The BlackBerry app is out, so is the Business Tracking Network

The BlackBerry app is now sitting in BlackBerry App World ready for Crackberry addicts everywhere to download. This is a beta version; while it locates and works fine, we are currently tweaking it to make the experience smoother and more robust. BlackBerry is a notoriously complicated multi-platform operating system generally unloved by app developers, so things take time.

We’re very excited about the new Journeywatch Travel Network for business travellers. Imagine a kind of ‘Twitter for travellers’ with geo-locating functionality and mapping. Travellers can be located to their smartphones, check on itinerary data, receive the latest critical event information and, in a personal or general emergency, communicate important location-linked information both ways.

In contrast, the majority of other corporate tracking products style themselves as tracking systems but they do not actually do tracking. All they do is monitor itinerary information feeds, meaning that they know when the traveller flies in and out of a city, and theoretically which hotel they are staying in, but  the period between arrival and departure is a hazy unknown.

Using the Journeywatch Travel Network, organisations are crystal clear about the locations of their travellers when they need to be. Executives need not worry that big brother in corporate headquarters is watching your every move. The default setting for the app is passive. That is, you have to post a message on your smartphone in order to reveal your location.

Should you need to, you can flick the app to automatic tracking and this will report your location every hour. Back in the office you and your colleagues’ updates and positions will appear on a map, which you can also access from where you are. So it’s really a private corporate travel community involving you and your colleagues.

If you’d like more information or a free trial please get in touch.

Finally, there are also developments afoot on the public social network side. But we’ll update you about those here soon!

Announcing the Action-Zone Competition

From today onwards there will be a weekly competition on the Journeywatch Facebook Fan Page . Journeywatch app users who post the most useful comment from the most original ‘Action-Zone’ in the world will WIN a grand prize, outlined below.

What is an Action-Zone?

We define an Action-Zone as a place where significant events are taking place. These are events that might affect people travelling in the vicinity. It could be a protest in the Middle East, an earthquake in Indonesia or even a traffic jam on London’s M25 ring road.

To win, you need to keep your eyes open and be where things are happening. We will also verify that the event took place (you can submit a supporting photo if you wish, to contact@journeywatch.com).

The Prizes (for tourist businesses and individuals).

The winner each week will get free worldwide advertising for their tourist outlet for 30 days. The business should offer a discount on a product or service to Journeywatch’s top-rated Red Star users. For example, 10% off cappuccinos, dives, meals, room charges, hire rates etc. Individual winners who don’t have a business to advertise get instant Red Star status for a fixed period. The competition is open to app users only.

Awesome Location Finding Technology.

We help you target your potential customers with incredible accuracy. Using the global positioning capabilities of current generation smart phones, Journeywatch apps deliver ads to travellers relevant to their location. With 10,000 app users and growing, they could be near your outlet right now.

Whether you’re from a guest house in Cambodia, a cafe in Bogota or a diving outfit in the Red Sea, this opens up a new and very personal channel of communication with your audience.

It’s time to get CREatiVe! So get in the Action-Zone and see if you can win!

The competition will be drawn every Friday starting 22 Apr 2011. The results will be announced on the Journeywatch Facebook Fan Page.

The Journey continues, Android or BlackBerry next?

It’s been a while since we did an update so.. here goes,

Thanks for some great comments! Especially to users in India, Indonesia and the UK.

With your help we’re building a real time information system for travellers and countries. Whatever you see, whether it’s a tailback, a forest fire or even rebels on the road to a nameless North African capital, this helps describe what’s happening in any region right NOW. Real time is very useful for every user.

On the user pages the country information is about to go through a major transformation. We’re adding in content feeds from media sources worldwide specifically focusing on things that might affect or disrupt your travel, so you’ll find out immediately whether you’re logged in online, or mobile with the app.

iPhone has joined Nokia in the free app ‘stable’, if that’s the correct collective term for apps. Now we have to decide which app to do next: Android or BlackBerry? With all the hype about Android’s stellar growth as an operating system recently it will probably be this first. Let’s see.

We’re really pleased with the clean new home page with ‘planet Journeywatch’ in centre position. As they say, ‘a picture paints 100 words’, and so we hope it does.

