” Travelers can send their e-mail confirmations for hotels, airlines, restaurants and so on to TripIt, which then neatly consolidates the information into one file. TripIt, which is based in San Francisco, will also send your itinerary to friends, family and co-workers–if you’d like. “E-mail us your plans, and we organize a master itinerary,” says founder Greg Brockway. “Once we’ve got this information in one place, we let you share it as little or as much as you want.”

After all, traveling should be a social experience.

Via: Forbes

Go Offline

A 3G iPad is a wonderfully useful machine, but outside of your home country, unless you’re willing to pay extra for roaming or a new, local micro-SIM, you’ll be back on Wi-Fi. Get ready for this by preparing a few apps.

OffMaps

OffMaps is an iPad (and iPhone) app which lets you download city maps for offline use. This lets you use the GPS (or Wi-Fi triangulation) on your iPad without an internet connection. City-specific versions of OffMaps are free, but a master version costs just $2 and lets you grab any map, for free, from within the app.

Maps are organized by country and then city, and are sourced from OpenStreetMaps, the crowd-sourced map project. There are also city guides which can be downloaded, and these not only give tourist hints and tips, but add a user-built database of restaurant, hotels, tourist-spots and so on. This makes searching the map double-useful. The guides cost around 30-cents each, and are paid for by buying tokens from within the app. Three free guides are included with the purchase.

A Wi-Fi Hotspot Directory

One way to get online in a foreign city is to find some free Wi-Fi. But if you don’t have an internet connection, you can’t download a hotspot database. Do this before you leave. There are several free and paid apps in the store, although I couldn’t find anything good for the iPad, so I just picked the free Wi-Fi Finder for iPhone and use it pixel-doubled.

Weather

If you’re spending your days outside, a weather app is pretty essential. You’ll need a connection to use it, but a once-a-day update should be enough. I use Weather Pro for iPad, which costs $5. It’s uncannily accurate and easy to read, and yet offers an embarrassment of detail, from animated weather-radar charts to an hour-by-hour breakdown of rainfall predictions. It also works worldwide, unlike some rather short-sighted U.S-only apps.

Language Guides

Which one you choose depends on where you are going, and quality is astonishingly variable. For vacations, though, you should opt for a travel-guide app rather than a full-on dictionary, as these will have useful phrases grouped together. Try learning the numbers one to ten by looking them up individually in a dictionary instead of together on a page and you’ll see why.

Why bother? Because if you are like most native English-speakers, you are an arrogant traveler, and you assume that you can just start talking English at somebody and they’ll understand. They probably will, as these foreigners are smart enough to learn another language, but they’ll hate you. You’d be amazed how far the local words for “hello”, “please”, “thank you”, and “do you speak English?” will get you. I tried it in jaw-crunching Polish this past weekend and the helpful, warm smiles I got betrayed just how few people bother. This happened despite my truly dreadful pronunciation.

PDFs

Wherever you store them, you should put your useful travel information in PDF-format for your travels. Well known guides are available as apps for some cities, but some of you may have illegitimate copies of the paper versions, or even saved Wikipedia articles. Convert to PDF and store on the iPad for fast, offline retrieval.

Technical Tips

Stealth and Cases

You don’t want to stand out as a tourist, and in some areas you won’t even want to pull out your iPad. To help, you’ll need a case. It should be quick-access, as you’ll likely be consulting the various guides and maps pretty often. The best kind is probably the flip-open type which makes your iPad look like a book. Failing this, a slim slip-cover will work, although you’ll have to hold it as you read. Avoid anything big or bulky, and above all don’t use something that looks like a computer bag.

If you’re really not comfortable pulling out your iPad, or you just must consult the paper guide-book, cover that book in something. Do not wander the streets with a Lonely Planet book in hand. It screams “mug me” and makes you look like a dork. Best of all, try the little Moleskine City Guides, the most covert maps you can buy.

