The Waze Android GPS app has a new look and a new live integration with social apps to better connect with events and happenings in an area.

The just-announced Waze 3.0 update has stripped down to a more minimalist UI that focuses on the road. The previous version of the app had more of a cartoonish look, but the map has been toned down slightly to display in a more traditional map view. (Fret not, it’s not all business.)

The cutesy icons from the top and bottom have been stripped and the core functions are now available through one of two buttons. Slide from left to right to search for an address, place, or person; see your favorites or search history; or do a voice search to trigger navigation. Tapping the left button brings up reports, My Waze section, and sharing to Facebook or email. Users can also slide right to left to send reports of traffic moderate, heavy, or standstill traffic jams. Tapping on the right button brings up the ability to report an accident, police presence, problems with a map or roadway, chat, or check in.

The “check in” is to Foursquare, which allows users to immediately check-in once they have arrived at the location. That is one of the ways in which Waze 3.0 imports social networks. Someone searching for “Chinese food” can see nearby restaurants, but that doesn’t tell users anything about food quality. Sliding the bottom bar on the results page can take a user to see Yelp star ratings for that establishment. It would be better if the app allowed users to actually go to the restaurant’s Yelp page to learn more about specific dishes, price, or atmosphere, but this is still a useful tool to have. Waze also has a Foursquare tab that shows how many people are checked-in to a venue and which locations have Foursquare specials.

Android 2.0 and higher users get more out of Waze 3.0. The app has a My Waze feature that keeps stats of how a user fares in the gamification/contest aspects of Waze, pre-programs Home and Work locations, and provides live feedback on the best routes to take when driving. The iPhone version has had these features for a few months, so here’s a quick video filmed by Robert Scoble showing how it works. You can download the Android version for free from the Android Market.

Finding a quality hotel room is never easy to do, so imagine how tough it must be for someone trying to find an apartment or home to rent for a short period. An increasing number of people have turned to a service called Airbnb.com for that problem. Airbnb is a directory of home owners and renters who are willing to let others use their home (or a room or efficiency) for a short stay. It provides the comforts of home at rates better than or comparable to a hotel, and the entire process can be carried out from start to finish on an Android device.

The official Airbnb Android app launched recently and the app is already off to a running start. Though the app looks like a port straight from iOS, the design and functions are good. Users can see featured properties in a given city or search for all properties, and then see a list or map detailing available locations in the area. The filter button in the top-right corner can remove listings that don’t meet the following criteria:

• Able to accommodate check-in/out date
• Able to accommodate number of guests
• Offer private rooms, shared rooms, or entire homes for rent
• Minimum or maximum price
• Number of beds or bathrooms on site

Individual listings then offer a great deal of info, including the all-important nightly rate. A description of the property and on-site amenities (cable, WiFi, pets allowed, etc.) provide the details that help decide if its worth staying at that location. A scrollable photo gallery provides further clarity, and user reviews from past guests add insight about the booking experience and cleanliness of the property or neighborhood.

The Airbnb app does an excellent job of presenting a lot of information in a dead-simple way. Even someone who has never used the service should be able to sign-up, search, and have a room booked within 30 minutes if you find a suitable site. And because the app does such a good job of displaying the listings, that shouldn’t be much of a problem. Android 2.1 is required, and ICS users may experience some force close errors.

The latest version of Google Maps for Android takes the typically outdoor science of mapping and brings it indoors. Google Maps 6.0 provides floor plans for select buildings in the United States and Japan. So when someone searches for Atlanta International Airport and sees a blue-dot on the area, that person can zoom in on the map and automatically see a detailed layout of the terminal. The user will see where to find Chic-Fil-A and which direction to take to get to the appropriate gate. Should that person go to another floor/level, the map will automatically update and adjust.

Google has so far partnered with a number international airports and retaiers in the United States and Puerto Rico. It also supports a number of shopping districts, airports, and rail stations in Japan. Google has posted a complete list of the places where Indoor Maps are supported. There’s even a function that allows users to submit a floor plan to Google.

Android 2.2 or higher is required to use indoor maps. Android 2.1+ is required for the other new features in Google Maps 6.0. Those features include yet another redesign for Places, which now has a homescreen within Google Maps, and a new method for switching between map modes and features within Maps. There’s now a drop-down menu tool bar to jump from or to Map, Places, Navigation, Latitude, History, or My Places.

via Google

It’s a busy Friday night at your local watering hole, and you don’t want to constantly reach for your wallet every time you get a drink. You also may want to avoid wading through the crowded bar area to settle up at the end of the night and argue with your bartender that your tab doesn’t seem very accurate.