Are you an Appy traveller?

Here at JW HQ we’re launching exciting changes to enhance your travel experiences, enabling you to stay updated about the places you visit while you’re on the move.

We’ve already launched a Journeywatch app beta for Nokia. This is available for the latest generation of Nokia touchscreen smart phones, including the impressive N8-00. Steve Jobs and his App Store permitting, the Journeywatch app is also about to become available in the App Store for iPhones. 

Turn On, Tune In

You know how when you’ve travelled in the past, you arrive in a country and are temporarily ‘blind’, experiencing a feeling of cultural disorientation, otherwise known as ‘culture shock’? Sound familiar?

This doesn’t have to be the case anymore.

Switch on your smart phone as you walk off the plane at your destination and the Journeywatch app will recognise where you are and feed you the latest travel and in-country information.

Using Journeywatch you can see what issues are taking place near you and what others are saying about their location. You can also connect with other travellers to verify events or to make new friends. 

Your comments will geo-locate your position, showing others where events are happening.

We think of this as a 360 degree travel network giving you the ‘fly on the wall’ view of the person on the street and the view of the professional travel analyst.

 Street Cred and the Red Stars

We’ve also introduced a coloured star rating system that rewards you for frequent and useful comments. When you reach the red star you become eligible for discounts with affiliate retailers (these are the Red Star Offers). Give it a try!

Our App appears at Dublin Airport!

If you happen to pass through Dublin Airport in the next couple of weeks take a look at the Nokia poster advertisements and you’ll make out the JW app with the ‘finger of God’ pointing at it!

From the Frontline

Journeywatch’s eyes and ears in Thailand, Chandler, gives a personal account of his experiences during the recent unrest and his lucky escape after being badly injured in a grenade blast. 

At approximately 1:20 pm on May 19, while unconscious and bleeding on a Bangkok street corner, I was pronounced dead.

For the last two months I had been on the frontlines of the Red Shirt protest movement. Over a hundred thousand people had massed in Bangkok demanding for fresh elections and an end to social and economic inequalities.

A protester waves a flag from a captured armoured personnel carrier

While the protests had been largely peaceful, Red Shirt leaders also had a secretive armed faction colloquially known as the Black Shirts.

The prospect of heavily armed militants clashing with the full might of the Thai military on the streets of Bangkok had already proved deadly.

On April 10^th, I witnessed the first battle. During the day the protesters, armed with sticks and rocks, had fought running street battles with the Thai military firing M16s and hi-tech Tavor assault rifles. Thousands of live rounds were fired and I remember picking up a couple of spent shell casings, still hot and rolling away from troops, during the clashes.

But later that evening the violence would dramatically escalate. While skirmishes broke out on Bangkok’s tourist enclave of Khao San and adjacent Dinso roads, the Black Shirts made their debut. AK47s and rifle-launched M79 grenades, something that would later have terrible personal consequences, were wielded against troops.

The fighting was fierce and chaotic with the military and the Black Shirts exchanging fire amongst the crowd of protesters.

21 civilians and four soldiers were killed.

Reporters also suffered in the fighting. While most of us had been tear gassed and had minor wounds, some had been hit by shrapnel and bullets. A Japanese cameraman named Hiro Muramoto was shot in the chest and died.

In the aftermath of the battle I remember walking around the bloodied streets and bullet scarred buildings. The sight of armoured personnel carriers, captured and looted by protests, was a surreal spectacle. It no longer looked like a protest, it was a war zone.

That initial skirmish on April 10^th would set the stage for even more violent encounters between protesters and the military. The protesters had hardened their resolve to oust the government while the government was equally recalcitrant.

The major difference was that an undeclared war had broken out on the streets of Bangkok.

Rebellion Begins

Between May 13^th and 19^th, Bangkok burned.

What had mostly been a peaceful protest for democracy and equality had been transformed in a rebellion. The military had sealed off the main Red Shirt encampment in the ritzy shopping district causing new protests to break out across Bangkok.

