Digital Travel News: Resources for the Road

With more than 50,000 short-term rental listings in 168 countries, the new AirBnB App (free; iPhone) lets you search and book at affordable rates. A recent deal: $95 per night for a five-room apartment in Manhattan.

Sign up for Clear 4G Portable Wireless (clear.com; monthly plans from $45), and you’ll receive a USB modem that connects any Wi-Fi computer to high-speed Internet.

T+L contributor Valerie Stivers-Isakova’s new virtualgdbk.com presents online travel resources—blogs, news stories, local listings—for Bangkok, Paris, New York, and seven other cities.

The History Channel’s GPS-enabled History Here App ($2.99; Windows Phone 7; Android, iPhone next month) finds points of interest (monuments, museums, battlefields) near your location and delivers video, audio, images, and more.

Seriously powerful and super-compact (2.6 pounds), the new Panasonic J Series laptop (dynamism.com; $1,899) delivers top-notch computing in a stylish leather jacket.