Posts Tagged Travel

Microsoft and Expedia.co.uk Launch First Dedicated Browser for Travel Enthusiasts

Jun 2

Posted by Blue E Blogger in Announcements | 1 Comment

Microsoft and Expedia.co.uk have launched the first dedicated and optimised web browser for travel enthusiasts, available for download at http://www.expedia.co.uk/ie8.aspx.

To simplify the travel search process, Microsoft is bringing the easy to use functionality of Expedia.co.uk direct to the browser to provide ready-access for every step of the travel process from choosing a destination through to the latest weather and currency fluctuations as their trip approaches.

The new Expedia.co.uk version of Internet Explorer 8 helps travel enthusiasts with a range of straightforward features which will update dynamically with useful information such as flights and room prices – keeping travel enthusiasts up-to-date as they browse the web and carry on with their day. These features include Accelerators which are predefined Favourites to help users navigate to the most relevant websites in one click, as well as customised Webslices that bring external website content direct into the Expedia page without needing to open new tabs and search.

  • Expedia Last Minute Deals – the simple to use drop down menus include car hire, flights and hotel, flights, hotels and package holidays for all Expedia’s best deals
  • Expedia Hot Hotel – categorises results by star rating and average guest review to deliver the very best hotel deals from over 123,000 hotels found on Expedia.
  • Expedia Weather – provides local forecasts for the selected destination
  • Expedia Currency Converter – simplifies the maths with up to the minute exchange rates

In addition, SmartScreen filter will help the 40 per cent of Brits who don’t know how to protect themselves from online identity theft as it helps keeps online travellers safe from dangers like malicious software and phishing threats. Internet Explorer 8 offers the best protection against socially engineered malware compared to other browser (NSS Labs, Feb 2010 ).

Additional features include Expedia Visual Search which answers specific queries within the Expedia site and delivers results in both images and text so users get the full picture of where they’re booking. Users can also download the Expedia Holiday Countdown gadget direct to their desktop so they know exactly how long they have to wait until they depart.

The Internet Explorer 8 Expedia browser can be downloaded here: http://www.expedia.co.uk/ie8.aspx.

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Add-On Feature: Plan Your Next Trip Without Leaving Your Homepage with IE8 Add-Ons

Apr 30

Posted by Blue E Blogger in Travel | No Comments

This week we’ve considered how Bing maps can help you with you travel problems and focussed on the thrill of running for charity in the London Marathon. Continuing the travel theme, today we’re looking at the best IE add-ons for when you’re looking to get away from it all.  You can take a look at the travel add-ons at http://www.ieaddons.com/gb/travel/

There are many great travel websites on the web. But isn’t it a pain when you’re on a site to have to surf back to your search engine to find reviews of the city on Trip Advisor? Joe Richards’ runs Ballofdirt.com – a popular travel bloggers website that lays out of a map of where their bloggers have been on their travels – explains how he found the solution with IE. “I really like the IE accelerators, they are so convenient.  On our pages you can click to see an itinerary of the exact journey a backpacker has made on their travels. By highlighting the place and using the IE  Trip Advisor accelerator you can be taken straight to hotel reviews from their website.”

Trip Advisor – Get the inside scoop on that hotel or resort with TripAdvisor.

 

If you want to know the Weather quickly for your new travel destination then you might want to install the IE8 Weather toolbar too. It’s constantly updated and you can change the location quickly, so it’s perfect for the person on the move.

The Weather Channel Toolbar for IE8 -  Find out today and tomorrow’s weather easily

 

If you want to search for a holiday without surfing away from your current page, then you can also add Expedia to your search box.

Expedia.com – Perform travel searches from every page

 

With IE you have all the tools at your disposal to plan a brilliant break. Now for the hard part – where on earth do you want to go?

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Ferries, Trains and Automobiles – Homeward Bound with Bing

Apr 27

Posted by Blue E Blogger in Travel | No Comments

At the Blue E blog we’ve been amazed how many people we know have been left stranded by the Volcanic Ash cloud from Iceland. Even 11 days later, we still know of friends and relatives stuck in as exotic locations as Thailand, Egypt and Morocco.

Those that have made it home have talked about the community spirit from stranded holiday makers, but also the worry of lack of control over their holiday and having to carefully plan their trip home with their family in tow. Stranded without a sat-nav or even a local map in hand, how do you plan a trip home that you never intended on making?

We’re very proud that Bing maps route planner has really come into its own this past week. Just imagine you’re stranded Tipperary in Ireland and trying to get to Chelmsford, Essex. A quick tap of your location and where you want to get to in Bing maps brings up a 63 step list of instructions on which roads to take in this 484 mile journey. Bing directs you all the way to the Dun Laoghaire-Holyhead Ferry and even recommends checking the timetable for the ferry. All you need to do, is:

  • Direct IE8 over to http://www.bing.com/maps/ and click through to the route planner.
  • Just tap in where you are and where you want to go, handily signalled as ‘from A to B’
  • Choose if you’re using your car or walking. And click ‘get directions’. And… that’s it.

You can click specific steps on the left hand side to see the map zoom into the exact road you should be on. And you can ask to see the quickest route, which might not all always be the shortest as the bird fly’s. To take your directions on the move with you, a link at the bottom allows you to send the details to yourself by e-mail or to you’re your mobile phone as a link.

The Ash cloud has shown us how we have come to rely on Planes so much, but it’s a great that by knowing a few tips on using Bing you can decide to get home on your own. This week our theme on the Blue E blog is travel – however you get around. So later on this week we’ll be welcoming MSN’s Life & Style Editor Nicole O’Neil who will be telling us about her training for the London Marathon.

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