Power

As you won’t be using 3G, you should switch it off. The same goes for Wi-Fi, most of the time. The iPad has a great battery life, but you can extend it further by switching off unnecessary radios, especially if you are in an area with no 3G coverage (the constant search for a network will drain juice double-quick).

Don’t do it right away, though: The GPS will grab its initial location much faster if it can use local cell-towers and Wi-Fi signals to give it a rough idea first. After initial acquisition, you can turn them off. Don’t use airplane mode, though, as this also kills the GPS.

Plan to Share

You can load the iPad up with the Lord of the Rings trilogy (books and movies) and the latest RPGs from Square, but won’t you please think about the children? Or at least consider your non-nerd fellow travelers. Before you leave, download some multi-player and family-friendly games (Labyrinth 2 HD is a great choice, and has a free lite version). Also, consider short, throwaway TV-shows that everyone will like, and that can be watched in half-hour chunks. Think less “The Wire” and more “30 Rock”. And don’t forget a cheap, two-way headphone splitter for shared movie-watching.

And if you’re sharing, there will come a point when you’re left staring out the train window, bored to death. This is where you pull out your secret weapon: Your iPhone or iPod Touch, loaded up with all the same goodies. And one more thing: Put all the above apps on your first home screen. You’ll thank me for it.

There must be plenty more great ways you can use your iPad when traveling, especially the online services I haven’t covered here. Got any apps, accessories or general tips?

Via: Wired

We want the new iPad to do more than tell us “Don’t Panic!” We want zippy new programs to answer questions we didn’t realize we needed to ask. And we want them to have a cool interface, real-time response and the weirdly comforting sound effects we’ve come to expect from Apple products.  App developers, here are your marching orders:

The iPad’s eBook reader promises users lots of titles.

1.Searchable travel guides

We already know the iPad will have a decent eBook reader — in the form of iBooks — but what we desperately want is for a flood of travel guides to not only become available on the new iBooks store, but to include the kind of searchability and interactivity that will make it that much easier to navigate your way around a destination. Just imagine, Lonely Planet, Frommer’s, Rough Guide, and more, all in one lightweight reader.

2. “Drainspotting” or a Street Art Locator app

Trying to get a better handle on Tokyo‘s street art scene? Give us an app that not only catalogues various spots — with vivid examples of what to look for — but also superimpose it on a map. Why not do the same for the city’s diverse manhole covers — let “drainspotting” become an iPad sport.

3. Mags in Pad

It’s still unknown to what extent iBooks will support digital magazines, but it’s something we desperately want to see. Imagine scanning the streets of Bangkok, with the latest issues of BK magazine at your disposal. Or how about an easy way to save all those articles about must-see spots in one convenient location — with direct links to Google Maps, of course.

4. The ultimate travel journal app (that’s not a blog)

The Moleskine has so far been the canvas of choice for travel journals filled with sketches of loved locations, but imagine what you could do with a decent journal app that would not only let you add comments and quick sketches, but easily import images (from the web or your own photo collection) directly as well. In other words, a Moleskine on steroids.

Geocaching is a scavenger hunt made more difficult with technology. Go figure.

5. Gargantuan Geocaching

The modern day scavenger hunt has taken the form of Geocaching — in short, GPS-powered hunts — and the iPad should make what we’ve been able to experience on the iPhone that much more engaging. Imagine games that have you hunting for the latest street art markings by Pocket Query, including reference material and galleries to access as you discover your target.

6. Video travelogues

The iPad will give us access to the web anytime, anywhere, and although that should make it that much easier to browse through online food and restaurant guides while on the go, why not have apps that not only visually guide you through an area, but allow video samples of the atmosphere to expect — or even a quick tour of the kitchen — as well as easy online reservations, and direct access to a GPS-guided mapping system.

7. Multmedia translation apps: don’t just tell, show

With a multimedia device in your hands, a handy translator app should be a snap. More than just a text translator, make it visual — show them what you want — and have a catalogue of image galleries to access (for example, a sushi gallery to place an order at a restaurant).