While the Red Shirts had been fuelled by an anti-elite ideology and desire for political change, the local nak leang – or tough guys – had taken over. The disenfranchised youths began a destructive rampage in the poor neighbourhoods of Bon Kai and Din Daeng. While most could only articulate a vague sense of injustice, they were fuelled by raw bravado.

They fought daily battles on burned out debris filled streets with the military. But while the military fought with sniper rifles, the nak leang fought with sharpened sticks, sling shots, and rocks.

Amid tear gas and smoke from burning tyres, a rioter surveys the army positions from behind barricade cover.

They didn’t stand a chance. They would slowly move closer and closer to the military while hiding behind clouds of burned tires until, inevitably, snipers would cut them down. But after the killed and wounded were dragged away, the deadly game would continue. During the course of the protests and riots nearly a hundred would die and thousands were injured.

It was also a dangerous time for journalists. While the protest had transformed into rebellion, it became harder and harder to find the frontlines and the situation was extremely fluid.

The military declared a number of “live fire zones” and opened fire on anyone that moved.

Just how dangerous it had become was made abundantly clear when a close friend and fellow journalist was shot by the military. He was hit by M16 fire in the hand, abdomen, and leg while filming one of daily skirmishes. He was haemorrhaging blood and barely survived the trip to the hospital.

I remember returning home on the night of May 18^th, the day before I was hit. My clothes were blackened from all the burning tires, I was exhausted from lack of sleep, and adrenaline was still pumping through my veins.

It had been an ugly day of violence and death in Bangkok. And the 19^th would be worse.

Blown Up

After two months on the frontlines of the Red Shirt protest, I was hit by an M79 grenade and nearly lost my life.

It was May 19^th, during the final military crackdown on the Red Shirts, and I changed tactics and was travelling with the army. Considering Thai troops were firing live rounds and nearly 100 would die and thousands were injured, it seemed sensible precaution to make.

But the military was not the only armed group. The Black Shirts had engaged the army on the corner of Sarasan and Ratchadamri roads in the heart of the protesters camp.

The author before the grenade blast

While I took cover from the Black Shirts’ automatic fire, a series of M79 grenades were launched on to an empty road, into a park, and right into a group of soldiers and myself.

The blast sent 24 pieces of shrapnel tearing through my back and legs, broke a number of ribs, and punctured both my lung and colon. Three additional pieces of shrapnel had struck the back of my head, shattered my skull, and entered my brain. A journalist would later tell me he found pieces of my skull on the ground.

I was unconscious, my eyes were open and staring vacantly, and I was heavily bleeding. Military medics at the scene took my pulse and pronounced me dead. They also stole my camera.

Journalists soon arrived, noticed that I was trying to breathe, and rushed me to hospital.

I woke up three days later in a Bangkok intensive care unit.

While my shrapnel wounds would take an astounding seven weeks to heal, my head injuries were the most serious.

Shrapnel had penetrated my skull and hit my brain. The neurosurgeon was able to removes two pieces but the third was too dangerous and remains lodged in my head. Damage to my brain caused my right arm and leg to be completely paralyzed and had serious damaged my vision.

Despite the seriousness of my injuries, I surprised everyone – including my gaggle of doctors – by hobbling out of the hospital just three weeks after the incident. And two months later, I emerged with very few permanent injuries. I have hearing damage from the blast and a serious limp, but I am up and walking and back at work.

While those of us who were on the frontlines of the Red Shirt protests are left with physical scars, Thai society has my psychological scars to heal.

The political divide in society has split apart families, friends, and communities.

While everyone hopes that peace will return to Thailand, very few see a solution in sight.

Travel tips for August

August is a time of year when millions of people traditionally leave their desks to go on holiday. At the start of this holiday season, here are a few travel tips to help you to keep mind, body and belongings together.

1. Always ensure you carry your passport on your person or in luggage that is attached to you. Absent mindedly leaving your passport in a plane seat pocket or on a taxi seat could put a premature finish to your holiday and leave you stranded for weeks.

2. Always agree the taxi fare before you get into a cab. If you don’t you could find that, at best, you pay more than you should, at worst you end up getting into a heated argument with your driver resulting in you being dumped in an undesirable part of town.

