Getting travel search right on a mobile phone is tough. Thankfully Hipmunk, for the most part, has nailed it. The service launched its iPhone application last February and an Android app in September, both of which serve Hipmunk’s agony-reducing flight search in a smaller — and very polished — platter. Now Hipmunk is giving those mobile apps a big upgrade: they now both support hotel search (which the web version of the service launched back in March). You can download the new iOS app for iPhone and iPad right here, and the new Android app here. As with the apps’ flight search, the new feature is both straightforward and good-looking. Tap the ‘Hotel’ button from the main screen, and you’ll see a map with your GPS dot at the center (by default it looks for hotels near your current location, though you can easily swap it to another city). Enter the dates you’re Read More

Apps are, at the end of the day, very personal pieces of software. And your favorite mobile app isn’t mine. So we decided to poll the staff here at GigaOM to see what apps changed our lives in 2011. It could be apps that just launched this year, or it could be programs that really came of age or matured greatly through updates. Or it could just be an app we missed before. Some are very familiar but others may be new to you, but all have played a big part in our lives this year. Take a look and then tell us your favorite app in the comments. Android typically takes a backseat to iOS when it comes to getting slick apps. That’s why it’s so refreshing that Hipmunk, the travel search engine, put real time and effort into making its Android app just as awesome as its web and Read More

Editor’s note: Contributor Brad Spirrison is the managing editor of mobile app discovery services Appolicious, AndroidApps and AppVee. After having looked into the best iOS apps and games of 2011, Spirrison now turns his attention to the best Android apps of the year. Android apps come in all shapes and sizes – literally. Unlike iOS applications, which are basically created for two form factors, Android apps need to be developed with dozens (if not hundreds) of device-types in mind. This is on top of the inconsistent operating system releases still mucking things up. While all of this fragmentation is a headache for developers, ignoring a platform with 50 percent market share would ultimately lead to their peril. The best Android apps are thus the ones that can both push the technological envelope while also remaining accessible to the vast majority of users. This is no easy feat. We divided our list Read More

Editor’s note: Contributor Brad Spirrison is the managing editor of mobile app discovery services Appolicious, AndroidApps and AppVee. After having looked into the best iOS apps and games of 2011, Spirrison now turns his attention to the best Android apps of the year. Android apps come in all shapes and sizes – literally. Unlike iOS applications, which are basically created for two form factors, Android apps need to be developed with dozens (if not hundreds) of device-types in mind. This is on top of the inconsistent operating system releases still mucking things up. While all of this fragmentation is a headache for developers, ignoring a platform with 50 percent market share would ultimately lead to their peril. The best Android apps are thus the ones that can both push the technological envelope while also remaining accessible to the vast majority of users. This is no easy feat. We divided our list Read More

When it comes to travel and local apps, Android is a step ahead of other mobile operating systems. The integration of Google Maps plus free navigation is a bonus for Android users, while often-updated popular apps like Kayak, TripIt, GasBuddy and FlightTrack continue to grow in popularity. But we’ve seen a number of new kids on the block this year, so without further ado, here are five of the best Android travel apps we came across in 2011. Skyscanner is an app that’s great for booking flights from your Android device. While other travel offerings let you select hotels, rental cars, vacation packages and so on (and that’s certainly valuable for many consumers), Skyscanner keeps things straightforward by focusing solely on flights. Once you do a simple search, Skyscanner lets you get more picky, narrowing down all possible airlines, departure times and airport connections so you can choose wisely. Well-received by Read More

Illustration by Michael ByersNavigating an app store can be tricky, with vague descriptions, dubious user reviews, and sometimes buggy apps. We searched for the best apps available. Locale$1 Locale lets you create location-based tasks. For example, you can have your phone turn on Wi-Fi when you get home, or have the phone silence itself when you get to work. It’s a great way to automate minor tasks, saving you a few extra minutes—and the embarrassment of having an overly noisy ringtone go off in the middle of a meeting. Head to Locale. SpringpadFree Create notes and reminders about movies you’d like to see, books you’d like to buy, or just events you’d like to remember. Springpad is also great for putting together shopping lists: You can quickly create checklists and scan barcodes to keep track of items you’ll need in the future. (Also optimized for tablets.) Head to Springpad. WunderlistWunderlist for AndroidFree Wunderlist syncs your to-do Read More