8. Manga reader

We’ll have a proper book reader and some sort of magazine support, but what that big iPad screen is truly begging for is a manga reader. More than just a great way to read an entire 20-volume series in one go, the app should support quick switches between languages, so you can see just how those visual Japanese sound effects really should look like.

9. GPS linked multimedia tour guides

Going one step further than the current audio tours — like the Tokyo Realtime series — let’s have full multimedia content that enhances the neighborhoods that you are visiting, like video interviews with locals, and GPS tracking to ensure you’re on the right track.

10. Omniscient social networking (or FourSquare squared …)

Give us the ultimate positional-aware social networking app, where friends pop up on screen whenever they are in the area, and updates and recommendations (or warnings) about your current location are streamed as you scope the place.

Deal Finding

Find the best deal on a hotel or a plane ticket by using these simple and effective search engines.

1. Kayak: This simple and easy-to-use online search tool works through several major sites to find you the best prices on flights, hotels and more. You can easily refine your search criteria to find the trip that meets your needs and your price range the best.
2. SideStep: Find great bargains through SideStep, a search tool that browses through over 150 sites across the Web for guaranteed best deals on everything. You can easily integrate your whole trip as the site suggests hotels and activities through your destination that you might need.
3. Farecast: Get predictions on whether the prices for your flight or hotel will go up or down in the next few days or weeks with this online tool, designed to help you get the best deals. While the future prices aren’t guaranteed, it can give you a good idea of the usual trends.
4. InsideTrip: This site will give you tips on finding the best airline fares, but with an added bonus: the site provides trip quality scores, letting you know how often luggage has been lost, how often the flights are late, the amount of legroom and other important details.
5. FareChase: Get powerful results on flights and hotels with this deal finder through Yahoo!. It trolls through major airlines and online ticket retailers to find the lowest prices and allows you to easily compare rates and flights.
6. Travelocity: You’ll find results from some of the biggest players in online flight deals on this site. Travelocity works with sites like Expedia and Priceline to find the lowest rates on travel and hotels.

Mapping and GPS

Keep yourself from getting lost with these great online tools.

7. GoogleMaps: GoogleMaps is perhaps the most widely used mapping tool out there and with so many features, integration into webpages and even browser extensions it’s no wonder. You can not only get directions but street views, locations of nearby business and services and even traffic reports.
8. AskCity: Ask.com has released their own mapping tool with an incredibly easy-to-use interface and colorful mapping tools. Perhaps the best feature of the tool, however, is the ability to draw and save doodles on the map, which is essential for hard to follow directions and notes about travel.
9. TeleNav: If you tend to get lost easily, whether driving or walking, you can help keep yourself on track with this mobile GPS tool. If you have internet access on your phone you can get all the features of a standalone GPS device on your phone like voice guidance, turn by turn navigation and more for a low monthly fee.
10. 3D Tracking: Equip your family’s phones with this software and keep track of them while you’re at an amusement park or on vacation. The GPS software gets tracking information from the phone, making it easier to keep track of where everyone is at any time.
11. AccuTracking: Do you have a directionally-challenged friend coming to visit? Ensure you can keep tabs on them with Accutracking. It lets you know the direction of the devices with the software installed, making it easy to tell your friends when they’re headed the wrong way without any confusing conversations about landmarks.
12. Fresh Logic Atlas: Those who love slick looking tools will appreciate the interface of this mapping application. Get directions, find attractions and monitor traffic through this attractive program. One big drawback, however, is that it’s currently limited just to the US and Canada.

Carpooling and Parking

Make your trip to the airport or to a nearby city cheaper and less stressful with these tools.

