Tag: Breaking News

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How the New iPad 2 Will Definitely Benefit Travelers

March 2, 2011 at 4:29 PM | by | Comments (0)

You knew this time would come—the time when we dissect the just-announced iPad 2 to just exactly how, and if, the upgrades will benefit travelers. And, as always, Apple has the mobile tech user in mind, which means great things for those of us who love to whip it out on the plane (the iPad, that is) and play with it until we're tired and ready for a nap.

This second version of the crazy popular iPad will be faster, thinner, lighter, and more customizable than ever. That's just the beginning of the advancements. Here are the ways in which it's improving to help the traveler:

· Accelerometer, Three-axis Gyroscope, and Compass: These are already present in the iPhone 4, and now they're all in the iPad and working together to sense "which direction iPad is heading and how it’s moving." That means major enhancements possible for map apps, augmented reality apps and basically any app that has a moving blip—whether that signifies you or a character in a game.

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Thousands of People Evacuated after Eiffel Tower Bomb Threat

Where: Paris, France
September 14, 2010 at 4:11 PM | by | Comments (0)

Update: The number of people evacuated is unclear. The AFP and BBC say 25,000, but Le Figaro says only 2,000.

Of course, just hours after we talk about what a great affordable vacation Paris in the autumn would be, a bomb threat evacuates and temporarily closes the Eiffel Tower.

As of right now, everyone is safe and no berets or baguettes have been harmed in the evacuation. The full report from the AFP is as follows:

Police cleared the landmark and its surrounding park, the Champ de Mars. About 25,000 people were in the area at the time but they left calmly shortly before 2100 local time (1900 GMT), a police officer said... Those evacuated were moved to the banks of the nearby River Seine. Police with sniffer dogs are carrying out a search of the area, French media reported.

The Eiffel Tower has had it's scary moments since opening in 1889. There was the German occupation of Paris during WWII when a Swastika flew from the top, a few fires and lightning strikes over the years and of course we can't forget Tom Cruise's marriage proposal to Katie Holmes. This bomb threat will no doubt just be another entry into the Eiffel Tower's journal, but we sincerely hope that it doesn't inspire any copycat threats.

[Photo: Maciej Zgadzaj]

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It's JetBlue Passengers' Turn to Ride the Inflatable Slide after Fire Breaks Out

August 26, 2010 at 4:49 PM | by | Comments (0)

What a month it's been for JetBlue, huh? First, there was flight attendant Steven Slater who quit his job by exiting down a plane's evacuation slide, then the airline bounced back by releasing their All You Can Jet pass, and yet now we're back to the evacuation slide business.

It was just announced over the news that a JetBlue Airbus A320 experienced a "hard landing" at Sacramento Airport after flying in from Long Beach. The landing caused two blown tires and a small fire broke out on board, which was quickly extinguished. All 87 passengers and 5 crew members are safe, after leaving the plane via the emergency exits, which means they got to ride the slides!

Yes, this was a scary event for the passengers, as quick as it was, and we're not making too light of it. But the fact still remains that if TIME Magazine named a person of the month and not just of the year, August's wouldn't be a person. It'd be a thing: the inflatable evacuation slide.

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Touchscreen Shopping at 35,000 Feet: Virgin America Upgrades Seat-back TVs with 'The Red Store'

June 10, 2010 at 8:33 AM | by | Comments (4)

Skymall is dead, long live Skymall!

EXCLUSIVE: In a first for airlines, Virgin America has announced that their state-of-the-art touchscreen seat-back TVs will get an upgrade to become an "on-demand touch-screen in-flight Shopping platform," called The Red Store.

Already on Virgin America, you can use the TVs to order food, chat with other passengers, play games and watch satellite television, but The Red Store kicks it up a huge notch. This will be the first time that Skymall products are available for purchase through a seat-back TV, and don't you know that Virgin is throwing a few special nuggets into the mix.

