Jeff Richardson

Hipmunk is a free service that gives you a list of available flights between locations on a particular date so that you can find the flight that works best for your trip.  But unlike other similar websites that can be hard to navigate and are so full of advertisements that they make you want to scream, the Hipmunk interface is clear and full of useful tools.  Ever since Hipmunk launched in August of 2010, it has been one of my favorite websites to use on my computer.

Earlier this year, Hipmunk released an iPhone app.  It is very useful, but because the main advantage of Hipmunk is its great layout, I still preferred using Hipmunk on the larger screen of a computer.  A few weeks ago, Hipmunk released an iPad app, and it is a joy to use.

When you launch the app you simply enter where you are going to and from (which is quick after you have used the app a few times because you can just tap from a list of recent cities) and the dates (which is also simple, just tap dates on a pop-up calendar). 

After a few moments, you then see details on the first leg of the flight.  By default, the app (like the website) uses the “Agony” option to list what are likely to be the most pleasant options (direct flights, no tight connections, good price). The site seems to include all airlines except for Southwest (which has restrictions on using third party websites), and thus gives you a good overview of your travel options on different airlines.

The best feature of Hipmunk is the colorful bars, which allows you to easily see the overall length of the flight and, for non-direct flights, the amount of time for the layover and the place of the layover.

I like that the app starts with the Agony option so I can get a sense of the best options, but I usually next sort by departure time to find the flight that best fits my schedule.  If you don’t want to see flights before or after a certain time, just slide the tabs at the top.  You can also sort by price and by total length of the flight.

To get additional information, just tap on a flight.  A pop-up window will give you all of the key information about the flight.

If you select an outgoing leg for your trip, then when you tap the tab at the top to see options for the return you will only see options on the same airline.  If you don’t select an outgoing leg, then all possible return options will be displayed. 

Once you have both legs selected, the app gives you several ways to book the trip.  If you want to book on your iPad, just tap a button to launch the airline website.  You can also send yourself the details in an e-mail.  Or if you want to book on your computer, the app provides you an address to type in to your browser and a phrase to recreate the travel itinerary you created on the iPad. 

If you book a flight on an airline website, the airline gives Hipmunk a few bucks as a commission, but it doesn’t cost you anything extra.  And of course, if you don’t want to help out the fine folks at Hipmunk, nothing stops you from just booking the flight from scratch, taking advantage of what you learned from Hipmunk without using their links.

The iPhone app works in much the same way, although it is somewhat less useful because of the limited screen size.  You can turn your iPhone to landscape mode to see even more information on each row, although I still find the bars a little tight to give you a good overview of flight time like you get on the iPad app or the website.

  

When you tap a flight once, you get expanded information, and then you can tap the button on the right to get the pop-up window with more information, just like the pop-up window in the iPad app.

  

I love seeing information on lots of different flights at the same time along a timeline.  Presenting the information this way is so much more useful than what you see on a typical airline site.  If you haven’t tried Hipmunk before, check it out.  I suspect that you will quickly become hooked.

Click here to get Hipmunk (free): 

The iPhone can be very useful when you travel, especially when your airline has an iPhone app.  Following up on my reviews of the Fly Delta and Continental Airlines apps, here is a look at the American Airlines app.

The home page of the app gives you access to the key information that you need, such as viewing your upcoming reservations, the ability to check in, the ability to check flight status and flight schedules and the ability to book a flight. On the home page, and just about every other page of the app, you can use your finger to pull down the screen to quickly refresh the contents — an important function for an airline app considering that departure/arrival times and gates can change while you are traveling.

 

For some options, such the book a flight option, the app simply redirects you to the mobile version of the aa.com website.  It’s a good mobile website, but you lose the improved interface and other advantages of a native app

When you look at a page for one of your upcoming flights, all of the key information is clearly presented at one time, minimizing the need to tap several buttons to get at what you need.  On one page, you see the flight number, departure and arrival gates, your seat, whether it is on time or delayed, estimated time of arrival, and the option to check in or see a boarding pass (in airports that support American Airlines electronic boarding passes).  There are two different layouts for this information depending upon what button you press to get there, but both are nicely done:

One feature that I haven’t seen on any other airline apps is the ability to give a name to your reservation.  For example, if you have multiple meetings in Miami but one is to meet with client ABC and another is to meet with client DEF, you may find it more helpful to identify the flight with a client name instead of just the location.