13. SpotScout: Find a place to park in many big cities in the United States. The program works in conjunction with those who would like to rent out parking spaces to travelers. You just find a spot near where you need to go, work out a price with the owner of the spot, and you’ll have access to worry free parking on your trip.
14. ParkatMyHouse: For parking spot assistance outside of the United States there is ParkatMyHouse, the UK equivalent of SpotScout. You’ll be able to search for spots in all major metropolitan areas and compare prices to ensure that you get the best deal while you’re visiting.
15. Ridester: This simple and easy-to-use tool is a great way to find someone to share trip expenses with. You can start by listing the times and destination of your trip and waiting for travelers to contact you or search through existing trips to see if someone else is going your way.
16. eRideShare: Search through tens of thousands of ride listings in the United States and Canada with this site. You’ll be able to find someone to take every type of trip with, from running simple errands to making cross-country journeys.

Car Travel Tools

Car travel can be expensive and trying with high gas prices and heavy traffic. These tools can help you get the leg up on both.

17. Traffic: Make sure you won’t get stuck in hours of traffic by using this convenient online tool. It gives you reports on congestion based on mile to mile reports so you’ll know the conditions of any road before you ever even leave your home.
18. GasBuddy: You’ll be able to avoid paying more for gas on your trip around the block or across the country with this helpful tool. This site compiles gas prices from stations all over the country to help you to find the one that’s the lowest where you are.
19. Radio-Locator: Don’t waste time scrolling through dozens of radio stations looking for one that suits your interests. This site has done the work for you by putting together a huge listing of radio stations from all over the world. You can browse through by genre, helping ensure you’ll find something that suits you.
20. BizMile Tracker: Those who travel more for business than pleasure will appreciate this tool, which allows users to easily track the miles they travel each day for work so the expenses associated with them can be deducted from taxes.
21. PL8Scan: Ever wanted to tell the person who just cut you off what you really think of them? With this site you just may be able to. Car owners register their vehicles with the site and other users will be able to send them text messages, whether helpful or angry.

Traveler Reviews

Get a little insight to the places you’ll be visiting on your travels with these great travel review sites.

22. Trip Advisor: TripAdvisor has millions of reviews for places all over the world. Simply enter what you’re looking for, whether it’s “sushi places in Boston” or “English language bookstores in Paris” and get suggestions and reviews.
23. Virtual Tourist: If you’re looking for a little inspiration on where to go for your next vacation, or advice on the best places to visit in a new city, you’ll find both at Virtual Tourist. The site is full of pictures, mapped destinations and tips which you can rate the effectiveness of.
24. RealTravel: Want to know what the locals think? Check out this site. It pairs up your destination search with blogs from those living in the local area. Take advantage of the recommendation tool which asks you a few questions and generates places you might be interested in visiting.
25. IgoUgo: Get reviews of local hotels, restaurants, and other attractions for destinations all over the world. This site is now part of Travelocity, and can be a great way to test the waters before heading off to a far-flung destination.
26. World66: Similar to WikiTravel, this site allows users to create their own digital travel guides. Visitors to the site can write and update information about destinations anywhere in the world, providing travel insight or recommendations to readers.
27. Yelp: Whether you’re looking for reviews of the restaurant down the street or a hotel halfway around the world you’ll find them on Yelp. The site provides comprehensive ratings, reviews and information on millions of destinations all over the globe.
28. EpicTrip: This site provides loads of user reviews for travelers as well as some great unique tools. Take a virtual tour of your destination and popular hotspots on the site or get advice specially geared towards students who are taking trips.
29. TravBuddy: Visitors to this site can share their travel experiences with others. Simply set up an account, write reviews, create a blog and the information others have shared.

Trip Planners

Plan out every leg of your trip by using these Web tools ahead of time or when you arrive.

