PlanetEye

Travel Beyond Words

May 9th, 2008

PlanetEye maps everywhere

Juan Gonzalez
Vice President, Technology

We are so proud of the smooth integration of photography into our maps that we wanted to make sure people can take them away and publish them everywhere they want.

So, with the most recent release, we’re giving away a snippet of HTML code that you can use to embed your map into any website. The embedded map is interactive and lets users move around to discover your photos without having to visit the PlanetEye website.

For example, you can drag the map and as you do the photos at the top will be updated to include the best ranked photos in whichever area of the map is currently visible. You can also mouse over the photos and a little yellow viewfinder will hint at where that photo was taken. This feature works for your own photos or those from other people that you have collected into Travel Packs.

For the map below, I collected into a Travel Pack one photo from each city where PlanetEye has a local expert to create a cool visualization of the rich collection of our collaborators and the cities they represent. Go ahead, play with it:

Since the data is streamed from our servers, every time the embedded map is loaded elsewhere, any new photos added will automatically appear there. If for, example, you are planning a trip to France and and looking to blog about the journey, you may embed the map and as you travel, take photos and upload them to PlanetEye. This will let your readers follow your adventures through the interactive map.

These maps can be embedded in three sizes: 300×300, 425×350 and 640×480. The first one is too small to allow photos to be displayed within it, but we thought it would still be useful as a way to provide an updated map of your photos as you modify your collection.

Enjoy.

Technorati Tags: , , ,

May 7th, 2008

Our Canon Rebel XTi Contest

karen
Marketing Coordinator

We are very excited to announce that for the month of May, anyone who signs up for our site is entered into a draw for a Canon Digital Rebel XTi Camera!

What’s more, is once you are a member, anyone who uses the new “Invite” button (located in the top-right corner of the homepage.) Is also entered into the contest. Click here to sign up or log in, and start inviting!

May 2nd, 2008

Start Planning with a Travel Pack

Mark Evans
Director, Community

After a lot of hard work behind scenes, we’re excited to announce a new travel-planning feature on PlanetEye: the Travel Pack.

So, what’s a Travel Pack?

Think of it as the digital equivalent of the manila folders that many people use (particularly if you’re one of those really organized travelers!) to file travel reviews and magazine articles about destinations when they’re planning a trip or just thinking about travel ideas.

Using a Travel Pack, you can “clip” photographs on PlanetEye of all the places you may want to visit (restaurants, attractions, hotels, etc.)

Let’s say, for example, you see a photograph of the Hôtel Le Germain in downtown Toronto (A very nice boutique hotel, by the way!). If it strikes you as interesting and a place you may want to stay, you click “Add to Travel Pack” , and the hotel is added to a Travel Pack that you create.

As your Travel Pack starts to takes shape, all the “clips” that you’ve been adding will start to influence your travel choices so you can get the most out of your trip.

In the near future, we’ll be introducing some new elements to the Travel Pack that will make it even more useful and valuable so watch this space!

It goes without saying that we’re very excited about the Travel Pack and how it can help you make more insightful travel planning decisions.

April 30th, 2008

Follow Our Global Nomad

Mark Evans
Director, Community

Picture 3-14
A few months ago, I found out that Brendan Powell, a friend of brother’s, was planning an around-the-world, 10-month trip through South America, Asia and Europe.

My first reaction was envy, following by a tinge of jealousy and then some inspiration. Given Brendan’s approach to travel aligns perfectly with PlanetEye’s, it would be great to create a PlanetEye blog where he could write about his adventures and illustrate them with amazing photographs. (For the record, Brendan is a former travel guide with terrific writing and photography skills.)

This led to the creation of the Global Nomad blog, which, in my humble opinion, has become a must-read for anyone interested in travel that often falls outside what is featured in a guidebook.

Brendan’s most recent blog post on a visit to a shanty town, in Rio de Janeiro is a perfect illustration of why his insight and approach to travel is so interesting. The idea of visiting a shanty town may not appeal to every tourist but those curious enough will not be disappointed.

For more on Rocinha, check out this article from Wikipedia, as well as this photo essay by Nat Friedman.

Technorati Tags: , , ,

April 25th, 2008

Who Wants to Make a Deal?

Mark Evans
Director, Community

Picture 3-13
The deals are coming fast and furious in the online travel market these days.

The latest transaction is CondeNet acquiring SFO Media, which owns two travel blogs: Jaunted, a “pop culture” travel guide, and HotelChatter, which provides hotel reviews.

The move into the blogosphere will provide CondeNet’s online business, Concierge.com, with not only great quality content but some serious traffic as Jaunted and HotelChatter had about 875,000 unique visitors combined last month.

“HotelChatter.com and Jaunted.com each have strong voices in the travel world, attracting a large community of passionate travelers,” said CondeNet president Sarah Chubb. “This deal increases our travel footprint and adds to our portfolio a group of sites for advertisers who target an active, passionate, and upscale consumer.”

