Happy New Year 2011

The routeRANK team has been working on further enhancements of the return trip search functionality. Keep an eye out as these are included in the public routeRANK version over the next few weeks. Moreover, the results’ filtering options have been extended. It is possible to specify time windows for the departure and arrival time, the maximum number of layovers, as well as the maximum price, carbon dioxide emissions or duration of a journey. This should help you quickly and easily find your preferred route from the routeRANK results set. A pre-release, beta version of these features is available on the private routeRANK version.

To help their visitors make an environmentally conscious travel choice Lloyds TSB and the Economist Conferences (the conference arm of The Economist newspaper) link to routeRANK from their web sites. If you are interested in linking to routeRANK from your own website, or in a customized version of routeRANK’s core patent-pending technology with optional features such as those on the private routeRANK version, please see the business applications page or contact us for further information.

Best wishes for a great 2011 from the routeRANK team.

Return trip search now available on routeRANK

The routeRANK team has worked hard wrapping up 2010 with a new feature: you can now specify a return trip search, and routeRANK will find return flights, return trains and return car routes. All functionalities including airport transfer information, airport selection, results ranking, and others are also available for return trip searches. Try it out when booking your holiday travels and let us know what you think.

routeRANK is also proud to announce recent press coverage in the German GEO Saison, a multi-thematic travel magazine (PDF, German).

Happy holidays from the routeRANK team!

Skiing season under way in snowy Switzerland

routeRANK was recently nominated for the TechCrunch Europe Awards in the category “Best Cleantech/Environmental Start up” for the second time, after being a finalist in 2009. Thank you all for your support and congratulations to the winner WhipCar.

routeRANK is also one of the seven nominees for the Prix NATURE Swisscanto, which is a prize created last year to honour significant contributions to sustainable development. routeRANK is in the category “Future Generation”, which is targeted at innovators under the age of 35.

In other news — it’s that time of the year again! The ski season is under way in Switzerland, where you can discover some of the world’s most beautiful and thrilling ski destinations. routeRANK helps you find the fastest, cheapest and most environmentally friendly way to get there, whether you are venturing out for a ski day from Lausanne or planning a ski vacation from London. With all the snow we’ve been getting in Lausanne the past week, it’s sure to be a great start to the season.

Find and book the best route from Berlin to Zermatt.

Find and book the best route from Vienna to Chamonix-Mont-Blanc.

Tech Crunch Europe 2010 Awards

routeRANK has been nominated for The Europas, the Tech Crunch Europe 2010 Awards, in the Cleantech/Environmental Tech Startup category. We are proud to be considered by one of the top technology web publications for the second time, after being shortlisted for the same award in 2009. If you would like to support us, you can vote for routeRANK here. We appreciate your help!

routeRANK is recruiting!

routeRANK’s offices are situated at the science park (PSE) on the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) campus in Lausanne, Switzerland. EPFL is one of Europe’s leading institutions of science and technology, ranked number 2 in Europe and number 20 in the world in the field of “Engineering/Technology and Computer Sciences” in the academic ranking of world universities (ARWU) by Shanghai Jiao Tong University. This location presents great recruitment opportunities for projects, internships and full-time employment.

routeRANK also regularly participates in the Forum, EPFL’s annual recruitment event, which took place last week. If you did not manage to catch us at the Start-up Day on October 15 or are interested in joining us from further away, please take a look at our Jobs page and contact us.

In other news, routeRANK has a new face on Facebook! Earlier this week routeRANK launched a new Facebook application with the following features:

• routeRANK widget
  The classic routerRANK widget is now integrated into the Facebook application. You can search the same way you used to do, by going to the application and book your travel tickets online.
• Friends Connect
  Friends Connect allows you to search through your friends who have also added the routeRANK application, and find your way to them with just a few clicks. No more hassles with planning how to meet up on time!
• Publish Route
  After searching for a route to a place or to a friend, the application allows you to publish your search results directly to your Facebook wall. With one click you can share and tell everyone about the routes you discover with our application!

