flight search

Google's Flight Search goes international

Google Flight Search, a fare-finding utility that riled up parts of the airline industry, has broadened its reach beyond the United States.

Previously, the tool was for flights within the U.S. Now international destinations are an option, according to a blog post today from product manager Eric Zimmerman.

"At this stage we've included more than 500 airports outside the U.S.," Zimmerman said. "If your ideal destination isn't yet available, we're working hard on expanding our global coverage and adding more routes in the future. Our goal is to make booking travel as … Read more

Wolfram Alpha launches the coolest flight tracker ever

Have you ever wanted to know where the planes flying overhead were going? If so, you finally have a way to find out.

If you head over to Wolfram Alpha right now and input "flights overhead" into the search box, the site will return all the planes that are currently over your position, their altitude, angle, and slant distance. The site even displays a Sky map to show where planes are in relation to the position of the sun and moon.

But if you want more usable data, like where the planes took off from and where they'… Read more

Federal judge rules in favor of Google's ITA buy

A federal judge has cleared Google's acquisition of ITA Software, effectively putting the year-long story to rest.

U.S. District Court Judge Robert Wilkins today approved the consent decree signed between the search giant and the U.S. Justice Department that paved the way for Google to acquire ITA Software. According to Bloomberg, which obtained a copy of the order, Wilkins approved the deal based on his belief that the safeguards in place to protect third-parties were enough to justify the acquisition.

In April, Google announced that it had signed a deal with the Justice Department, allowing it to … Read more

Microsoft previews Windows 8

Facebook organizes your friends into Smart Lists, Google Flight Search takes off, and Microsoft previews the next Windows operating system with a new touch-screen mode.

Links from Wednesday's episode of Loaded:

Microsft previews Windows 8 Facebook unveils Smart Lists Verizon launches $50 unlimited prepaid plan Google Flight Search takes off Intel shows off Ivy Bridge for ultrabooks HTC Sensation XE debuts with Beats Audio Subscribe: iTunes (MP3) | iTunes (320x180) | iTunes (HD) | RSS (MP3) | RSS (320x180) | RSS HD

The 404 903: Where the good Lord continues to bless the Internet (podcast)

The Internet caught fire an hour before we recorded today, so our apologies if we're still reeling from the "news" for the first few minutes of the podcast. No clue what we're talking about? Enjoy the show.

In serious tech news, Google is putting more companies out of business with its new Flight Search service that went live yesterday. The tracker takes advantage of Google's other Web products, integrating with Google Calendar, Maps, and Mail to show you special deals and notify you about upcoming flights.

In a related story, Virgin America just partnered with Lufthansa Systems' new BoardConnect platform to roll out the next evolution of its Red in-flight entertainment. Air travel is getting even swankier thanks to Virgin America, and next year all of their planes (Virgin calls them Nerdbirds) will have HD television monitors on every seat back and faster Wi-Fi for connected devices.

Finally, we'll take you on the hunt for the rarest video game ever created: the gold Nintendo World Championships cartridge awarded to the winners of Nintendo Power Magazine's 1990 competition. Of the original 26, only 13 units have been found, and they're valued at around $20,000 by video game collectors. I think it's safe to assume that the other 13 games were sacrificed to the trash gods by the players' mothers.

We want to hear about the valuable junk from your childhood that your parents have carelessly thrown away. Give us a call at 1-866-404-CNET (2638) and tell us about it!

The 404 Digest for Episode 903

Google flight-search service takes off. Virgin America debuts Nerdbird airplane for 2012. The quest for the golden Nintendo game. Your daily 404 bathroom break: Chinese shoe trick.

Episode 903 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Reddit co-founders reunite at Hipmunk

Last month, Reddit co-founder Steve Huffman launched Hipmunk, a flight search engine that aims to address the messiness associated with other flight search engines (you can sort search results by "agony" of travel), and this week he brought on board Reddit's other co-founder, Alexis Ohanian. At this rate, they may be shaping up to be the Cheech and Chong of start-ups, except that "high" in this situation would refer to cruising altitude (we think).

"The way the site has taken off, combined with my own love of travel (and loathing of most travel search … Read more