Whether it’s checking your bank balance, emailing the office or using social media to keep in contact with our friends, apps are a key part  of everyday life of those if you have a smart phone or tablet. With nearly half of the UK population owning a smart phone, apps are increasingly becoming something we rely on just to undertake normal every day activities.

Check out these five travel apps to help your holidays run more smoothly.

Zagat

Zagat has been providing for years, lovers of great food, the ratings and reviews they need to ensure they are visiting a decent restaurant. Originally in book format which evolved to a website, the app now allows its users to find great restaurants whilst on the move. Particularly useful when you are on holiday and you might not know the area very well. The app includes ratings and reviews for over 30,000 restaurants around the world providing ratings on the standard of food, decor, service and cost – enabling you to make the right choice on where to eat.

Tripit

When travelling,  do you forever find yourself scrambling around in your hand luggage for tickets and scraps of paper with confirmation and booking reference numbers on? The Tripit travel app prevents all this, linking to your email address it then picks up every confirmation number that comes into your inbox and drops it into your very own travel itinerary. Flights, hotel, restaurant and car hire reservations are all brought together in one convenient place allowing you to leave the scraps of paper at home.

Hear Planet

Hear Planet aims to give travellers their very own audio tour guide in hundreds of thousands of locations that allow users to learn about the sights around them without having to stop to read. Local residents, organisations and anyone with an insight into an area can record their advice, if you find you have some useful knowledge to impart you can even add your own voice to Hear Planet to help guide future travellers. Hear Planet is a great way of obtaining, up to the minute travel advice from those who know the area, all without having to stop your sightseeing to read a guide book.

Photosynth

For the keen photographer out there, or indeed anyone who wants great photos of their travels, Photosynth is a must have app before venturing on your holiday. The app makes the most of your camera phone by combining your photos together to make a complete 360⁰ image of the views around you. You can then send these fantastic images straight to your family and friends from your phone. The app is completely free and will allow even the most novice of photographer to take images they can be proud of.

Postagram

Ever gone to buy a postcard for your loved ones whilst you are away and been disappointed by the selection of images of donkeys on beaches and half naked women? With the Postagram app you can turn your own holiday snaps into postcards and have them posted to your friends and family around the world for a small charge (around 99 cents.) Not only is this a unique and personalised alternative to the postcards available in the shops but it also works out cheaper than sending one the traditional way too.

With dark miserable January days upon us we can be excused for allowing our minds to wonder, picturing ourselves on a white sandy beach with a cocktail in one hand and a good book in the other. When we finally take the plunge and book our yearly break we need to make sure we have the tools at hand to make our travels as relaxed as possible.

From the best in entertainment to those little gadgets that make life easier; here are a list of some of the must have gadgets to make your holiday run as smoothly as possible.

CallUma Tag’n’Traq

Now there is no worse a feeling than being stood at the baggage carousel at the airport anxiously waiting for your luggage to appear. At first you’re calm, but when half an hour has passed and the crowds have dispersed and all that seems to be circling the carousel are a buggy and a few questionable boxes you start to panic. Now I have never been unlucky enough to have lost my luggage whilst travelling (touch wood) but I was once the last one to be reunited with my bag when travelling with a party of 20 and it was certainly nerve wracking.There’s no way to avoid the stress that it would undoubtedly cause if your baggage were to go missing but the CallUma Tag’n’Traq can help to put your find at ease a little.

Simply attach one of the tags to your luggage with your unique tracking number and if your luggage doesn’t turn up call CallUma with the number and they will do the rest, keeping you updated via text or email as to where your bag has got to. A great way to keep your mind at rest that if your luggage were to go missing it will be back with you as quickly as possible.

Wi-Fi finder

We’ve all been there, we’ve just stumbled across the best view we have ever seen or we happen to be at the most exciting tourist attraction and we are desperate to share this (show off) to all our Facebook and Twitter followers. But overseas in an unfamiliar place it can be difficult to know where we can get Wi-Fi. With the Wi-Fi finder you just point and click this little gadget and a series of LEDs will tell you where your nearest Wi-Fi hotspot is. Perfect AND easy to use.

Sony Bloggie 3D camera

When we go away we want to be able to capture the images we’ve seen in the best way possible so we can re-visit them again as many times as we want when we get home. The Sony Bloggie 3D camera allows us to capture images and view them back in 3D – what could make you feel more like you were back in your holiday paradise than watching it back in 3D?!

The light-weight pocket size camera has two screens and offers dynamic 1920×1080 3D HD video, you can even view your videos back immediately in 3D without the need for 3D glasses.

The camera also has the capability to take videos and still photographs in 2D should you prefer and is a must have for those who want to remember and share their holiday in as much detail as possible.

Top Tip

If you are planning on going away this year with these or any other travel gadgets, make sure you take out an adequate travel insurance policy. There’s nothing worse than facing a hefty loss if any of your more expensive possessions were to be lost or stolen whilst you were away. Price comparison sites such as MoneySupermarket.com can help you find a great deal on your travel insurance so it doesn’t have to cost the earth to protect your favourite holiday gadgets.

The Total Pillow is a pillow you can use anywhere – at home, in the office or on the go. In fact, it’s more than one pillow… it’s five in one!  Use as a neck or head rest; on a chair or the floor; or for lumbar support.  It is  filled with mouldable and supportive tension-easing microbeads meaning it can be shaped in several ways – and it retains its shape too.You can get comfortable wherever you are with the Total Pillow – in the car, watching TV or at work.

Available from www.gizoo.co.uk  Price £9.95

Say hi to a world of beach, sun and music with the hi-Sun beach towel. It’s essentially a beach towel with built in speakers and when you’re done sunbathing it becomes a backpack. The perfect solution for the beach, camping of just chilling in the park  so you can soak up the rays listening to your favourite tunes.

It’s compatible with iPhone®, iPod® or any other MP3  player that has a 3.5mm universal jack, and when it needs washing simply remove the speakers and pop it in the machine.

Available from http://www.hi-fun.com/en

Spec

• Dimension: 180 cm x 80 cm
• Material: 100% cotton
• Speaker power: 2W/4ohm X 2
• Frequency response: 100HZ—20KHZ
• Output:4.2V/250MA
• Li-ion battery
• Colors: red, black, blue, pink

This handy sized charger is perfect if you need to travel light and want the comfort of having a back up charger just in case you run out of  juice on the go It’s very neat and compact and comes with 9 different adaptor tips to connect to a variety of mobile phones.  Charge it up before  you go via USB, connected to your computer with the cable that comes included in the box.

Price  £27.99

Specifications

Output Voltage: 5.5V

Output Current: 500 mA max

Capacity: 2200 mAh

Cell Type: Li-Ion Battery

Cycle Life: 500 times

Operating Temperature: -10ºC to +45ºC

DC Charging: 4-6 hours

Contents

BCW Emergency Phone Charger

USB charging cable

Charging cable

9 Adaptor tips:, Micro USB, Motorola, Apple, LG, Nokia 2mm adaptor, Blackberry, HTC, Sony Ericsson, Sony PSP

User Instructions

Dimensions

Measures approximately 8.6cm(H) x 2.2cm(Dia)