AutoPilot, a travel service app being offered by USA Today, hopes to get the publisher a foot in the door with users of Apple’s popular touch screen smart phone and is part of their effort to increase their holdings in the digital world. As the publishing industry, particularly newspapers, feel the combined pinch from the economic downturn and more consumers shifting to web or mobile based information services, USA Today seeks to remain relevant by providing its own content intermixed with other offerings through the app which is sponsored by Hampton Hotels.
Users will be able to use the free app to orient themselves with a GPS-enabled tracking service, get weather forecasts, locate and contact rental cars or hotels through a directory service, keep track of flight itineraries and trip schedules, and read special interest travel blogs from USA Today. In all, AutoPilot will be able to track flight information in real for 1,400 airlines, over 15,000 airports, and 100,000 flights per day.
This move is the most recent in a series of initiatives set forth by Garnett, the publisher of USA Today, who recently acquired a stake in text4info, a mobile service.
AutoPilot is now available through the Apple App Store and is free to download.