Did somebody say $38,000 diamond-encrusted iPhone?!

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Airport Worker Strikes in Paris and Berlin Delay Scores of Flights

May 27, 2010 at 9:41 AM | by | Comments (0)

If you're planning on flying into or out of Paris-Charles de Gaulle or Paris-Orly airports today, you might want to be extra aware of your flight's status on FlightStats and have your airline's contact number at hand, as French airport workers have gone on strike over retirement age.

Tweeting live from the front lines—from on a delayed plane at CDG—is musician Ted Leo, of the band Ted Leo & The Pharmacists. First, his flight returned to the gate before takeoff with an equipment issue, and just as that was fixed and they were all set to leave for the US, the airport workers' strike began. His latest tweet: "We've been disembarked aaaaaaand it looks like the entire airport's shutting down." Now, CDG is delaying and canceling flights on account of the strike, and other Paris-bound flights from international airports should also be affected.

Now, for Berlin's similar issues...

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Is Times Square Really a Dangerous Area?

May 3, 2010 at 9:50 AM | by | Comments (0)

On Saturday night, just as Broadway shows were beginning and the pedestrian areas of the streets in Midtown were filling up with tourists out for a walk in the nice weather, Times Square was evacuated due to a car bomb threat. Over the next 12 hours, police would isolate the area, send a robot in to "observe" the car, dismantle the contents of the car to find clocks, fireworks, gasoline, propane and fertilizer, tow away the car, and reopen Times Square to the public.

So is Times Square really a dangerous destination? Of course, since any place that attracts thousands of visitors every hour amidst heavy traffic and massive distracting surroundings could be called dangerous. But with Times Square, the idea that something could happen might just be part of the appeal.

Times Square is threat central. Find out why, after the jump

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United and Continental Merge to Form World's Largest Airline

May 3, 2010 at 9:25 AM | by | Comments (3)

This morning, before we'd even had our coffee, two of the world's largest airlines announced their merger to become the largest carrier in the world. The culprits: United and Continental, who will now fly under the United name, with the mish-mash livery pictured above.

In a $3 billion dollar stock deal, the two airlines will merge their operations, branding, routes and staff assuming that the merger is approved by the US Government and employee unions. Chicago is the lucky city which will be home to the headquarters of the world's new largest airline, as United's offices in the United building and the Willis Tower stay put; Continental's CEO Jeffery A. Smisek will however take the top spot of running the company.

Although this merger is exciting from a business standpoint, it will not necessarily be great for travelers. Mergers mean some capacity cuts and fewer seats means higher prices for these flights. Nonetheless, the new United and its comprehensive domestic route map is now determined to go up against the US' successful low-cost carriers (like Jetblue, AirTran, Southwest, etc), so ticket prices will stay manageable so long as United sees major competition. What's more is that there are currently no plans to trim down their 370 domestic and international destinations.

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Apple's iPad Won't Revolutionize The Way We Travel, A Counterpoint

January 27, 2010 at 3:15 PM | by | Comments (10)

Now that we've already looked at the ways in which Apple's new iPad will revolutionize how we travel, let's explore the ways that it totally won't.

To put it simply, the iPad is all about media consumption and not creation. It'll be great for reading eBooks, watching movies, surfing the web, referencing Google Maps and flipping through photos you have already transferred onto it from your regular laptop or desktop. That said, it is not a standalone device; you will need to travel with your laptop in order to upload pictures and video from your camera onto it and do anything on software that doesn't work on the iPad (like Photoshop).

It is not a device for content creation; for instance, we wouldn't be able to draft a whole story on it while traveling, since it does not have a USB port, an SD card slot, or even a camera for taking pictures with it directly.

After the jump, we list all the ways in which the iPad doesn't help travelers

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Apple's iPad Will Revolutionize The Way We Travel

January 27, 2010 at 1:48 PM | by | Comment (1)

Update: We've posted a counterpoint to this story, on how the iPad won't revolutionize travel.