Enter TabbedOut, the mobile payment solution that tracks your drinks and pays the tab directly through the phone. TabbedOut maps a number of nearby locations that can run a digital tab (the service works only at participating merchants). A unique code is produced for the tab, given to a server/bartender, and then drinks are ordered throughout the night as you normally would. When it comes time to leave, TabbedOut sends the linked credit card – stored securely and encrypted – info to the venue. A tip can be added for your server, a tab can be split between friends, and you can pay on your way out the door. Actually, you can pay even if you’re not in the same city, so pick up your brother’s restaurant bill on his birthday since you can’t make it home that weekend.

The TabbedOut process is designed to simplify the night-on-the-town payment system. In addition to being able to make one payment at the end of the night and even get a built-in tip calculator, users get a receipt for each tab. This makes it easy to store .pdf files for budgeting or expense reports, and all of that information can be archived within the app. As an added bonus, the app has numbers for local cab companies for those occasions when you might have had one too many.

Unfortunately, the ease of use is limited to a select group of places. TabbedOut is available at select locations in select cities in 32 states. Because a merchant must sign-up to participate in the program, your favorite hangout or a desired destination in a new city may not be compatible. In order for this app to have any value, it must be readily available at the bar 50 ft away, not 50 miles away. It may be more efficient for both consumers and merchants, but only if TabbedOut manages to increase its footprint of supported locations, which it seems to be doing. The company announced today that it is expanding in Seattle.

Download TabbedOut from the Android Market and see if your local bar or restaurant is supported.

KEY FEATURES

• Maintains itemized tab that users pay when leaving
• Can pay a bill for a friend remotely
• Credit card payment stored securely and encrypted, unique code used for payments
• Built-in tip calculator, tab splitter, and receipt tracker
• Map showing nearby locations based on GPS

Map and navigation app NDrive is used by more than half a million people spread out across the globe. Those users recently received an update that greatly improved performance and overall usability. Now you can join the ranks of NDrivers exploring the roadways, and you can do it at no cost.

Androinica.com and NDrive have teamed-up to give away licenses to use the premium navigation app. The contest is open to users in any region that an NDrive app is available, Western/Eastern European bundle versions excluded, and will provide a free license for users to experience the new features. Among those features:

• Avoid traffic jams. Congested roadways are now highlighted by red to indicate heavy traffic, and yellow to show busy roadways. This optional upgrade through the NDrive store will help users take a different route.
• Walk right. Pedestrians get better navigation because the compass rotates the map as a user turns. So if you get confused and start facing different directions, the map adjusts to show the correct route.
• North up. Should there come a time where you lose your bearings, tapping this button will provide direction. So when navigation says “Head east” while you’re in a parking lot, North up points to the north to serve as a point of reference for figuring out which direction to turn.

UPDATE

This contest has concluded and the winners have already been notified. Thank you for participating.

Other features include an improved keyboard, better zoom that “jumps” back to your position with one tap, and support for gestures. You can enter to have all of these features by taking these steps.

1. Like the Androinica and NDrive Facebook pages.
2. Then type the following message on the NDrive Facebook page:
   Tell @Androinica that I want to win the @NDrive License and hit the road!

Be sure to type it out rather than copying and pasting because that’s the only way we’ll be tagged. We’ll select a random winner and contact them to send a free license for NDrive in their country.

Great news for you Sprint TeleNav users out there, the navigation service has just released information that its GPS Navigator app for Android phones is getting a major update soon. This 7.1 update brings in some nice additions like favorite and recent destinations, local reviews, gas prices, commute times and traffic all at your disposal. Other newly implemented features includes the following:

• New Home Screen - TeleNav GPS Navigator 7.1 uses a new, unique home screen, called “My Dashboard,” for quick and easy access to what on-the-go people need every day. The redesigned interface includes a map of the user’s current location with real-time traffic overlay and customizable “Home” and “Work” buttons to show current drive times based on live traffic.
• Improved Map Options - TeleNav GPS Navigator 7.1 also includes smoother and faster map rendering, enhancing features such as live traffic, red light cameras and satellite view map layers. The application includes Multi Routes, which recommends up to three routes to the destination with distance and estimated drive times based on traffic conditions.
• New Widgets – Customizable Android widgets have been added for quick access to the information that on-the-go people need and use every day. Three TeleNav widgets are available for download on the Android home screen, including a map of the user’s current location, a one-box search field, and navigation with Home and Work commute times.

