Helpful Smartphone Apps – Americans are successfully integrating smartphones with their everyday lives and the travel industry is no different. If you know where to look there are some great mobile applications available that can make life a little bit easier for travelers.

FlightTrack Pro for the iPhone provides everything a user needs to track the status of their flights in real-time. This app is the most comprehensive flight tracker and allows users to synchronize their itineraries with other apps. Our favorite feature of this app is the layout of over 5,000 airports and flight delay alerts.

When it comes to weather, knowing precisely how the weather is going to be in a particular region can mean the difference between a good time and a bummer trip. Weather.com is always a favorite, and WeatherBug for Android, iPhone and Blackberry users provide current conditions, radar as well as the forecast for your particular destination. What makes this app great is its full integration with mobile operating systems and its precise weather conditions for GPS locations.

Traveling overseas? Don’t leave the U.S. borders without the World Customs & Cultures app. This iPhone app provides a quick snapshot of laws such as legal drinking age or smoking laws of the country you are visiting.

Many destinations in the U.S. or abroad have their own app to clue in guests and travelers of events happening in the area. For example, Florida Beach Resort Sandestin, offers vacationers their own Apple iPhone and Android app, Explore Sandestin. This 2,400-acre white-sand beach resort offers multiple bay-front properties, four championship golf courses, 19 swimming pools, various water sports and engaging children’s activities that benefit from this app’s role as a guide to local events. In fact many resorts are active participants in the world of social media through photo-sharing and networking activities for the whole family.

Tablets – If you’re considering traveling for an extended period of time, ditch your phone for a tablet instead. This convenient hybrid between a smartphone and a laptop makes for the perfect travel companion for e-reading and computing.

Reviews, Blogs and Social Media – Travelers in 2011 have a great asset available to them when it comes to traveling: social media. It’s important that when you are researching hotels, restaurants or attractions you should collectively get an idea of what the majority of people are saying about that particular establishment and not just focus on individual reviews. Sites like Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, TripAdvisor and Concierge can help you get a better idea of your destination before your arrival.

AAA Fuel Cost Calculator – If you’re planning to drive to your destination, you can save a little money and get accurate gas costs through this great tool from the Auto Club.

Suspend Home Subscriptions – In the past we put a vacation hold on all incoming mail or suspended newspaper subscriptions while we were on vacation. But did you know that Internet retailers such as Netflix and Hulu Plus allow subscribers to temporarily suspend their services?

And lastly, according to Ian Hamilton, a technology reporter for The Orange County Register, the No. 1 tech travel tip is to download everything you can to your mobile devices before you leave the house.

Whether it’s traveling to the beach, the mountains or overseas, Hamilton emphasizes that travelers can save on their data plans and be armed with the latest information while on the road.  It’s also good to have a sure bet, because sometimes you can’t depend on Wi-Fi or cellular coverage. Hamilton said that savvy travelers should download apps, games, books, documents or maps at home before the trip, and that lots of mobile apps offer offline access to their content if you are stuck in a dead zone.

Whether you’re planning in advance or very last-minute, this social media interface allows users to share their experiences at different accommodations in words and photos as well. Much more impressively, however, Room 77 has a plethora of floor plans for motels, guest houses and lodgings of all types. It sifts through 425,000 individual hotel rooms in 16 worldwide cities so far, expanding every day. A simple customization of your settings on the Room 77 iPhone app will recommend your quintessential quarters based on floor number, view, proximity to the elevator and more.

Let’s face it, times are tough and every penny counts. Instead of just money saving websites, here is a list of 18 Firefox Add-Ons that will help save you money on a daily basis.

