State starts mobile app for travelers
The State Department starts a mobile application to help U.S. travelers abroad.
The State Department’s new Smart Traveler free mobile application was downloaded thousands of times in the three days following its release, according to an agency official.
Katie Dowd, new media director for State, posted on Twitter that the Smart Traveler app had been downloaded 5,000 times in three days.
The new iPhone application is designed for U.S. travelers going abroad to provide updated travel warnings and alerts, U.S. embassy locations and customized e-itineraries. It also is compatible with iPod Touch and iPad.
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As of June 21, the Smart Traveler application received a rating of four and a half stars at the iTunes store.
“This app is very useful for not only travelers but for people that are interested in learning about different countries. Packed filled with a lot of useful information! Great job!,” customer Rudy Suarez wrote on the Apple iTunes website.
Federal agencies currently 58 mobile applications for the public, mostly available for iPhones and some for Androids.
Other new releases include:
- EyeNote, from the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, offers an iPhone application for the visually impaired that scans U.S. currency to determine the denomination.
- SBA, from the Small Business Administration, is an iPhone application that provides information on nearby SBA advice centers and links to SBA social media.
- The National Cancer Institute @National Institutes of Health Summer Internship Program is an iPhone and Android application for summer interns at the Bethesda, Md., NCI campus.