BlackBerry Travel app announced

Today, RIM announced the latest Beta addition to the lineup of BlackBerry® smartphone “Super Apps”: the BlackBerry Travel app. The native BlackBerry app for travel like we used WorldMate , KAYAK, etc. This Super App manages you to plan and book your travel plans right from your BlackBerry Smartphone. WorldMate is the part of this native app, RIM were working on this project with WorldMate for the past few months and today launched its first release in US, Canada, UK and Spain (very soon in other countries).

You can find BlackBerry Travel app in the BlackBerry App World™ Test Center, and in BlackBerry Beta Zone to discuss the app.

for mobile viewing pleasure

Features:

Itinerary Management

The BlackBerry Travel app is designed to automatically discover itineraries and booking confirmations that are sent to your inbox. These individual itinerary components are then quickly loaded into your BlackBerry Travel app and the accompanying BlackBerry Travel Portal. This occurs so the app can begin monitoring your itinerary components such as your flight plans, and alert you to any changes (flight delays, gate changes, cancellations and so on) as well as alert you to potential gaps (such as nights where you are missing accommodations).

The real power of this feature becomes clear if you’re dealing with complex itineraries that involve multiple booking partners and repeated changes to booking details. No more searching for the last mail from your travel agent! The BlackBerry Travel app is designed to auto-discover any booking confirmation or itinerary change mailed to your account and automatically insert, remove, adjust the components of your trip itinerary so everything is up to date and monitored for status changes.

Flight Search and Hotel Booking

Missed your flight, or had your flight cancelled? Search for alternate flights or book a hotel right from your phone. We are excited to bring you an inventory of more than 110,000 hotels worldwide through our partnership with the Expedia® Affiliate Network. The hotel search is contextualized, allowing you to very quickly find the right accommodation based on your location and preferences.

Travel Tools

Whether you travel for business or for fun, we know you need information about your surroundings, so we have built a comprehensive local search application right into the BlackBerry Travel app to help you find what you’re looking for. Because of our integration with LinkedIn, the app is designed to notify you if any of your LinkedIn contacts are in the same location, so you can reconnect with friends and colleagues on the road!

Press Release

RIM Announces BlackBerry Travel App

New app lets BlackBerry smartphone users plan, book, manage and share travel activities quickly and easily

WATERLOO, ONTARIO–(Marketwire – Feb. 14, 2011) – Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ:RIMM)(TSX:RIM) today announced BlackBerry® Travel, a new app that provides BlackBerry® smartphone users with an all-in-one integrated and contextual experience as they plan, book and manage their travels and itineraries while on the go.

“The BlackBerry Travel app is set to be the next must-have tool for travelers, offering convenient push notifications and seamless integration of travel itineraries, profiles, and flight status updates into the familiar BlackBerry Calendar,” said Jim Tobin, Senior Vice President, Software and Services at RIM. “We also think the BlackBerry Travel app represents a great opportunity for travel industry leaders to work with RIM to deliver enhanced services and better travel experiences for their customers, and new revenue opportunities for travel providers.”

When a new booking confirmation or itinerary arrives in the user’s inbox, the BlackBerry Travel app is automatically updated with the relevant details, which makes travel planning and management easier than ever.

BlackBerry smartphone users can also have their calendars automatically populated with itineraries as soon as they are confirmed and, by leveraging the BlackBerry push technology, the BlackBerry Travel app can keep users informed and in control of their itineraries by monitoring flight statuses and promptly providing notifications about changes. The app can even identify potential omissions or scheduling concerns with the itineraries, such as missing accommodations or timing conflicts, and provide users with suggestions.

The BlackBerry Travel app also brings together tools that travelers need while planning on the go, including:

* Hotel booking
* Currency converters
* Weather forecasts
* Local searches

In addition, BlackBerry smartphone users can share their travel information with colleagues, friends and family over email or through LinkedIn®, directly from the BlackBerry Travel app. The LinkedIn integration allows users to search for people in their network who will be in the same city, send messages to contacts and update their status.

The BlackBerry Travel app also features a desktop component that allows users to book flights and car rentals, as well as print and edit itineraries, from their computer.

The BlackBerry Travel app was built in collaboration with WorldMate, a leader in mobile travel platforms.

“WorldMate is tremendously excited to bring its unique itinerary management, travel expertise and technology to RIM to create the next stage in mobile travel services. The BlackBerry Travel app represents a quantum leap over existing solutions in features, functionality, polish and ease-of-use,” said Jean Tripier, CEO, WorldMate Inc.

WorldMate and RIM are working together with leading travel service, content and technology partners to provide BlackBerry Travel app users with an amazing mobile experience. Travel industry leaders will be able to work within the BlackBerry Travel partner program to point users back to their mobile sites for additional information, as well as access the itinerary API in the BlackBerry Travel service to enable the delivery of up-to-date information and itinerary details.

“When United and Continental customers are travelling, access to the best, most up-to-date information is key. Integrating with BlackBerry Travel will provide customers not only that information, but the ability to quickly jump to our web sites for additional information and access to enhanced services,” said Jared Miller, managing director of self-service and emerging technology at United Airlines. “We’re excited to team with RIM and WorldMate to give the customers of the combined carrier a great option for managing their travel and information while on the go.”

“As mobile usage grows exponentially, Expedia Affiliate Network provides the technology and solutions to allow travelers to plan and purchase their perfect trip quickly and easily,” said Benoit Jolin, VP of Product and Marketing at EAN. “We’ve supported RIM and WorldMate to bring our hotel booking capabilities to BlackBerry Travel to give our users an integrated experience as they plan, book and manage their travel with their BlackBerry smartphone.”

“Working with RIM and WorldMate gives Hilton Worldwide customers a great new option for keeping track of their stays with us while on the go,” said Chuck Sullivan, senior vice president, global online services, Hilton Worldwide. “Our customers will appreciate having a place to go to quickly and easily manage their travel itineraries.”

“BlackBerry Travel is a superb tool for travelers who want the most accurate and pertinent information delivered promptly and reliably,” said Kurt Ekert, chief commercial officer, Travelport. “We look forward to working with RIM to introduce BlackBerry Travel to the corporate market and believe its integration will continue to enable our travel management company clients to serve their customers even more effectively.”

Pricing and Availability

The BlackBerry Travel app will be available as a beta download today from the Test Center category on BlackBerry App World^TM (www.blackberry.com/appworld). The app is free* and works on select BlackBerry smartphones running the BlackBerry® 5 OS (Device Software) or higher.** The BlackBerry Travel app will be showcased at the BlackBerry Booth at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain this week. For more information please visitwww.blackberry.com/travel.

About Research In Motion

Research In Motion (RIM), a global leader in wireless innovation, revolutionized the mobile industry with the introduction of the BlackBerry® solution in 1999. Today, BlackBerry products and services are used by millions of customers around the world to stay connected to the people and content that matter most throughout their day. Founded in 1984 and based in Waterloo, Ontario, RIM operates offices in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America. RIM is listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market (NASDAQ:RIMM) and the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX:RIM). For more information, visit www.rim.com or www.blackberry.com.