iPhone could finally push travel into mobile

Following on from our earlier post: let's not talk down the iPhone at all.

A straw poll within the Travolution team, and amongst friends, like-minded gadget fans, family and the pets, indicate that there is no doubt that the iPhone is an incredibly slick looking piece of hardware!

Mathieu from the Radaron.com blog outlines some of the ways in which the iPhone could be used for travel services.

But time to be very honest here: while the mobile phone has been talked up for a long time as the key device that travel companies should ensure they are ready for...nobody has really cracked it.

What the Apple iPhone might - repeat: might - do is finally push the concept of the multi-media, hand-held device into the mainstream.

Consumers have been waiting a long time for a internet-enabled handset that is easy to use, has a decent screen, stores their music collection, looks stunning and - this is important - is made by one of the trendiest manufacturers in the world.

However it is not a lack of technology that has stalled the use of mobile as another form of digital distribution of travel products.

The iPhone has the potential to radically overhaul the mobile market.

And the widely talked about and, often quoted "vitally important", role the mobile has in travel might, at last, become a reality.

[Check out the demo on the Apple site here, and press the link to Maps]

[Completely unrelated: for some light relief and one of the funniest clips of 2006, watch this video on YouTube, outlining what might happen if the Microsoft branding people ever got their hands on the iPod]

Kevin May, editor, Travolution