The estimated reading time for this post is 5 minutes
While digital textbooks have been a hot topic in education, now travel books are available as digital books. Yesterday, Frommer’s launched its best-selling travel guides as Inkling digital books for the iPad. Your suitcase may have just gotten a whole lot lighter.
If you’re already familiar with printed Frommer’s guides, you’ll recognize some of the formats that these books use, such as one to three star ratings of places to visit and highlights of child-friendly attractions. But the Inkling platform takes these features and brings a new dimension to them, adding interactive features to enrich your travel experience.
The guides are loaded onto your iPad so you don’t worry about expensive international data charges when you want to access the information. You can use these guides whether you’re offline or online.
Frommer’s has started off with its seven best-selling Day by Day guides:
- Alaska
- California
- Costa Rica
- France
- Great Britain
- Japan
- Spain
with more destinations due to follow in the Summer and Fall. These guides have over 3000 high-resolution photos to make use of the new iPad’s Retina display screen. They also have 650 interactive maps with layers to help you navigate and get information about each site.
I recently spoke with Matt MacInnis, CEO of Inkling, about the launch of Frommer’s Day by Day guides as Inkling books. He gave me a demo of the guides and provided me with samples to test on my own.
Using the Guides
During the demo, MacInnis showed me how a family can plan a trip using the guide’s suggested itineraries based on the duration of the trip or other interests, such as visits to picturesque villages, palaces, museums, cathedrals or nature. For example, you could plan a trip based on a one-week stay in Provence or a food and wine tour in the same area.
The guides are also convenient to use when you visit a site. Using the Great Britain guide, MacInnis took me on a virtual tour of Canterbury Cathedral, showing me the Site Guide, complete with a diagram, information and photos.
He compared the experience to renting an audio tour device, except the Frommer’s experience is visual and interactive.
iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch
A unique feature of the guides is that they are also available on the iPhone and iPod Touch. You can plan your trip while sitting on your sofa using your iPad and then use the guide on your iPhone when you’re out and about. Inkling will sync your notes and highlights between your devices. No need to lug a heavy guide book or your iPad with you when you’re touring. Even better, you only need to buy the guides once and they will work on your iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch.
“It’s a first for an Inkling book on an iPhone, so we’re setting a new standard here,” MacInnis said.
Notes
The notes feature is handy, not just because they help you keep track of your thoughts but also because there is a social media feature to them. You can make your notes public and share them with others. You can also see others’ public notes for opinions and current information.
Public notes can alert you to changes at an attraction, for example if a site is under construction or temporarily closed, or if a new exhibit is worth seeing. If you discover a fantastic restaurant, make a note so other users can savor the cuisine.
MacInnis points out, “It’s not crowd-sourced content. It’s professionally curated content with crowd-sourced comments.”
You can also keep your notes private if you don’t want others to see them, such as “Let’s try this pub Tuesday after we have tea with the Queen.”
Layered Maps
The maps within Frommer’s guides provide a much different experience than paper maps. These maps offer different layers of information: plain maps for when you need navigation, or informational maps when you want to see where to stay or dine, or want to read more details about an attraction.
Weather
A very handy feature of these guides is that they give you the weather conditions and forecast for the area. When you open the title page for an area, the weather report will automatically load whether you’re connected to the Internet or not. The guides download weather reports when you’re online so you can have access to them even if you’re offline.
Links
Within the guides are 300-400 links to websites for attractions, exhibits, currency converters, etc. When you’re connected to the Internet, you can use the links to visit websites directly and save clips to your Notes to access when you’re offline. The guides also have internal links so you can move quickly and easily around the content.
Phone numbers are linked in the guides so you can use your iPhone to place a call directly. (Be careful of international charges if you’re outside your home country).
Language Guide
Each book about a non-English speaking country has a language guide to help you understand the local language without having to carry along a separate book. The France guide has recorded voices of native French speakers so you can hear the pronunciation of the words as well.
“You can actually study the language with your headphones on during the plane ride over to France,” MacInnis explained.
Bottom Line
If you’re planning a getaway to a Frommer’s guide destination or you are looking for inspiration for your next trip, check out these interactive books for a great resource for your vacation. Just be sure to pack a travel adapter for your charge cords. A dead device is as good as no device!
The Frommer’s Day by Day guides are available for $9.99 – $14.99 for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch in the iTunes App Store.
Are you excited about digital travel guide books? Are you planning a summer trip to any of the Frommer’s travel guide locations? What locations would you like to see covered by future Frommer’s guides? Let us know in the Comments section below!
You left off another best seller; Lakeland, Fl………..
This is pretty cool, very interactive; I like it; thanks for sharing.
Hi Bill, You’re right, Lakeland, Florida isn’t a Frommer’s iPad guide location. I’m not sure why, but my theory is that there was so much data that the iPad couldn’t handle it. Too much to see and do there!
Perhaps you want to explore beyond your back yard this Summer? Or maybe you’re expecting a lot of visitors who want to have a lot of fun in the sun! B-)
I us Frommer’s website for travel planning and it is very useful. I imagine these guides will be fantastic. The comments from others is a nice feature.
Hi Stephanie, You’re right, these guides are fantastic. I was very impressed with all of the features, including the notes. That means the guides are constantly being updated by those who are visiting the sites.
I also like that the guides sync between the iPad and the iPhone. If you don’t have your iPad with you, you can still access the information on your iPhone. Most people always have their iPhones with them.
Thank for stopping by and sharing your comment with us, Stephanie!