If you are on Facebook, try out the application and let us know what you think. You can also connect with routeRANK on our fan page.

TR35 awards videos available online

Videos from EmTech@MIT 2010, the Emerging Technologies conference at the MIT campus held 21-23 September, are now available online. They include the presentations by the TR35 winners, and you can watch routeRANK’s presentation at minute 9:33 in the video below:

Try out customized features on routeRANK’s beta version

The private routeRANK version showcases customized features on a pre-release, testing level. A beta “return trip” functionality as well as the possibility to specify train price reductions are some of the features currently on display there. routeRANK offers customization of its core patent-pending technology with such optional features to corporate customers and organizations, for their internal use or use on their own website. The Swiss Government (internal use) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (Travel Helper website) are already amongst routeRANK’s customers. Please see the business applications page or contact us for further information.

As was announced in late August, routeRANK’s founder, Jochen Mundinger, has been recognized by Technology Review magazine as one of the world’s top innovators under the age of 35. The awards ceremony takes place today at the Emerging Technologies conference at the MIT Campus (EmTech@MIT). EmTech@MIT brings Technology Review’s mission to life by showcasing the most important emerging technologies and explaining their impact. Although Jochen is unable to personally attend, fellow TR35 innovators as well as groundbreaking demos, thought-provoking keynotes, and opportunities for exclusive networking are sure to make this a great event!

routeRANK recognized by MIT Technology Review’s TR35 listing of the World’s Top Young Innovators for 2010

routeRANK’s Chairman, Jochen Mundinger, has been recognized by Technology Review magazine as one of the world’s top innovators under the age of 35 for routeRANK’s travel planning technology and product. Selected from more than 300 nominees by a panel of expert judges and the editorial staff of Technology Review, the TR35 is an elite group of accomplished young innovators who exemplify the spirit of innovation.

“Each year, Technology Review selects 35 innovators under the age of 35 who we believe are transforming technology. Discovering these amazing young men and women is one of the highlights of the year for us,” said Jason Pontin, editor in chief and publisher of Technology Review. “We celebrate their success and look forward to their continued advancement of technology in their respective fields.”

We are proud to include this honour in our growing awards list, and strive to continue to improve our technology. This summer, we have been working on behind-the-scenes developments and exciting new features. Keep checking back as we regularly update our service.

routeRANK goes mobile

The routeRANK team has developed a mobile optimized version of its software. As of today, a first beta release is featured on www.routerank.mobi.

Extending routeRANK’s offering of business applications, the mobile optimized version combines the usual routeRANK benefits with solutions to the constraints typically encountered on mobile devices. It is lightweight and ideally suited for small screens. Further customizations are offered for mobile optimized versions in the same way as for Internet versions, and can be made correspondingly on both a mobile and an Internet version.

Plan and book your next trip when you are on the road. routeRANK.mobi is the mobile travel search engine. You can register for an account. Try it now – if you have registered for the routeRANK private beta you can use your existing user name and password, otherwise you can create a new account easily.

routeRANK guides to the Paléo Festival

routeRANK works with Paléo to guide visitors to the festival. Travelling and transportation cause a substantial part of the CO2 emissions of the festival, so the Paléo organizers wish the need to provide and promote sustainable means of transport. In addition to contracting special train and bus services similar to previous years, routeRANK now integrates these to ensure visitors find the most convenient, cheapest and greenest way to the festival.

Information on routes and schedules can be accessed through routeRANK’s public website or the routeRANK widget, which is embedded in the Paléo website as well.

Paléo Festival is today one of Europe’s most important musical events. Each year, more than 176 concerts and shows are on offer to the 230,000 members of the public who fill the Festival’s site, situated above the town of Nyon. To this day, over 4,5 million people participated. routeRANK is proud to be one of Paléo’s partners. The routeRANK team wishes all visitors, actors and supporters a great festival.