3. When in India avoid salads, ice, tap water, unsealed mineral water and uncooked meat & vegetables. If you don’t, there’s a good chance you’ll get violently ill for a few days. If you do get ill, a good remedy is to stick to boiled rice and flat Coca Cola until normality returns.

Image source: www.india-shopping.net

Peace in the Nordipodes

Excitement in Iceland (NASA Goddard Photo and Video via Flickr)

If the tales of armed insurrection and crime rates in the last couple of blog posts have caused some to reconsider travel plans, it should be noted that it’s not all doom and gloom out there. In fact, there are destinations so safe, your primary risk might be dozing off. So, if your travel itinerary doesn’t include posing for snapshots with AK47 toting freedom fighters, you might consider visiting some of the safest countries in the world.

According to the Global Peace Index’s 2009 listings, the five destinations below are the safest places in the world. Perhaps coincidentally, four out of five of these are in the Nordic and Antipodean regions.

Number 5: Austria

A high GDP, stable government, free university education, and the rugged Alps, Austria really has it all…except for crime and violence that is. What should you worry about then? Avalanches perhaps.

Number 4: Iceland

There is an apocryphal story that Iceland acquired its name in a cheeky ploy to avoid excessive immigration. While the story might not be true, could it be possible that the icy climate keeps crime at bay? Not likely. What might be a more rational deterrent is Iceland’s enviable third place ranking on the UNDP’s human development index. Mix the country’s highly developed welfare system and universal health care with a clean and beautiful environment – notwithstanding the once in a double century ash-spewing volcanoes – and it really is a surprise that more people aren’t migrating to Iceland.

Number 3: Norway

While its fun to think of Norway as home to rampaging Vikings bent on pillaging Europe, reality is far different. Norway might better be characterized by its egalitarian social security system, universal health care, subsidized higher education, and robust economy. Chances of being attacked by Vikings: 0.

Number 2: Denmark

Is crime and social unrest a by-product of poverty and economic inequality? Ask a Dane and they might say yes. This is because Denmark has the highest level of economic equality in the world and issues of crime and social unrest are largely absent in the Kingdom. The only danger for visitors, depending on your taste buds of course, might be the pickled herring.

Number 1: New Zealand

When was the last time that you saw New Zealand on the world news? Possibly it was a story about the stunning scenery used as the backdrop in the Lord of the Rings trilogy because it certainly wasn’t a story of political unrest or crime. Respect for human rights, a strong environmental protection ethnic, high literacy, lack of corruption, press freedom, the list of positive traits just goes on and on. Congratulations New Zealand! 

Trip to Bangkok

With the protests happening in Bangkok we thought it would be a great time to spread the word about Journeywatch to the backpacker areas so… we went there and stuck stickers on the tuktuks and taxis! Here are some of the photos.

Hotspot destinations – part two

In part one, we looked at how common business and leisure destinations like India, South Africa, Mexico, Kenya, Turkey, and the Philippines are all unconventionally dangerous places.

Despite the travel brochures promising sunny coastlines and local culture, visitors are just as likely to experience violent street crime or political instability. This is not to say that you should not go. Somewhat hazardous locations are often the most interesting places. With this in mind, we look at the risks in South Africa, Thailand, Brazil, Morocco, and Russia.

Tourist slogan: South Africa, It’s Possible.

Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs: “Travellers are advised to exercise a high degree of caution in the country. ”

FIFA World Cup action is ramping up in South Africa and throngs of football-mad fans are expected to descend upon the country. While there will be excitement on the pitch, the streets of major cities can offer another kind of excitement: crime. Not your standard level of crime either, but a level of violent crime more akin to a Mad Max movie. With an average of 50 murders each day, President Jacob Zuma has unleashed the police to exercise a controversial shoot-to-kill policy in an attempt to reign in the violence. Economic inspired crime is not the only issue. Xenophobic violence aimed at economic migrants from Mozambique, Somalia, and Zimbabwe has raged in the Johannesburg townships forcing some 30,000 migrants from their homes and has produced truly horrendous scenes of mob violence.

Tourist Slogan: Amazing Thailand.