Users of phones running Android version 2.3 on Sprint’s network will see the TeleNav GPS Navigator 7.1 update in Google’s Android Market later this month. The app is free to download, but keep in mind that optional premium features such as lane assist, speed trap, red light camera, speed limit notification and commute reports are going to run you $4.99 per month.

Source: TeleNav

Hipmunk, the lesser-known but arguably better than the other travel websites, has released its Android app. Developed by a self-described Android “fanboy” hired by the company for the sole purpose of creating the app, that fanboy did an excellent job of translating Hipmunk to Android.

Searching for flights on Hipmunk starts out like any other service: enter your departure and arrival cities, select a travel date and class (Coach, business, first), and then wait for the results to file in. However, the unique aspect of Hipmunk then comes into play when it comes time to select a flight. The app has a great “Agony” feature that helps users quickly weigh the benefits of flight cost and perks. This feature lists flights according to how many stops and how long total travel time will be. Users can then change to tabs that list flights according to Price, Departure, and Arrival. Each mode readily displays the most important information, so people will have an easy time making sense of which flight is the best option.

There are also indications on which packages support in-flight Wi-Fi, listing of the plane model, and very fast results. The only downside I’ve discovered so far is that Hipmunk doesn’t support direct booking within the app. Instead, it books flights through the website of the airline or a aggregator like Orbitz. That’s fine for an airline like Delta, which has a mobile booking site, but less appealing for the desktop-only results that came up for US Airways. Silver lining: users can finish the booking process on a computer sing a code created by the app, or send an email with all the important information.

Download Hipmunk if you’re frequently searching for new flights. The app requires Android 2.2 or higher and is available for free in the Android Market.

The check-in wars often put Gowalla in direct competition with Foursquare, but it has become clear that Foursquare has already become the “where are my friends?” app of choice. Rather than continue to fight a losing battle, Gowalla is taking a new path in the location game – it’s becoming a travel guide.

Gowalla will still allow users to check-in to venues, but the found items and other “gamey” aspects of what set Gowalla apart have been pushed to the side. Now, Gowalla is about helping discover interesting venues and attractions. Rather than merely broadcast to the world where you are, the company has refocused its Android app to find places worth talking about.

Gowalla still looks as beautiful as ever. The app launch screen lists “nearby” guides that show curated information on a given city or attraction. The guides are broken down in “Spots” and “Lists” tabs that, along with Info and Maps, help users form decisions about places to visit. “Spots” are recommended points of interest like famous restaurants, major shopping centers, outdoor attractions, and nightlife. Users can browse these places according to category or search for something specific. “Lists” are featured groups of places that someone should attend. So, a couple vacationing in Miami could venture away from the beach and explore the Art Deco District list, which features interesting architecture to see and a non-tourist trap place to grab great food.

Locals can also get a kick out of the new Gowalla thanks to the creativity of users. The “New York in Austin” list has places where Big Apple transplants can get a taste of home by visiting NY-style pizzerias in Texas. They can also explore gay-friendly bars in New Orleans or family fun places in Tel Aviv. Spots and lists can even be narrowed to a particular location. Gowalla offers guides for attractions like the Orlando’s Disney World or The University of Texas-Austin campus, so users can find hyper-local breakdowns of certain areas.

The downside to the new Gowalla is that contributing to guides doesn’t seem very easy to do (or possible) from the app. I immediately had an idea for a list that Miami visitors might like, but was unable to figure out how to group venues. The Social Guide that Gowalla seeks to build must allow community members to easily contribute if CEO Josh Williams hopes to be successful “building a social atlas for the world.”

UPDATE: Thanks to the Gowalla team for helping me figure out how to contribute a list. If enough people “Love” your list, it may be upgraded to be one of the featured guides of a city.