 

The American Airlines app also has the ability to show you the seats on your flight, allowing you to see, for example, that there is nobody in the middle seat in your row so that you can keep your fingers crossed that the seat remains open.  (On this flight, mine did.  Yeah!)

 

Like other airline apps, the American Airlines app makes it easy to e-mail your itinerary to someone and store a reminder of where you parked your car.  Like the Continental app, the American Airlines app also includes a built-in Sudoku app.  I honestly don’t understand why you would want to play Sudoku from within an airline app instead of using any of the many free or cheap stand-alone apps, but there must be something appealing about this feature that I don’t understand for multiple airlines to include it.

If you use an iPad, there is a separate app called American Airlines HD.  It only works in portrait mode (which makes sense on an iPhone but seems arbitrarily restrictive on the iPad) and includes all of the features of the iPhone app with a few more tweaks.  First, the graphics are updated for the larger iPad screen.  Seconds, for the parts of the app that send you to the aa.com website, you see the full website instead of the mobile website.  Third, when you use the app to create an electronic boarding pass, the app gives you four versions of the boarding pass, one in each corner of the iPad, so that you can just put the most convenient corner under the scanner.

 

The American Airlines app is full of useful features.  You should definitely download this free app before your next American flight.

Click here for American Airlines for iPhone (free): 

Click here for American Airlines HD for iPad (free): 

Other than the Apple earnings call earlier this week that was mostly about the iPhone and iPad, the major Apple news of the week was several new Macs and Lion, the latest version of the Mac operating system.  As a result, I didn’t run across much iOS news of note from the past week, except for the following:

• I know of several law firms and other companies that maximize security on the iPad by using Good software instead of the built-in Mail client on the iPad.  Good has been around for a long time and provides products for many platforms, but according to John Paczkowski of All Things D, over 95% of Good’s tablet customers use the iPad.  The core base of Good customers are big businesses, so this statistic demonstrates the dominance of the iPad in law firms and other large companies.
• Yesterday I reviewed a product that can protect your iPad even if it falls a great distance.  John Sutter of CNN writes about an iPhone without that protection that someone dropped while he was skydiving from 13,500, and amazingly the iPhone survived (with cracks) and the owner was able to track it down using Find My iPhone and keep using it.  Wow.
• Bryan Wolfe of AppAddvice writes about some of the apps that you can use to watch TV episodes on your iPad.
• Eric Slivka of MacRumors notes that according to a Financial Times article (subscription required) Apple has passed Nokia to become the world’s top smartphone vendor.
• And finally, here is an interesting video taken by an iPhone of guitar strings oscillating as a result of the way that the iPhone’s camera takes a video (using a rolling shutter).  The video runs a little long, but even if you watch just a few seconds of it you’ll get the idea.  Mesmerizing.  (via 9to5 Mac)

Normally, I find that Apple’s Smart Cover provides all of the protection that I need for my iPad.  It protects the glass on the front of the iPad, and I don’t much care if the back of my iPad gets any scratches (although so far, it hasn’t).  When I’m carrying my iPad to and from work, court, a meeting, etc. I put the iPad with Smart Cover inside of my briefcase or a bag such as the Tom Bihn Ristretto.  But sometimes you need more protection for your iPad.  For example, my family took a trip to San Francisco earlier this month, and I knew that I would be carrying my iPad and a ton of other items in a backpack.  The Smart Cover alone wasn’t going to be enough protection from other items in the backpack.  Just before my trip, G-Form sent me a free review unit of their $60 iPad Extreme Sleeve, so I decided to try out the product on my trip.  It worked really well, with one exception noted below.

The G-Form iPad Extreme Sleeve comes in either black or yellow.  It is easy to use.  Just slip your iPad into the case and zip it up. 

The case doesn’t take up very much extra space over the iPad itself.  It is about 9" by 11" and about an inch thick.  The case is soft inside and contains PORON foam with a flexible, rubber-feeling exterior and a unique design with shapes and ridges on the outside.  The aim is to provide protection from even extreme impacts to the case so that the iPad remains protected even if the case itself is hit really hard. 

And I do mean really hard.  G-Form has posted videos to YouTube showing the case with an iPad inside being dropped from an airplane 500 feet in the air and with a bowling ball dropped on it.  Obviously, I did not even attempt to try these tests myself, but they are impressive.  I can say, however, that after a week of having lots of other objects in my backpack bumping into the G-Form case, my iPad 2 held up great, without a scratch.

