Oracle Blog

Before Smartphones, travellers spent their time with their noses in translation books, frantically searching for an online café to check their flight details or writing about their experiences in a steadily disintegrating journal.  As with most other aspects of life, Smartphones have stepped in to make our lives just that little bit easier. When you’re already lugging around a heavy backpack, it helps to have all the answers in one little device.  Here’s some of the best Smartphone apps to take with you on your travels. Flight Track

If you’re one of those people who likes to watch the minutes tick by as you get closer to your destination, get your hands on Flight Track. It’ll show you live and zoom able maps of your flight in progress, how the weather is going and what your baggage is up to. You’ll be the first to know when your flight is delayed or canceled and the app will even go one step further and help you book an alternative flight. If paperwork is not your friend, save your itinerary into Flight Track and use it to send your travel details to friends and family.

XE Currency

Simple and effective, XE Currency can convert every world currency while on the go. You’ll use it mostly to calculate your dollars to pounds, yen or any other currency you might need. It also keeps a history of currency charts

Translator

Those travelling through countries where English isn’t the dominant language will find Translator very helpful. How many times have you had to thumb through your translation book to find the right sentence? All this app requires you to do is pick which language you’re translating to and type in what you’d like to say. It’s also pretty entertaining when you’re whiling away the hours on a long flight.

Urban Spoon

Just like its online counterpart, Urban Spoon gives you the lowdown on restaurants from around the world. You can locate fine dining according to suburb, types of food served, how pricey the restaurant is and whether it does anything special like happy hour or live music. To make sure you’re well informed, Urban Spoon also delivers all the necessary details including opening hours, menus, photos of the interior and customer reviews

Off Exploring

This website is a travel bloggers dream and now it is available on your iPhone. The free online blogging app allows you to log your experiences as they’re happening – even if you don’t have an Internet connection. Take your friends and family on your trip with you by sharing what you’re up to and photos you’ve taken. You can also map out your travels by geo-tagging your location as you complete your blog for the day.

Off Maps 2

Navigating a foreign country can be tricky at the best of times. It’s even harder when you can’t rely on an Internet connection. This is where Off Maps 2 shines. So long as you download all the maps you might need on your travels while you’ve still got an Internet connection, you’ll stay well informed. As you travel, the map will locate points of interest and give you detailed information. Better yet, you’ll get all of this important information without the data roaming charges