The BlackBerry Travel app has just launched for BlackBerry 10 devices, giving Z10 owners the ability to plan, book, manage and share their travel arrangements on the move.
Rather than simply porting the old version across though, BlackBerry has taken the time to add some additional features that take advantage of its new mobile operating system.
The first is trip status sharing, which allows users to publish updates about their journey on BlackBerry Messenger (BBM), Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Sorry Google+, no love for you just yet.
Flight status sharing, meanwhile, is a more useful tool for letting other people know about possible problems up ahead. The app has always been able to notify users of any changes to their flight, but with today’s update it’s now possible to tell other people about a delay, cancellation or change of terminal.
Which is pretty useful if, for instance, someone has come to pick you up and you’re still waiting for your luggage, or have ended up arriving in a completely different part of the airport.
Of course, so much of planning a trip now comes down to the price. Many new services, such as Google Flight, have filters that help users find the cheapest day, time or location to fly out from. BlackBerry Travel is no different, as it now offers a “Price Alert” service that notifies you if there’s a cheaper price for the hotel room you’ve booked.
Likewise, if there’s a similar room in a different hotel, but at a cheaper price, or a far better room for only slightly more, it’s possible to cancel the original booking and re-order from within the app.
BlackBerry ID, the company’s overarching account system similar to Apple ID, is also supported so that your personal preferences are stored and readily available within the app.
Software support is crucial not just for a new mobile operating system, but also for specific OEMs looking to differentiate themselves from the competition. BlackBerry has been trying hard to entice developers – it announced earlier today that it now has 100,000 apps in the BlackBerry World storefront – but it will likely be its own software that impresses users.
BlackBerry Travel is a longstanding product and if it can continue to innovate with it – the app already offers hotel and car rental booking, itinerary management, flight searches and more – it stands a much better chance of holding on to its traditional enterprise users.
➤ BlackBerry Travel | BlackBerry 10
Image Credit: FRANCK FIFE/AFP/Getty Images
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