To Create a List:

1. From the Guides screen at the top you’ll see “Spots and Lists Nearby” – tap there
2. Search, or find your Spot you want to add – click it
3. On the screen for the Spot, you’ll see a blue “+ bookmark” icon at the lower left –  tap it
4. This brings up the “Add to List” menu; add it to one of your existing Lists, or create a new list with the “+” in the top right

Only 60 cities currently have guides, but Gowalla is working to build more guides soon. For what it’s worth, the guides for cities already supported – Honolulu, Montreal, New York, London, Paris, Stockholm, Mecca, Sydney, Tokyo, and more – are an excellent foundation. Gowalla is not as informative about the culture and typically touristy thing to do in most places, but it does have an interesting collection of spots and lists that should make exploring cities fun.

Other key features include

• Photos and highlights shared by users at a venue
• “Stories” that show who else has checked into that location and document an event
• Map mode that plots featured venues near your GPS location
• 60 city guides and 20 additional guides for national parks, major tourist attractions, and university campus sites
• Love button to indicate favorite locations

One of the most wished-for devices is a universal translator. It could make talking to someone in another language far more convenient than using a translator or staring at each other using awkward, broken phrases of a language you learned in high school. SpeechTrans has been ported from iOS as an easy-to-use app that works wonders for anyone traveling abroad or having a fear of getting stuck in a foreign country without a way to communicate.

SpeechTrans does everything you would want. It can translate twenty-two different languages by speech or text, and has a nice Facebook Chat feature in case you have friends who don’t speak your language. The translation part of the app works great, and the speech recognition feature is a timesaver that lets you hear who you’re conversing with instead of merely texting.

SpeechTrans also allows you to e-mail the conversation or text, post your translation to Facebook or Twitter, find alternate translations, and view your saved translations. All of these features should be standard for anyone looking to compete against SpeechTrans.

The interface is very easy to learn and use. After you login, you are given a lengthy tutorial, and then you are able to select your languages and get all your translating needs done in one screen. There are big record and play buttons as well as two big conversation boxes in case the speech tool is too difficult to understand.

You can also choose between a male or female voice to make the whole conversation more realistic and bearable. Although, I thought the female computerized voice sounded much more authentic and clear. The male voice seemed a bit stuttered and garbled in multiple languages.

I wasn’t exactly sold on the speech recognition part of the app. You always have to speak clearly and slowly when doing anything with another language, and SpeechTrans picked that up perfectly. But speaking at differing volume levels and speeds, I could never figure out what made the speech recognition go awry. Sometimes it could pick up mispronounced words and fast talking, other times it would mess up simple pronouns. Since using text is an easy option, I didn’t find this problem to be deal-breaking in the slightest.

Overall, this is a must-have app for any world traveler with an Android smartphone. The speech recognition is quick, if a little fluky sometimes, and the translations are even faster and easy to set-up. The Facebook Chat is a great feature to have because you are guaranteed to make new friends with this easy conversational tool.

Rating: 5/5 Globes

App: SpeechTrans

Developer:

Price: Free two-day trial on Getjar; Look for it on the Amazon App Store soon

TripIt has introduced a new design for its popular Android travel app. The new design makes jumping from one section to another easier, reduces file size, and brings all the information from a traveler’s itinerary into one place. The changes were made to appease TripIt’s younger Android user base.

According to TripIt, Android users don’t fly as often as their iPhone and BlackBerry counterparts. While 21 percent of TripIt Android users jump on a plane 15 or more times per year for business, 23 percent of iPhone users and 36 percent of BlackBerry users reach that same threshold.

BlackBerry is still entrenched as “the business phone,” so it’s expected to have the highest rate of travel among TripIt users. What’s more interesting is that Android users take 1-3 leisure trips per year, while iPhone users take 4 or more trips.

Android users are stereotyped as being cheap while iPhone users are more willing to spend their money. I think less frequent travel has more to do with Android TripIt users tending to be in their late 20′s and early 30′s. That’s the time where people aren’t as established and are trying to save money to buy homes or start families. That’s the period folks transition from being carefree with their disposable income to tightening purse strings a little more often. Meanwhile, TripIt’s BlackBerry and iPhone users probably have a little more financial room to breathe since its users are in their late 30′s and early 40′s.

Regardless of how often someone travels, TripIt is a good option to have. The app can store your flight and hotel information to make it easier to check-in at the gate and keep track of a schedule. It even lets users add events for their trip plans. Download the free, ad-supported version from the Android Market, or get the version with no adds for $3.99.