Illustration by Michael ByersNavigating an app store can be tricky, with vague descriptions, dubious user reviews, and sometimes buggy apps. We searched for the best apps available. Locale$1 Locale lets you create location-based tasks. For example, you can have your phone turn on Wi-Fi when you get home, or have the phone silence itself when you get to work. It’s a great way to automate minor tasks, saving you a few extra minutes—and the embarrassment of having an overly noisy ringtone go off in the middle of a meeting. Head to Locale. SpringpadFree Create notes and reminders about movies you’d like to see, books you’d like to buy, or just events you’d like to remember. Springpad is also great for putting together shopping lists: You can quickly create checklists and scan barcodes to keep track of items you’ll need in the future. (Also optimized for tablets.) Head to Springpad. WunderlistWunderlist for AndroidFree Wunderlist syncs your to-do Read More

Welcome to the weekly roundup of the best new Android applications, games, and live wallpapers that went live in the Market or were spotted by us in the previous 3 weeks or so. This is PART 1 of the app roundup. You can find PART 2 here. The game roundup from this week can be found here and the tablet app roundup here. Please wait for this page to load in full in order to see the AppBrain widgets, which include ratings and pricing info. Looking for the previous roundup editions? Find them here. Today's roundup is sponsored by HeroCraft's latest game - Musaic Box. Our own Liam Spradlin reviewed this game a few weeks back and found it to be excellent for both lovers of puzzle/hidden object games and music. In HeroCraft's own words: -- Musaic Box is an unusual combination of musical puzzle and a detective quest. Its scenario Read More

The app is similar to other popular travel booking sites out there, in that it certainly makes scheduling flights quick and easy. But Hipmunk Flight Search is a special service all it's own —it's set up to find flights that will be the most comfortable for you. After you've entered your flight information (your departure city, destination and date you plan to leave) the results are sorted by “agony.” This means that the app takes into account how long you'll be traveling and how many stops you'll make, and then uses special algorithms to locate flights that will be most enjoyable. Users can also sort by price, duration of flight, departure and arrival time, view if there’s Wi-Fi on board and book travel directly with airlines or popular third-party services like Orbitz or Travelocity. The app has its own color-coding system, with a different color for each airline. It makes sense if Read More

Hipmunk Slowly but surely, many of the best iOS apps are coming to Android, and their quality once they get there is improving. Case in point: The excellent air travel search engine Hipmunk, which arrived in a version for Android phones recently. Its Android version is just as good as the iOS one—good looking, easy to use, and brilliantly useful. (It ranks flight options by a price/complexity formula it calls “Agony,” and, as you can see above, shows which flights have Wi-Fi). Hipmunk does flight search better than competitors such as Kayak and Bing Travel, but it’s not the only airfare research tool you’ll ever need, mostly because it only shows prices available through Orbitz, and routes you there when you’re ready to buy. Still, even if you just use the app to look for flights you’ll buy elsewhere, it’s invaluable. And it’s nice to see it didn’t get watered down Read More

September 29, 2011 | Tom Cheredar Travel and hotel search service Hipmunk launched a new mobile app for Android devices today. Much like Hipmunk’s website, the Android app aggregates ticket fares from airlines and allows people to sort them by time, price, flight duration, airline as well as “agony,” Hipmunk’s algorithm for discovering the most enjoyable flights. Similar to its iPhone app, Hipmunk for Android’s visual interface optimizes the travel search experience for a mobile device without sacrificing any of the key features that makes the service so desirable to use. The app also lets you see which flights have Wi-Fi access, lets you save searches and sends you directly to an airline’s website or third-party travel service to book your tickets. Hipmunk faces competition on the Android Market from competitors like Travelocity and Kayak. Co-founded by Adam Goldstein and Steve Huffman in 2010, the San Francisco-based startup has $5.2 million Read More

Is it too late to take a summer vacation? Plan your fantasy getaway by perusing the inspired Unlike City Guides, book your agony-free itinerary with Hipmunk Flight Search, and play Jelly Defense until it’s time to go. Sure, there are lots of city guides out there but these look a little different. Sponsored by Samsung to promote the Galaxy S II, these guides provide insider travel knowledge provided by experts. Choose your city – this starter set covers Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, London, and Paris – then dive into restaurants, hotels, cultural highlights, and night spots. Expect beautiful photos, video tours, and secret finds you won’t read about in a standard guidebook. Press the "Inspire Me" button for a random location. The app works on all Android devices, not just the Samsung Galaxy S II. Booking travel isn’t much fun. Travel agents have mostly vanished so wading through the ocean of choices Read More