December 10th, 2007

Zannel - Mobile Social Network

By Daved | Add a Comment »

It seems like these mobile friendly website are popping up all over the place.  You can use it to keep your travel schedule up to date or even to get recommendations on where to eat with Earthcomber.  A new company called Zannel is hoping on the mobile band wagon and helping you share your videos, texts, and images even easier.

Zannel is an online community much like the rest of them; myspace, facebook, etc.  This one however, revolves around your mobile device.  You can use it to take pictures, videos, or even make blog like posts to your Zannel account via your phone.

One of the cooler features of Zannel is their widgets.  You can use the Zannel widgets on your blog, myspace,website whatever.  The widgets allow you to post pictures and videos to your site in real time.  Snap a picture with your cell phone, send it to Zannel, and your picture appears online in real time.

All and all its a pretty cool way to share travel photos and videos on your blog or website, but I cant see using it for much more than that.

December 5th, 2007

Top 5 iPhone Cases

By Daved | Add a Comment »

There’s no arguing that your iPhone is an investment you’ll want to protect. You dropped a chunk of change to get the iPhone, why not get the only iPhone insurance planon the market, an iPhone case? Many of the iPhone cases are under $30, with a few of the more designer iPhone cases being $40ish.

As with any any cell phone accessories, there are plenty to choose from. When it comes to iPhone cases there is everything from holster cases, to work out cases. There are even iPhone cases designed to maximize the potential of the iPhone.

Take the Belkin Acrylic iPhone case for example. It has a kick stand built into to stand your iPhone on its side for when you are listening to music or watching videos. Can your iPhone case do that?

Here are my top 5 picks for the best iPhone cases:

• Belkin Acrylic
• Marware SportGrip
• Mobi Products Metal Case w/ Clip
• Griffin iClear
• Case-Mate Signature Series

Everyone has their own style, whats your favorite iPhone case?

December 5th, 2007

MizPee

By Daved | Add a Comment »

There’s nothing worse than having a major case of Montezuma’s revenge and not being able to find a bathroom. Ok, so there are a lot worse things, but that one is certainly up there. So what’s one to do in this situation other than the unthinkable? If you were in the know, you’d know about MizPee.

MizPee is website that can be accessed on you cell phone. What does it do? It does what any good web site would do for a travel in need, helps you find a restroom. Yes, that’s what I said, this website helps you find restrooms. Is there anything a website can’t help you do these days?

All you have to do is select the state, city, and/or the address and MizPee will direct you to the nearest restroom to relieve yourself. I suppose if you have IBS or something of that sort this could be useful. The irony is, if you really have to go, do you want to waste time fidgeting around on your cell phone?

December 3rd, 2007

Travel Gadget Gift Ideas

By Daved | 77 Comments »

Here are some of our favorite travel gadgets that we have found over the year. These ideas are perfect for stocking stuffers, your special nerd, or maybe as a gift for yourself!

Swedish FireSteel – A cool little piece of gear for backpackers.
Read the rest of this entry »

November 20th, 2007

Virtual Laser Keyboard

By Daved | Add a Comment »

I’m not gonna lie. I saw this virtual laser keyboard on an episode of CSI. Being a bit of a computer technology junkie, my jaw dropped. From the moment I saw it I was amazed. This virtual laser keyboard is perfect for business travelers, travel writers, and other people who need a portable keyboard.

Slighty larger than a zippo lighter, the virtual laser keyboard is easily portable and a great addition to any portable office. The virtual laser keyboard can be connected to Smartphones, Blackberrys, PDA, PCs, and Macs.

The virtual laser keyboard projects a full size keyboard onto any surface. It works by using optical technology to recognize which key you hit based on the interuption of the laser. The coolest part about the virtual laser keyboard, it comes complete with real “clicking” keyboard sounds! The bad part, it costs up words of $170.

November 19th, 2007

iPhone Commercial Parody

By Daved | 1 Comment »

As clever as the new iPhone commercials are, they are a little lame. I love my iPhone, don’t get me wrong, but Apple advertising has never appealed to me. Anyways, here is a funny iPhone parody commercial I ran across on YouTube. There are a few others, but this was my favorite.

November 16th, 2007

WorldMate Live

By Daved | Add a Comment »

WorldMate Live – Put your smart phone to work.

WorldMate Live is a portable app that works on your Blackberry and other smart phones. The portable app is much like portable travel assistant. The WorldMate Live application will help keep your holiday and business travel stress free by alerting you of flight delays, keeping travle of reservations, important phone numbers and more.

