WorldMate just announced new integration that should help users tap into their connections on business networking site LinkedIn while they're on-the-road.
Palo Alto, Calif.-based WorldMate isn't the first travel service to connect to LinkedIn -- TripIt actually integrated with the networking site back in 2008. But TripIt's integration works within the LinkedIn site, so users log into LinkedIn and see their travel information. WorldMate's integration works the other way around, so users can look up their LinkedIn contacts from the WorldMate website, or from the BlackBerry app.
The integration features themselves are pretty basic. The app lets you search for LinkedIn connections in your current location or in other cities, including those on your travel itinerary. You can also include a listing of your LinkedIn connections in a particular town as part of the notifications you receive when you arrive in a new city. Either way, this could help you find business contacts that you might not remember, and you can look up their profiles and send them a message, say if you have some spare time and want to set up a meeting.
These features are only available on WorldMate's BlackBerry app for now, though it plans to add them to the iPhone app in the next few months.
Other application features include flight schedules, weather forecasts, currency calculators and push alerts about flight itinerary changes. The company has raised $11 million in all, most recently $8 million from the BlackBerry Partners Fund, Motorola Ventures, and AMC Communications.