Okay, if you are awake and alive right now, you are either following closely along as Apple unveils their groundbreaking new iPad, or you are totally against it and pretending not to follow along. Whichever camp you're in, you cannot deny that the iPad will revolutionize how we travel.

The conference is still going on now, but thanks to the ace liveblogging of tech blogs like Engadget, we're able to see the first shots of the iPad and get quotes straight from Steve Jobs on what it will do in terms of travel technology.

We've gathered the best iPad photos and Jobs quotes, after the jump.

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What Exactly Happened on Northwest Flight 253?

December 28, 2009 at 8:39 AM | by | Comments (0)

The usually uneventful stream of news over the long Christmas holiday took a sharp turn this year with one security breach after another. Just when we had heard enough about the crazy lady who knocked down the Pope during mass at the Vatican, BreakingNews tweeted this at 2:30pm on Christmas Day:

Passenger on flight from Detroit to Amsterdam reportedly sets off firecrackers, then subdued. Minor injuries. -- CNN

First we thought okay, this is some extremely stupid person taking the traditional applause-at-landing a bit too far, but then the real news began to roll in, marking it as a terrorist attempt with explosive materials and possible al Qaeda links. And yet nothing concrete was known; many rumors were thrown around and still are, but we've attempted to sort them out and present the factual events that happened on December 25th, 2009, on Northwest/Delta Flight 253.

See the truth, after the jump.

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Baby Born On Southwest Airlines Flight Prompts Emergency Landing

Where: Denver International Airport [map], Denver, CO, United States
December 4, 2009 at 3:14 PM | by | Comments (0)

Talk about being a young member of the mile high club...a baby was born this morning onboard a Southwest Airlines plane flying at 30,000 feet, en route to Salt Lake City from Chicago.

"Is there a doctor on board?" Luckily, a doctor was located on the flight, and with the assistance of a medical crew on the radio, they helped to deliver a healthy baby boy. Southwest flight 441 then made an emergency landing at Denver International Airport, where the mom, dad, and new baby were transported to a hospital. 9News.com talked with a passenger onboard the plane:

'They announced on the PA and asked if anyone had any blankets,' Morse said. 'About 15 minutes later they got on the PA and announced we had a new passenger, a baby boy.' 'They immediately turned the plane around mid-flight and we landed here in Denver. They got them out, the dad, mom and baby and took them off to the hospital,' Morse explained. 'All the Southwest staff did an excellent job, really calm. Everything was great. Everything seemed really healthy,' he added.

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Homemade Balloon Lands Near Denver Airport, Wife Swap Son Missing

Where: Denver International Airport [map], Denver, CO, United States
October 15, 2009 at 3:51 PM | by | Comments (0)

Update 8am EST 10/16: The boy was found hiding in the attic at this house. Since then, the family has been interviewed several times, managing to embarrass themselves when the boy possibly revealed it all as a hoax on Larry King Live and then vomited live on air during the Today Show. We're sure this story will continue.

This afternoon, an emergency story gripped the nation and the internet as it was announced that a 6 year-old boy, Falcon Heene, had taken off in a homemade UFO-shaped balloon and was floating towards Denver International Airport, causing helicopters and air traffic authorities to mobilize in order to track it and bring it safely to the ground.

The balloon, a weak craft with a plywood bottom and a small door through which it is believed the child entered, floated between 5,000 to 7,000 feet for hours, taking off from near Ft. Collins and landing a field near Hudson, CO. The child was not inside of the craft and the search for him continues.

In the meantime, we have realized (as has Huffington Post) that the boy is the son of one of the families featured on the popular TV show Wife Swap. The family, the Heenes, were the reckless family who were stormchasers and daredevils; the wife was switched to a ultra safety-conscious mom. The episode was so spectacular that it opened the season for the show, and one of the children notoriously says "F*ck these rules" to the swapped mom. Check out a clip of that here.

The video, after the jump.

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