The acquisition comes on the heels of Microsoft buying Farecast.com, which provides information about airline fares, for $115-million last week, and TripIt raising $5.1-million in venture capital.

For more coverage of the CondeNet-SFO deal, check out TechCrunch.

Technorati Tags: , ,

April 18th, 2008

Microsoft Flies Away with Farecast

Mark Evans
Director, Community

Picture-1

Microsoft has taken a bigger position within the online travel business amid news it has purchased Seattle-based Farecast for a reported $115-million.

Farecast, which has had a partnership with MSN Travel since last year, is a travel search engine that provides people with on-the-go information about airfare prices. Its investors include Madrona Venture Group, Par Capital Management and Greylock Partners.

Fore more details, check out John Cook’s Venture Blog.

Disclosure: Microsoft is an investor in PlanetEye.

Technorati Tags: , , ,

April 16th, 2008

We Be Twittering!

Mark Evans
Director, Community

Twitter-5
Since Twitter seems to be all the rage these days, we figured it was only fitting to climb on the bandwagon.

So, we’re pleased to announce the launch of the PlanetEye Twitter feed, which you can find at twitter.com/planeteye.

If you follow us, we promise to follow you!

Technorati Tags:

April 15th, 2008

Alltop Travel is Tops

Mark Evans
Director, Community

Picture 2-33
As you can probably appreciate, I spend a lot of time reading travel blogs - looking for interesting stories, new places and good writers.

For anyone interested in travel blogs, the best resource is AllTop Travel, which provides a user-friendly summary of 60 blogs. It’s like traveling around the world in less than 10 minutes.

Aside from the depth of content, a feature that is particularly useful is a summary box that appears if you hover over a blog post. It’s a great way to get a snapshot of a post before deciding whether you want to click through to the blog itself.

Not sure how AllTop compiles its blog line-up but here’s hoping that with a little effort and creativity, we can get PlanetEye’s blog in there some day.

For more on AllTop Travel, check out Sandwagon, which has some nice things to say about it.

Technorati Tags: , ,

April 14th, 2008

Flickr Group Hits 500 Members

Mark Evans
Director, Community

Planeteye Logo-4
A few months ago, PlanetEye launched a group on Flickr as a way to become part of the world’s most popular photo-sharing service.

We felt it was important to be where photo enthusiasts hang out. Our goals for the group were simple: create a place where people could share beautiful travel photography and, along the way, maybe build the PlanetEye brand.

So, we’re excited about reaching a major milestone: 500 members on our Flickr group! A big pat on the back to Kate Struthers, who has been enthusiastically nurturing our Flickr group.

If you’d like to be member #501, we’re waiting for you. :)

Technorati Tags: , ,

April 11th, 2008

PlanetEye to Present at CIX

Mark Evans
Director, Community

PlanetEye has been selected to present at the Canadian Innovation Exchange in Toronto later this month. PlanetEye is among 20 companies that will pitch themselves “live” in front of leading Canadian and U.S. investors, and compete for one of several CIX ‘Best in Show Awards’.
Picture 1-70
The other companies presented include:

Accipiter Radar Technologies Inc. (http://www.sicomsystems.com/home.html), Fonthill, ON
Acquisio (http://www.acquisio.com/), Saint Lambert, PQ
Akoha Inc. (http://akoha.org/), Montreal, PQ
Big Deal Games Inc. (http://bigdealgames.com/), Toronto, ON
Biosign Technologies Inc. (http://www.biosign.com/), Toronto, ON
Blueprint Software Systems (http://www.blueprintsys.com/), Toronto, ON
Brainpark, Inc (http://brainpark.com/), Toronto, ON
CellWand Communications (http://www.cellwand.com/), Toronto, ON
Coveo (http://www.coveo.com), Quebec City, PQ
Digital Payment Technologies Corp. (http://www.digitalpaytech.com/), Burnaby, BC
dthree Inc. (http://www.dthree.com/), Mississauga, ON
HomeZilla (http://homezilla.ca/blog/), Toronto, ON
Kaben Wireless Silicon Inc. (http://www.kabenwireless.com/), Ottawa, ON
Mobidia, Inc. (http://www.mobidia.com/), Vancouver, BC
Octopz (http://www.octopz.com/), Toronto, ON
Planeteye Inc. (http://www.planeteye.com), Toronto, ON
Redwood Technologies (http://www.redwoodtechnologies.com/), Calgary, AB
Spatial View Inc. (http://www.spatialview.com/), Toronto, ON
Standout Jobs, Inc. (http://standoutjobs.com/), Montreal, PQ
Streametrics Corporation Inc.(http://www.streametrics.tv/en/), Montreal, PQ

Technorati Tags: ,

PlanetEye

Subscribe

Subscribe by email

Win a Canon Rebel XTi

Categories

PlanetEye Flickr Pool

See more photos »

Archives

PlanetEye is proudly powered by WordPress.