I haven’t thought about this before, but travel guides on the iPad sounds perfect. I have always been traveling with many books, and they’re usually huge. An there are no interactivity. When it’s on the ipad, it’s so much easier to use. I can just think about how cool it will be to find the perfect pizza restaurant, by first looking it up in the book, and then just clicking on a link to get the map (and the transportation etc..) to get there. And the same with everything we’re planning to see and experience.
I don’t have any trips planned, but I’m definitively going to look for a travel book on my iPad the next time I’ll be leaving Norway 🙂
Hi Jens, You’re right, these guide will be great to help you find the best pizza restaurants. Not only are the guides interactive (which is very cool), but you can read notes from others who can help you find the best places.
While you’re eating pizza, you can use the guides to see which sites are close by for you to check out after your meal.
Do you have your holiday destination planned for the Summer yet?
No, I’ll probably be staying in the tent by the ocean all summer (won’t be much inside the tent if it’s sunny) 🙂
I can’t wait to read all about it! :-bd
Oh, where has the thrill for the adventure of the unknown gone? (*cries bitter tears*)
Hi Eleni, Lol, I agree with you, there are times when exploring on your own is completely enriching. But many people want to be sure they hit the major attractions when they visit a new place. With the time saved using these guides for navigation, perhaps there will be extra time to explore?
Well, this is a valid argument, Carolyn 🙂
Oh, my sister and nephew are going to love this one. My nephew is back on the cruise ship so I’m sure this would help with some of the destinations he’s headed to.
My sister travels a lot, she works for the airlines so she would love this one too. I’ll be sure and pass this along to them both.
How fun Carolyn!
~Adrienne
Hi Adrienne, You’re right, for those who like to travel, these guides will be very useful. I’m sure your sister and nephew will really appreciate your sharing this with them! 🙂
Carolyn, aloha. Didn’t realize your site was up and running. How I happened to learn about this post is I came over to visit to check your progress. After seeing this post, I quickly went back to Triberr and it is neither in my stream nor sent. Enough housekeeping.
Carolyn, this is a fantastic app that will be so appreciated by folks. What a fantastic resource in terms of functionality and convenience. As soon as I post this on fb, I have to send the URL via e-mail to my non-social media friends.
Thanks too for giving me the opportunity to brush up on my math skills. So far I have been right on the first “guess” each time.
Have fun tinkering under the hood. Until next time, aloha. Janet
Hi Janet, Yes, I am continuing to post about great tech while we’re under construction. Thanks for checking here. I don’t know why this post didn’t show up in your Tribal stream or why it showed up as having been recommended on StumbleUpon. Once we’re settled, everything should be back to normal.
I was planning on removing the commenting math requirement after the construction is done, but since you love it so much, I may just keep it around! 😉
How strange. When I went up to Stumble it, I saw my picture was already there for stumbling. The most important thing is this great post is being shared again.
Thanks so much for sharing this article, Janet. I agree, these guides are fantastic and I’m sure your friends will enjoy finding out about them.
Have a great weekend!
Spain, huh? Now I finally have an excuse to buy an iPad. This is great, really and well, it made me think of that possible trip to Spain my wife an I keep talking about. Maybe I won’t look like such a dorky American tourist … well, maybe I will 😉 Thanks, Carolyn.
Hi Craig, I wouldn’t be surprised if others were prompted to buy an iPad because of these guides. I can’t guarantee you’ll blend in with the locals by using these guides, but they can give you a head start!
Thanks for stopping by, Craig. Have a wonderful weekend!
This is awesome. I cannot wait to try it out on my iPad. Janet tagged me on this, and I am really going to enjoy it!
Hi Amberr, I’m so glad Janet brought you over here. I think you’ll love these guides on your iPad. Do you have a trip planned or are you looking for inspiration?
Oh my I can see I really do need to bring myself up to date with apps and ipads and iphones. My phone is …..well….. just a phone and my laptop is just…..a laptop. This sounds a wonderful little “app” though!
Nicky
Hi Nicky, These guides are a great excuse to upgrade your tech, especially if you have a trip planned to one of these locations! 🙂
Great post once again i really enjoyed it, thank you for sharing this post with us.
Hi Andrew, I’m so glad you enjoyed this article. Always great to see you here at The Wonder of Tech! I hope you have a great weekend.
Wow, this is really exciting. I can imagine how much more interesting and helpful the interactive guides will be (and lighter!) and probably beautiful as well. Sad to say I don’t get to do a lot of travelling but this would be a must-have for any trip.
The notes are especially awesome. I’m big on “documenting” and any time I’ve traveled I always go with a pen and notebook. Being able to jot notes immediately is really great.
Do you think this will boost iPad sales because the travel crowd will get in on it, or do you think they’re already running around with iPads anyway?
Hi Carol, Based on the comments here, some people seem motivated to get iPads because of these guides. Inkling also publishes cutting-edge university level textbooks that are motivating students to get iPads. What we are seeing here is a glimpse of the future and people want to be a part of it.
The notes feature is one of the best parts of the guides. You can make your notes public or private and you can search your notes in case you forgot which pub had “the best Bangers and Mash.” Going back to printed guides might seem positively painful after using these Frommer’s guides.
I hope you have a chance to travel soon, Carol!
Wow. I didn’t know Inkling did travel books! I love Frommers Guides, own several. Wish I had the Alaska one before my trip a few weeks ago! Will be sure to look here for my next Frommers Travel Guide.
Carolyn – While I’ve heard of Frommer’s I didn’t realize they’ve come this far. Thanks for the detail on the piece. I feel like buying an airline ticket. Have a good weekend.