1. Listia – This is an auction site where everything is free; instead of cash, people use credits to get free stuff. The idea is to give away the stuff you don’t want any more and get stuff you do want for free. The more stuff you give away, the more credits you get. Then use those credits to get new things for free. Use this firefox add-on to help sort through all the free stuff on Listia.com.
2. InvisibleHand — This handy extension will act like its namesake and point you to better deals whenever you shop online. A discreet notification will pop up if the InvisibleHand extension finds a lower price in its database of over 100 different online retailers from the US, UK, and Germany. With information from major shopping sites like Amazon, Wal-Mart and Sears, InvisibleHand will help you find the best deals and save a ton of money in the process.
3. Offer Assistant — Tired of hunting down those discount and coupon codes when you shop online? The Offer Assistant is here to bring the offers to you! The extension helpfully includes any promo information regarding your item in your Google, Bing, and Yahoo! search results. Could it be any more convenient?
4. Advanced Travel — Traveling can get really expensive, and so people spend hours upon hours trying to find the best travel deals online. Advanced Travel makes things a lot simpler by displaying search results for the most popular travel websites. The extension’s engine reads your IP address to find out what area you’re in, and will alter the search results accordingly.
5. Ookong — Have you ever found yourself burning the midnight oil looking for the best prices for your Amazon.com item? Get some sleep and let the Ookong extension do the work for you. Ookong takes a look at an item’s price history, tracks any price changes, and tells you when the price drops. It’s like having a broker telling you exactly when the best time to buy is.
6. Woot Watcher — Woot.com is a quirky website that allows for major savings. The catch is, the site sells only one product for each day, in limited quantities. If you’d really like to get something you want at Woot’s rock-bottom prices, then, you need to watch the site religiously. This great extension does the watching for you, alerting you on the day’s product, price, and stock left.
7. Buy It Online — Ever found an item online you couldn’t wait to get your hands on? Didn’t want to waste any time browsing around for sites that might offer it at lower prices? This extension allows you to do that within seconds. All you have to do it right-click on the product, click “Buy it online”, and the extension will display several sites that sell it, too!
8. Savvy Circle Plugin — The Savvy Circle Plugin sends you an email whenever an item you have your eye on goes on sale. All you need to do is add the item to your Savvy Circle wishlist, and everything else will follow. With support for over 100 different online stores, you’re sure to save money with this extension.
9. ReminderFox — The fees on unpaid bills can add up, making your unnecessary expenses pile up into astronomical amounts. Do yourself (and your wallet) a favor by installing this extension. It acts like a to-do list in your browser, reminding you when important matters need to attending.
10. Lonely Planet — Looking for the best possible way to enjoy your trip? Save a few bucks by installing this extension. It’ll give you access to the Lonely Planet travel guides without having to buy the guides themselves. You can even plan a budget trip with the helpful information contained in the guide.
11. World Travel Guide — Are the Lonely Planet guides not enough for you? Blow your options wide-open as this Firefox extension gives you access to even more travel guides. It’s easy, convenient, and best of all, free!
12. Biet-O-Zilla — Did you ever find an incredible bargain on eBay, bid on it, only to have it stolen away from you just before the auction closes? This amazing extension helps you make last minute bids with ease. You’ll end up saving a ton of cash on your eBay purchases when you have the speed to get the best deals.
13. UpName Expired Domains Search — Working on an online business? The right domain name can have a significant effect on the traffic to your site. You can find top-ranked domain names for cheap by purchasing expired or deleted domain names. This handy extension searches all major domain sellers for these discount online gold mines, saving you the effort of tracking them down, and saving you money on a worthwhile investment.
14. Product Seeker Search — This Firefox search bar add-on is a boon to online shoppers. Simply enter a product into Product Seeker Search, and it’ll give you results for all the major retailers that handle that item. You can then organize results by price, product rating, and store rating to make sure you get the most bang for your buck.
15. PriceTrace Toolbar — Smart shoppers and bargain hunters alike will be drooling over this money-saving extension. The add-on gives you one-click access to price histories and price comparisons for over 40 major online retailers. The “Find Fillers” function will alert you of any special offers that you might qualify for while making your purchases. Best of all, the extension will inform you if an item you’ve had it track drops in price. What more could you want?
16. PriceBlink — If you like your Firefox extensions a little more discreet, then PriceBlink is for you. This browser plug-in works in the background, so you probably won’t even notice it’s there. Unless, of course, it can save you money. Whenever you go online shopping, PriceBlink will pop up if it’s found the same item at a lower price, or if it’s included in any special offers.
17. Dympol Discount Entertainment — Music-lovers can now keep their wallets nice and full with the discount offerings of dympol. Install the toolbar on your browser, and discount prices pop up in third-party music retailers like AmazonMP3. When you make your purchase at full price, cash-back rebates equal to the discount will automatically be sent to your dympol account. These funds can then be easily transferred to your PayPal or Amazon Payments account. You can use them to avail of discounts with dympol’s sponsors.
18. TimeTracker — As the old adage goes, “Time is Money”. The time you spend leisure browsing could be costing you, especially if it’s decreasing your productivity at work. Hold yourself accountable with the TimeTracker extension. It records how much time you spend leisure surfing, and can be set to ignore the time spent at work-related sites. Once you see how much time you’ve wasted on YouTube, Facebook and the like, you’ll find yourself actually doing some work for a change.

Last year sales were down along with the economy, but computers sales and a new operating system by Microsoft have elevated profits in the 4th Qrt of 2009.

For its most recent quarter, Microsoft saw a 60% rise in earnings. Revenue grew 13% to $19 billion USD, lifting earnings to $6.7 billion. Analysts had expected $17.9 billion in revenue.

Microsoft beat the street estimate and reported strong earnings to match other companies such as Dell and Apple. With the launch of Windows 7, Microsoft is expected to continue to have strong sales, but the economy could have other plans. While the overall tech industry is looking better, a full recovery may not be in the cards for 2010.