The only issue that I had with the G-Form iPad Extreme Sleeve is that I wanted to put my iPad 2 in it with the Smart Cover on.  It fit, but was very tight and a little difficult to get in and out.  My iPad 2 without the case also fit, but it seemed a little loose inside.  G-Form advertises that the original case will work with both the iPad and iPad 2, but I see that the company has just released the iPad Extreme Sleeve 2, which appears to be essentially the same as the unit that I tested except that it is $10 more and has a slightly larger interior to better accommodate the iPad 2 with a Smart Cover.

I also see on the G-Form website that there will soon be a similar product called the Extreme Portfolio.  It opens like a folder and has even more space inside to hold documents in addition to the iPad.  Here is a YouTube video showing the Extreme Portfolio with an iPad inside being dropped 60 feet onto pavement without any damage at all.  Amazing.

If you want to put your iPad in a full body case, I’m sure that you are doing it because you want to provide maximum protection in case you drop the iPad or something bumps into it.  The G-Form Extreme Sleeve that I reviewed — and I’m sure the same is true for the new products that they are about to release — provides you with incredible protection in a product that is not very bulky and is easy to use.  If you have an iPad 2, you’ll probably want to get the new version and not the one that I used.

Click here to get the G-Form iPad Extreme Sleeve from Amazon in Black ($59.99)

Click here to get the G-Form iPad Extreme Sleeve from Amazon in Yellow ($59.99)

Click here to pre-order either the G-Form iPad Extreme Sleeve 2 ($69.95) or the G-Form Extreme Portfolio ($79.95).

Yesterday, Apple released the results for its 2011 fiscal third quarter (which ran from March 27, 2011 to June 25, 2011) and held a call with analysts to discuss the results.  It was a record-setting quarter for Apple, with sales of $28.57 billion and net profit of $7.31 billion.  If you want to hear the full call yourself, you can download it from iTunes or you can read the transcript provided by Seeking Alpha.  Apple’s official press release is here.  Here are the highlights of the call that I think would be of interest to attorneys who use an iPhone or iPad:

• Apple sold 20.34 million iPhones this past quarter, more than ever before, even though Apple has yet to even introduce the 2011 model of the iPhone.  $13.3 billion of Apple’s profit came from the iPhone last quarter. 
• Apple sold 9.25 million iPads, more than ever before.  The iPad 2 went for sale in the fiscal second quarter, but it was hard to find.  This past quarter was the first full quarter in which the iPad 2 was for sale and relatively easy to find.  Apple sells as many iPads as it can make right now, and Apple now makes more money on iPads than on Macs, even though the first iPad was introduced last year and Apple has been making Macs since 1984.
• If you combine iPhone, iPad and iPod touch sales, Apple sold over 33 million iOS devices last quarter, and to date has sold 220 million iOS devices.
• There are more than 425,000 apps on the App Store right now.  The App Store passed the 15 billion download mark last week.
• Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer said that there is a “future product transition” coming this quarter.  Presumably he is referring to the 2011 model of the iPhone, which I believe will be announced in September.  Considering how many iPhones Apple sold last quarter, of a model that is essentially over a year old, I imagine that Apple is going to sell an insane number of iPhones this quarter when the new model comes out.
• iPads are increasingly popular in businesses.  86% of the Fortune 500 companies are using iPads, as are 47% of the top 500 companies in the world.  As Apple COO Tim Cook said yesterday:  “I think if you really looked at it fairly, to be this far into the enterprise, with a product that’s only been shipping for 15 months in the case of the iPad, is absolutely incredible because the enterprise is typically much more conservative and takes a long time to evaluate products.  And in this case, people are moving at a speed I haven’t seen.”

At the 2011 ABA TECHSHOW, I teamed up with Reid Trautz and Josh Barrett to teach a session called 60 Apps in 60 Minutes, a fast-paced survey of some of the most useful iPhone and iPad apps for lawyers.  You can see a list of the apps we discussed here.  ALI-ABA, the non-profit CLE organization formed by the American Law Institute and the American Bar Association, has asked us to get the band back together again and present that session as an online CLE co-sponsored by the ABA Law Practice Management Section.  We’ve updated our presentation to add some of the latest and greatest apps, and the session will be on July 27 at 1pm Eastern.  You participate in the session by calling in and watching the slides on your computer.

One nice thing about this CLE is the course materials.  Instead of some boring PDF file that you will never read, all participants get a copy of Tom Mighell’s book, iPad in One Hour for Lawyers (a $34.95 value).  If you register by July 21, you should receive the book in time for the program, although I don’t think we will refer to the book during the program itself.  Tom Mighell will serve as the moderator for our discussion.  By the way, Mighell also runs the site iPad4Lawyers.

