Top 5 apps for Labor Day weekend

By Giselle Tsirulnik

September 2, 2010

Apple of Shazamers' ears

Family reunions and quick getaways have become a Labor Day tradition for most people, but which applications work best for taking holiday trips?

The number of smartphone applications on the market is an incomprehensible number to download. That makes this Labor Day different than any other in terms of applications that can make the weekend more productive.

“A good app during Labor Day weekend is one that helps you be productive and find things in the least stressful way,” said Craig Agranoff, founder/CEO of Gripd.com, Boca Raton, FL. “Labor Day is all about resting for the hard work you put in, and an app should be just as stressless during the holiday.

“So, ease of use and helping you get somewhere makes for a good app,” he said.

Taking that into consideration, here are the top five mobile applications for Labor Day, according to Gripd.com:

Weatherbug
Weatherbug has the simplicity of Apple's Weather application, but with a few extras for your phone.

It is the largest network of professional weather stations in the United States and is the only source for truly live, local weather.

BePut
BePut enables users to share their whereabouts with people they want to find them.

Users simply use the application to locate their exact position and with a touch of a button, have the opportunity to send an email or text message to the desired recipient with their exact location.

The recipient gets a special FindMe Key, which is secure. It is the only guaranteed way to not get lost.

Car Care & Roadside Emergencies
It could be very frustrating when things do not go according to the plan. This application is meant to address car care and roadside emergencies while traveling.

Waze
Waze is a social mobile application that enables drivers to build and use real-time road intelligence.

The service includes constantly-updated road maps, alerts on traffic and accidents, and data providing users with the fastest route to get to wherever they need to go.

Map and traffic updates are automatically collected and generated as users drive with Waze activated, but drivers can also actively report and update other users with what's happening on the road.

Shazam
For those people who will be in the car for hours and cannot figure out the song playing on the radio, Shazam is there with the answer.

Consumers just need to hold their iPhone to the music and within seconds Shazam tells them the artist and track name.

“Conusmers tend to spend more time on their mobile devices during the long weekend, even though you would think it would be less,” Mr. Agranoff said. “During the long holiday weekends consumers tend to spend more time organizing where to meet friends and families, which hotels to stay in, which restaurants to eat at.

“A long holiday weekend gives consumers an ample chance to check out the newest apps and they even tend to buy more since they do not have their normal work pressures,” he said.

Final take
Giselle Tsirulnik is senior editor of Mobile Marketer and Mobile Commerce Daily