Unlike other such services, WorldMate Live is updated in real time. Find out exactly when you flight gets delayed so that you can make arrangements fast. No more waiting till your at the ticket counter to find out about your delayed flight.

WorldMate Live also keeps a schedule of your trip including meets, hotels check in and out times, flights and more. The schedule will change with the time zone so that you don’t miss a meeting or flight do to time changes.

There is also a WorldMate Live online application so that you can access your travel information from anywhere in the world. If you use Outlook, you may want to try their Outlook plugin that automatically captures your Itinerary.

Check outthe world mate live website here.

November 14th, 2007

Incase iPod Nano Protective Cover

By chris | 1 Comment »

The Incase iPod nano protective cover has been in my hands for a week or so to test out. Normally we’re pretty hard on our test gear, but since I’m the one contributing the iPod we’re using, I’ve been taking it a lot easier. Sorry folks - this means no 12-foot drops on this test.

The quick & dirty:

Where you can get one:
incase $24.95

Why it rocks:

Nice rubbery material could offer some shock protection

Feels like decent quality

Why it bites:

No cover for the face of the iPod

Can’t connect to accessories without removing from the case

Seat-of-the-pants rating:5 out of 10

Long-winded version:
There really isn’t a whole lot one can do to a rubber gadget case to test it out other than try to tear it in half or feed it to your dog. Sure, you could try to see how much protection it offers by throwing around your electronics but that’s out of the question for me.

In the real-life test I’ve put the Incase iPod Nano Protective Cover through in the last week, I’ve found that it could suit most people’s needs but also has room for improvement. For instance, there is no protection for the face of the iPod, which is very easy to scratch if it’s in your pocket with say, a set of keys. For a rubber cover costing 25 bones, I think this is a fairly large missing piece.

Another annoyance, although accepted more by me, is the fact that I can’t plug my iPod into any accessories that use a base instead of a cable to connect. For me, this is both my car and my speakers at home. While I understand that the case will add to the bulk of the iPod doing it on the bottom and making me remove the case every time I get in the car or back home is a significant frustration. I’ve either chosen to not use the case, or to not use the iPod because of this.

Having used the Incase protective cover for a week, I would not buy one for myself. But then again I’m usually just happy with a protective film on the front anyway as I’m not too harsh on my electronics in general.

Up next for testing is the Incase Sports Armband, which first impressions indicate will be better in my book.

October 5th, 2007

Obopay Money Transfer

By Aleksi | Add a Comment »

If you want a way to transfer money over the internet on your cell phone then thanks to Obopay you can! Think of it like a money transfer at your bank, mixed with Paypal, mixed with your mobile phone. Need to send money to your friend right now? You can. What about fees? Nothing more than a $.10 fee for sending money, there is no charge for recieving or withdrawing.

What you do:
1. Add money to Obopay via your bank account, credit, or debit card.

2. You can send money to any US mobile phone number, even if they don’t have an account. You can also request money, and it stores the amount so that the other person can open an Obopay account and collect their money.

3. If you need money that is in your Obopay, then you can withdraw it directly into your bank account.

4. Obopay also offers a debit card that you can use to pay for things directly out of your obopay account.

5. Purchase movie tickets and other things via your phone and Obopay account.

The best thing is that since it’s not a bank account, you aren’t charged for overdraft fees or have a minimum balance requirement. Convinced yet? Yeah, I thought so! Open an Obopay account here

October 4th, 2007

Verizon Voyager, the iPhone killer?

By Aleksi | Add a Comment »

Verizon has admitted they want a part of the iPhone action with their new Voyager. On October 3rd they went public with a new model of phone that is directly targetted at competeting with the Apple iPhone.

Most users of the iPhone complain because of the limited use of it. Thanks to Steve Jobs, the iPhone doesn’t allow 3rd party applications to be installed unless it is “hacked” by installing and modifying the software or hardware of the phone. This causes the casual user to fear breaking the device, meaning that they simply deal with the limitations instead of risking breaking it.

The Voyager lacks the same screen size as the iPhone, and the internal memory is not even close to what the iPhone is capable of, however it does allow for expansion via a memory slot.

Prices of the Verizon Voyager, as well as the other models that are planned for release near the end of the year (Just in time for Christmas and the holidays, no doubt) have not been set yet, but expect them to be in the $300 and above price range.