30. TripHub: Planning a trip for yourself can be hard enough, but what if you have to plan a trip for a diverse group of people? This site allows everyone going on the trip to access the details of the trip and make changes or suggestions, making it much easier to stay organized and conflict free on the trip.
31. FlightStats: Delayed flights can put a serious kink in travel plans. This site can give you an idea of what flights are typically late and what airports have the worst records of delayed flights. You can also enter in your own flight information and get up-to-the-minute information about it.
32. TripTie: Get some ideas of what to do when you’re in a new place with suggestions from TripTie. The site allows other travelers to post their itineraries so you can see what popular or interesting options are out there.
33. TripIt: This is a useful tool for trip planning for those without any idea what they want to do in a given city. Simply enter in the information about your itinerary and the site will create a guide with activities for you. It may not always meet your interests but it’s a great place to start planning.
34. Trip Finder: This Webby nominated site is another tool that will create a trip plan for you. The interface is attractive and easy-to-use, and you’ll be given some great suggestions of things to do on your trip.
35. Schmap: Forget the guidebooks at home and just bring this program on your next trip. It downloads and installs on your computer and you can get guide information on destinations you’re interested in. It’s easy to navigate, gives you maps, and allows you to see virtual tours.

Social Networks

Share your travel plans and read about the experiences of others on these great sites.

36. iloho: This well-established online community of travelers is a great place to post your travel stories and read those of others. The Digg-like front page will show you the most popular stories and allow you to vote on which you like best.
37. Vcarious: Enjoy the benefits of this travel community which allows users to create blogs, post photos and videos and share travel tips and reviews.
38. MyTripz: Share your travel plans with others and document them as you go with this site. You’ll be able to post stories about your travels and show photos of the places you’ve been, as well as read about the experiences of others.
39. Dopplr: Designed for frequent travelers, this site allows you to build friendships with others and get their advice. You can post your travel plans online and get the opinions of people you’ve allowed to see them so you can refine your itinerary.
40. Matador: Lovers of the great outdoors will get the most out of this travel network. Share your experiences hiking through the forest, rafting or whale watching on this site and even get a free blog to share with others.
41. Jauntlet: This site is a great place to research and book travel. Simply create an interactive travel plan and you can use it to book flights or share it with friends via Facebook, MySpace or Blogger.

Entertainment

Find the best places to visit or things to do on your trip using these Web tools.

42. HappyMappy: Find tourist attractions in the United States with this Web tool. Enter in your location and you can get the most popular attractions shown on a map that occur in categories like arts, nature, history, parks, sports, theater, concerts, nightlife and more.
43. VeniVidiWiki: Take the features of HappyMappy to a global level with this tool which shows tourist attractions on an attractive map anywhere in the world. Mouse over places you’re interested in and you can get photos and information as well.
44. GeoBirds: Love bird watching? Now you can share your birding experiences and travels on this site. It’s a great place for eco tourists to document their experiences and find out bird identifications. You can also share your rare bird sightings with birders from all over the globe.
45. PodBop: Want to find out what concerts are going on in your area? Visit this site and you’ll get a listing of major concerts and local bands that are playing in your area any night of the week. Currently, it only works in the United States.
46. 43Places: Finding things to do in a particular location couldn’t be easier with this tool. Enter in your city and you’ll get a list of events and places to visit that can keep you entertained and happy for the duration of your trip.

Meet Travelers

You don’t have to travel alone. Use these sites to make friends on your next trip.

47. TravelersforTravelers: Sign up with this site and you’ll be able to chat with and arrange to meet other travelers in your destination city. You’ll also get tips on where to eat, stay and how to get around.
48. AirTroductions: No one likes to get stuck sitting next to someone intolerable on a long distance flight, so why not plan to sit next to someone you might have a little in common with? This site can help you do that whether it’s for business or just to make a new friend.
49. TravelSidekicks: Planning on hitchhiking your way through the US, Canada or Europe? Don’t do it alone! Find a buddy through the help of this site and you’ll be at least a little bit safer in your travels.
50. PairUp: Make meeting up with clients and business associates easier with this Web program. You’ll be able to coordinate the schedules of several people meeting up for a conference or business meeting, or just find others looking for someone to talk with at the conference.

Via: AirLineCreditCards