Google Gets Adventurous: Buys Social Travel App JetPac

Google Gets Adventurous: Buys Social Travel App JetPac

Google Inc has just added JetPac Inc. to its list of apps. Google has acquired the startup which is designing social travel applications. JetPac disclosed the sale without revealing the amount involved in the transactions. “We'll be removing JetPac's apps from the App store in the coming days, and ending support for them on 9/15” stated a post on the JetPac homepage.

JetPac is based in San Francisco and it is responsible for creating a mobile application that uses pictures from social networking sites for the creation of city guides. Google had previously purchased Nest Labs Inc which is responsible for the creation of smart thermostats and smoke alarms for around $3.2 billion ensuring that this deal is one of the biggest in the history of the internet giant.

Tech giant Google has snapped up JetPac with the aim to create software that analyses the pictures posted online and uses them for the creation of urban guides for information to be revealed from them. Founded in the year 2011 with headquarters in San Francisco, JetPac is skilled at compiling data from photos posted by users on social network sites.

This includes Instagram which is the property of FB. The app uses AI to conjure up guides with information from them. This includes the pictures of foods, buildings, decorative elements and people which is in circulation by Instagram to increase the richness and variety of content of JetPac's online guides to explore the possibilities for leisure and travel in each of the major cities.

The monetary value of the acquisition is a secret but the fact that Google buys companies by the dozen every year is not. Google is constantly re-inventing itself by increasing its repertoire of apps. Many of these firms are absorbed into the Google machinery through some remain on its fringes.

JetPac is one in the long line of acquisitions that have revved up the Google growth engine. The search engine is second to none so much so that people frequently “google” everything they find interesting or worth commenting about.

What makes JetPac super cool is that you can search for specific information and JetPac gets back to you with very specific results. The app can trawl through FB photos of friends to show where they are and what amazing places they have visited.

So, if traveling is your cup of tea and a journey by rail, road or air to new places enthralls you, this app should provide great fun for those who fancy virtual travel as well. There is no doubt about it. We are living in a world where the virtual and the real frequently collide. But apps like these bridge the gap between the real and the virtual remarkably well. Google is banking on this to provide its users with an out-of-world experience which is the “in” thing nowadays. So, if escape is your mantra and travel lures you, Google's JetPac acquisition is welcome news for it is sure to take you to new places literally and metaphorically.