If you cannot attend on July 27, ALI-ABA usually posts these online after the session, so I presume you’ll be able to take the course later.

The very first app that I reviewed on iPhone J.D. when I started this website in 2008 was Google Mobile.  That app is now called Google Search, and it remains useful today because you can simply speak search terms to your iPhone and the app understands what you are saying and then runs a search on Google.  If you turn on a setting called “Just Talk” you can even just launch the Google Search app, hold up your iPhone to your face, and the Google Search app automatically waits for you to say your search terms without needing to press any buttons.

Google does a great job with voice recognition, but Nuance is the king of voice recognition with its Dragon line of products.  Dragon Dictation, for example, is a very useful iPhone and iPad app that is a favorite of mine and many other lawyers.  A few days ago, Nuance released a new free app called Dragon Go.  The app works like Dragon Dictation in that you start the app, press a button, and then say something to your iPhone.  But instead of just converting your voice to text like the Dragon Dictation app, Drago Go examines that text and then runs a search based on the text at some of the most popular website on the Internet.  For some searches, Dragon Go will guess that Google can provide the most relevant answers, and the app provides search results in Google.  In this way, the Dragon Go app works the same way as the Google Search app.  But unlike Google Search, Dragon Go also shows a carousel of icons at the top of the screen with alternative places to search.  Just tap another icon to show the results in a different engine such as Wikipedia, Yelp, Twitter, Bing Maps, or many other sites depending upon your search terms.

For example, if I tap the microphone button and then say “24th Judicial District Court,” the app knows that I am in New Orleans, Louisiana (because it uses the iPhone’s Location Services feature) and runs a search in Google with the first result being the 24th J.D.C. in Gretna, Louisiana.  But using the icon carousel at the top, I can quickly select the map icon and see a search run in Bing Maps that shows me the location of the 24th J.D.C. (just across the Mississippi River from New Orleans).

Another example: if I say “Mad Men episodes” the Dragon Go app defaults to the tab that gives me link to get episodes of Mad Men from iTunes, but I can also tap the Wikipedia tab to see the full entry there with descriptions of every episode of that TV series.

Adding the phrase “near me” is very useful.  You can say “pizza near me” and find a listing on Yelp of restaurants selling pizza close to your current location.  You can say “shoes near me” and find product listings from Milo, a website that acts as a front end for local stores.

For many popular websites with content such as newspaper websites, you can even tell the app where to run the search.  For example, you can say “iPhone on CNN” and the app will run a search for “iPhone” on the CNN website and display the results.  You can say “Harry Potter showtimes” and the app will know to run your search on the Fandango website.  Food and restaurant related searches bring up results in Yelp.  Click here to see a YouTube video promoting the app, but note that this is a slightly exaggerated commercial, not real life demo of the app. When you find something that you want, you can tap a button export the search results to e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, a text message, etc.

By directing you to lots of different sites that might contain relevant information, Dragon Go attempts to be the one voice-based search engine for all of your needs.  I’ll have to use this app for a while to decide whether I find it more useful than just using the Google Search app, but on a first look this looks like a very useful app.  And since it is free, you’ll definitely want to check it out and give the app — and carousel at the top of the app — a spin for yourself.

Click here for Dragon Go (free): 

Earlier this week, I wrote about the ABA’s new survey on lawyer smartphone use.  In connection with that report, California attorney Monica Bay — who is editor-in-chief of Law Technology News — writes about how Apple was unable to infiltrate law firms with its Macintosh computers but is now doing so with the iPhone and iPad.  I agree with her on this.  When I started at my law firm in 1994, we were a large law firm that used only Macs, something that was rare at the time and is unheard of today.  But by the early 2000s, my firm wanted to use software that was PC only such as document management software, client relationship management software, etc.  As a longtime fan of Apple products I was sad to see the Macs and PowerBooks leave, but 10 years later I don’t care as much thanks to the iPhone and iPad.  Sure, I still use my computer every day in the office, but the real excitement in technology today is in the smartphone and tablet space, and I enjoy being able to use Apple’s great products.  And looking around my office, I see that there are iOS devices everywhere, so I’m clearly not alone. And now, on to the recent iPhone and iPad news of note:

• Jahna Berry of The Arizona Republic writes about Phoenix attorneys Marc Lamber and James Goodnow of the Fennemore Craig firm who loaned iPads to 20 of their top personal injury clients to make it easier for the attorneys to communicate with their clients, including Skype video chats.
• Apple is involved in lots of high-stakes IP litigation relating to the iPhone, so it needs good lawyers.  Dan Levine and Poornima Gupta of Reuters report that B.J. Watrous (formerly deputy general counsel with Hewlett Packard and before that an attorney at DLA Piper) is Apple’s new chief intellectual property counsel, taking over for Richard “Chip” Lutton Jr., who is leaving Apple after 10 years.
• People often ask me whether they should get an iPhone from AT&T or Verizon.  There are advantages and disadvantages to both, and it largely depends on what part of the country you are in.  In many areas, you get better coverage with Verizon, but 3G data can be faster on AT&T (plus you can talk on the phone and use data at the same time).  Another point of comparison is the price of the data plans, and Art of the iPhone compares the two.  Unless you want to use a lot of 3G data, AT&T tends to be cheaper.
• Rob Dean of WalkingOffice writes about remote desktop apps for the iPad.  I currently use LogMeIn Ignition, and it is one of the most useful apps on my iPad, making it easy for me to travel without my laptop, but I suspect that many of these apps would work just as well.  For example, a few days ago, I got an e-mail from an attorney in Scottsdale, Arizona with a strong recommendation for Splashtap Remote, one of the apps mentioned in Dean’s post which is a fraction of the cost of LogMeIn ($2.99 versus $29.99).  
• How much money have you spent on content for your iPhone or iPad?  Neil Hughes of AppleInsider reports that according to analyst Chris Whitmore with Deutsche Bank, the average iPhone or iPad owner has $100 worth of content.
• Pete Mortensen of Cult of Mac is an iPhone user who spent some time with Android and Windows Phone 7 phones.  He writes about how the competition stacks up.
• Zach Honig of Engadget reviews the Kingston Wi-Drive, an external hard drive that talks to your iPhone or iPad using Wi-Fi and provides external storage for movies, photos, etc.  He says that the product works well, but says that instead of spending $130 (16GB version) or $175 (32GB version), some people may prefer to spend an extra $100 when they get their next iPhone or iPad to get more built-in storage.
• Attorney and consultant Paul Ungar reviews the Worldox iPad app on Brett Burney’s Macs in Law website.
• Tom Kaneshige of CIO writes about the use of iPads at Proskauer Rose.
• Anne Tergesen of the Wall Street Journal writes that many hotels now offer a service where they will take the guest’s iPhone and other electronic devices and in exchange provide books and board games, something that the hotels call “digital detox” packages for people who need to take a break from their screens.  I can’t tell you much more about the article because I stopped reading it in the middle so that I could get back to my Twitter, Facebook, email…
• Philadelphia attorney Michael Payne reviews LeapDoc, an app that allows to to “print” a file on your computer and have it show up as a PDF on your iPhone or iPad.  I have the full version of Adobe Acrobat on my computer which includes a virtual PDF printer so I can print any file to that Adobe virtual printer to create a PDF, which I can then transfer to GoodReader on my iPad.  But LeapDoc looks like an interesting, alternative solution.  Click here for LeapDoc ($4.99): 

  

• And finally, here is a heartwarming story from the Land Down Under.  Evonne Barry of the Herald Sun reports that nine-year old Holly Bligh has albinism and nystagmus, conditions which impair her eyesight.  She used to have to carry a heavy magnifying glass to class, but thanks to the iPad she can instead now have her teachers scan documents and then she can use the iPad’s pinch-to-zoom feature to enlarge text so that she can read it.  The article discusses correspondence between Holly’s mother and Steve Jobs praising the iPad.  I actually suffer from the same two eye conditions (although it sounds like Holly’s eyesight is far worse than mine) and I also find that it is often much easier to read documents on an iPad where I can easily zoom in on text.  Indeed, I suspect that many of you don’t see as well as you did when you were younger, and so perhaps you too can take some inspiration from Holly.  Here is a picture of Holly and her iPad taken by Ben Seinnerton of the Herald Sun:

When I prepare to write a review of an iPhone or iPad product, I usually try to use the product extensively for several days or weeks, but then the app or accessory often goes to the shelf.  The products that I really love, and can give my highest recommendation, are the ones that I continue to use long after my review is written.  A perfect example of a product that I have continued to use is the GorillaMobile Yogi for the original iPad which I reviewed early this year.  In fact, that product is so great that I continued to use the unit with my iPad 2 even though it was an imperfect fit and the buttons didn’t line up correctly. 