UK Foreign Office warning: “The political situation in Thailand is volatile.. exercise extreme caution throughout the country and avoid demonstrations and large gatherings, which may turn violent. ”

Sandy beaches, spicy cuisine, and the famous Thai smile are what the Tourism Authority of Thailand would like you to think. Yet Thailand is also home to one of the world’s most violent Islamic separatist insurgencies. The conflict, just south of popular beach destinations like Koh Samui and Krabi, has claimed more than 3500 lives since fighting surged in 2004. While separatist violence remains remarkably contained to the three southern border provinces (largely due to insurgents preferring to be labelled freedom fighters rather than terrorists), Thailand in general is not a particularly safe place. The country ranks third globally for firearm murders and fatalities on the country’s chaotic roadways are more comparable to the statistics of a small war rather than road accidents. Finally, protracted political turmoil has kept Bangkok in a state of unrest for the past five years. Violent demonstrations, riots, and frequent M79 grenade attacks make visiting Thailand amazing indeed.

Tourist slogan: Brazil, Sensational!

U.S. State Department warning: “The conditions in favelas vary widely, but these areas are often sites of uncontrolled criminal activity and are often not patrolled by police”

Images of Carnaval or scantily clad sun-bathers makes Brazil an almost legendary destination for travellers. Equally as legendary is the crime. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Brazil has the dubious distinction of being the global leader in firearm related deaths. Responsible for much of this carnage are street gangs and organized criminal networks. In 2006, after a vicious prison riot, gang members and police fought pitched street battles across Sao Paulo leaving 170 gang members, police, and civilians dead. Drug gangs operating in Favelas, sprawling shanty towns that exist as quasi-autonomous cities, are extremely well armed and police are either incapable or simply unwilling to confront them. In the absence of state control, the gangs are apparently spending their profits on more and more sophisticated weapons – including anti-aircraft missiles – and this is likely to ensure that Brazil’s legendary sights on the beaches are matched by the legendary violence on the streets.

Tourist slogan: Morocco, Travel for Real.

France-Diplomatie Advice: “Il est conseillé aux voyageurs de faire preuve de vigilance au cours de leurs déplacements au Maroc.”

The stark minimalist grandeur of the Sahara’s golden dunes stretching across North Africa is one of the most awe inspiring natural wonders in the world. For intrepid travellers on gear-laden motorbikes or rugged jeeps, eastern Morocco is the starting point of travel into the desert. It is also the starting point of a journey into a region largely void of governance and the rule of law. Run-ins with bandits are not uncommon and stories of travellers being robed and/or killed after offering a lift to hitchhikers are rife. For travellers heading south, they will encounter the disputed territory of the Western Sahara in which a secessionist struggle remains unresolved. While hundreds of thousands of refugees remain camped in neighbouring Algeria, the POLISARIO Front remains adamant in their demands for a separate state apart will be realized. Finally, the risk of terrorist attacks remains high. Morocco has experienced a number of major terrorist attacks and it is reported that there are both local and foreign terrorist groups operating in the country.

Tourist slogan: Visit Russia

U.S. State Department warning: “Acts of terrorism, including bombings and hostage takings, have continued to occur in Russia, particularly in the Caucasus region”

The Russian Federation is beset with potential dangers. From the much feared Russian mafia to secessionist struggles Caucasus, one does wonder if it is really the right time to Visit Russia. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the subsequent end of the state’s social security network, crime has flourished. Of particular concern is the power of the mafia which is involved in drug and human trafficking, money laundering, extortion, prostitution, and employs a small army of professional hit men. While travellers can likely sidestep run-ins with the mafia by avoiding vodka-fuelled debauchery in seedy bars, terrorism remains a serious concern both in the Russian heartland and the Caucasus. While fighting in Chechnya officially ended in 2009, conflict there and across the Caucasus continues to sporadically flare and often fuels terrorist attacks in central Russia. It’s hard to forget the notorious hostage taking at a Moscow theatre which claimed 129 innocent lives or the Beslan school siege in which many children were among the victims. While these might be notorious cases, terrorism originating out of peripheral conflicts continues to reverberate in the Russian homeland.