Priceline.com, which provides online travel services in 29 languages in over 78 countries in Europe, North America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa, has announced the launch of Hotel Negotiator App, which allows travelers use iPhone (News - Alert) or iPod touch to find hotels during travel.

Featuring Priceline Negotiator (William Shatner), the Hotel Negotiator uses Priceline.com’s “Name Your Own Price” hotel service and enables travelers to save up to 50 percent over published hotel rates.

“Our Hotel Negotiator App is designed for travelers who are on the road or at an airport and decide at the last minute that they need a room for the night,” said Brett Keller, chief marketing officer, at Priceline.com, in a release.

The app is also suitable for travelers who prefer to arrange accommodation after they reach their destination, Keller said. With this application, they can use their iPhone or iPod touch to quickly negotiate the price and book a room from Priceline.com’s comprehensive assortment of quality hotel rooms up until 11 p.m. ET on the night they need the room.

When a user activates the Hotel Negotiator App, William Shatner gets the whole phone vibrating as he punches his way through the screen. Users can then choose a city and the Hotel Negotiator App displays multiple recent “winning” bids made by other Priceline.com customers for hotels in different parts of the city at different star levels.

Hotel Negotiator features a “shake-down” geo-locator-triggered hotel search. Shaking the device establishes the traveler’s location using location-based features and then performs a Winning Bids search for hotels in the surrounding areas.

The “one-page checkout” feature speeds users through the bidding process. It their bid is accepted, they’ll instantly receive the details of the hotel on the screen.

If the user is not interested in negotiating, they can browse through the vast assortment of published-price hotels for a particular city or town.

Hotels can be sorted by criteria such as star level, price, proximity and popularity. Hotel listings include address, star level, customer reviews and satisfaction scores, zoomable maps, pictures and descriptions.

The hotels listed on priceline.com can be booked either online or by automatically calling priceline.com’s hotel booking specialists, company officials said.

Hotel Negotiator also helps travelers with other types of travel services such as flight status, airline ticket booking, or car renting through the priceline.com Web site configured for iPhone and iPod touch. There, they can get the service on a published-price or Name Your Own Price basis.

The Hotel Negotiator App is available for free from the App Store on iPhone and iPod touch or at www.itunes.com/appstore/

In August TMCnet reported that Priceline.com signed a long-term lease for establishing a new customer contact center in Wyoming, MI, just southwest of Grand Rapids. The contact center will provide support for customers making hotel reservations through Booking.com, Priceline.com’s international business unit, company officials said.