A few weeks ago, Joby released an updated version of the GorillaMobile Yogi for the iPad 2.  Joby sent me a free sample of the product for review, and I find that it includes everything I loved about the original Yogi.  You adjust the legs into any position to prop up your iPad on your desk or any other surface at any angle you want, either in portrait or landscape mode.  You can also bend the legs around an object to hold the iPad in a position.

What makes the second generation Yogi different is that it molded to be an exact fit for for the thinner iPad 2.  Putting an iPad 2 in the new Yogi is effortless.  Removing the iPad 2 from the new Yogi takes a little more work, but just a few seconds.  I actually find that with the new Yogi it is even easier to get the iPad in and out; I’m not sure if this is because Joby did something special in this second generation or if it just a result of the iPad 2 itself being thinner with curved edges.  When the iPad is in the Yogi, it is very secure.

The new Yogi also has a hole for the back-facing camera.  I don’t use the back camera on my iPad 2 very much, but it is worth mentioning that the Yogi is perfect for the using FaceTime on an iPad 2 with the front facing camera.  Instead of wearing out your arm trying to hold out the iPad at the perfect position, you can attach your iPad to almost anything — such as the back of a chair in a hotel room — and then have a “hands free” FaceTime chat with the iPad held at the right height and angle.

I also find that when I want to hold my iPad in my hands for an extended period of time, such as to read and highlight a deposition or a long brief, it is nice to put the iPad in the Yogi and wrap the Yogi around my hand for a strong grip.  This vastly reduces the risk of the iPad slipping out of my hands.

There are slight differences between the clip on the legs of the prior model and this new model so you cannot interchange the legs from the original Yogi and this new Yogi.  But just like the original model, the legs easily clip on and off.  Not only does this make it easy to switch the legs from a portrait to a landscape position, but it is also good to break down the Yogi for easier storage during travel.

Whether you want to prop up your iPad at a good angle at your desk. put it in a comfortable position on your lap or in bed while you watch a movie, or attach the iPad to another object by wrapping the legs around it, the GorillarPad Yogi by Joby is an incredibly useful product.  The original  Yogi was worth the $50 price, and the new model is well worth the reduced price of $40.

[UPDATE 3/18/2012:  I tried the Yogi for iPad 2 with the new third generation iPad.  It just barely fits — the case is tight, but it does work.  I suspect that Joby will release an updated version of the Yogi just to have a little more tolerance, but if you need to use the Yogi for iPad 2 with your brand new iPad, it does seem to work.]

Click here to get GorillaMobile Yogi by Joby from Amazon ($39.99)

Click here to get the GorillaMobile Yogi from the manufacturer ($39.99)

The iPhone can be very useful when you travel, especially when your airline has an iPhone app.  I’ve previously reviewed Delta’s Fly Delta app, and recently I took a Continental Airlines flight so I had the chance to try out another such app.  It is a great app with a lot of useful features.

The main screen of the app offers all of the common functions, such as flight status information, airport maps and the ability to check in to your flight.  I particularly like the option to use a Mobile Boarding Pass, which saves you the trouble of finding a computer with a printer or waiting in line at a kiosk to print out your boarding pass.  (I redacted the image with the QR Code because I don’t know if it contains a link to any personal information.)

One thing I love about this app is that it gives you lots of information when you are waiting for your flight.  Of course you can find out the scheduled and current departure time, gate, etc.  But one feature that I really love is a “Where is this aircraft coming from?” button.  If your upcoming flight is delayed, you can press this button to easily get information on the plane that you are waiting for such as how late it left the last city and when it is estimated to arrive at the destination where you are waiting.

 

The app also provides lots of information about the amenities on the flight, such as whether it offers food, whether there is in-seat power, information on seating, etc.  You can even get TV listings.  (For a fee, you can watch select DirecTV channels on many Continental flights; this app lets you get the listings for the channels carried by the airline so that you can decide whether it will be worth it to pay for the TV service while you are flying.)  It also includes a Sudoku game in the app itself, if you are really bored.  You can even get some basic information about the plane itself.  For example, without this app, I would not have known that I was being transported by a Rolls-Royce … how fancy!

Another useful feature — and one that is currently missing from the Delta app — is a seating chart for the plane, making it easy to find your seat before you even get on the plane.  You can also view the upgrade and standby lists for your flight.

The Continental Airlines app is full of useful features.  You should definitely download this free app before your next Continental flight.

Click here for Continental Airlines (free):