Posts Tagged iPhone
GoGo Mobile App for iPhone, iPad, and Blackberry Review
Ever fork over for GoGo wireless Internet access when flying? It’s easy to use and makes the time literally fly! There are some affordable price packages especially for a month-long subscription perfect for those heavy flying times of the year.
But, not every airline has wifi-equipped planes, and even if they do, the entire fleet may not be equipped. It can be cumbersome to take out your laptop in a cramped coach seat to check for a wifi signal. But, the new GoGo app for iPhone/iPad/iPod touch and Blackberry devices makes it easier by detecting a signal and letting you know on your phone if it’s available. The app will soon be available for the Android too.
You can then open the app in one click and are instantly connected rather than going through the various sign-in pages on your Internet browser. You have to create a GoGo account and store your credit card before using the app. But, that helps to save time once inflight.
The free app can be downloaded from the iTunes store and saves a couple of minutes off the time it can take to log into the Internet (which when you are buying the service for a limited amount of time on a flight is appreciated).
On shorter trips when I do not travel with a laptop, this app allows me to access the Internet directly from my phone onboard.
It is worth installing on your phone simply to give you free access to the airline’s web site to check your flight status or book future flights. There’s no charge for that, which is what makes this app such a good idea for frequent travelers.
There’s an app for everything these days, but this app truly does make accessing the Internet a few clicks easier inflight.
See the Top free apps and Top paid apps on the iTunes App Store
Posted by Ramsey in Business Gear, Travel Light on July 4th, 2011
iHound app for lost or stolen smart phones
As a busy traveler, I have lots of things to keep up with when on the road, and in today’s connected world, my iPhone is always in my hand. When deplaning or leaving a hotel room in a rush, it is easy to set it down while collecting other things and leave it behind. Let’s just say I have done that a few too many times. After the ordeal of begging the Apple store to let me buy another iPhone at full price (and being refused by the manager to buy another even at full price…imagine that, a company refusing to take your money for the full retail price of an item), I realized I needed a better plan to protect me against my own carelessness. Apple has no insurance for the iPhone rather an annual fee of almost $100) for its MobileMe recovery service. Such a high fee for a product that is already costly did not seem right, so I set about to find an alternative.
I discovered iHound software, which is an affordable app (only $3.99 for three months or $3.99 for a year for Android). It runs constantly in the background using the GPS software in your smartphone helping you to locate your phone on their web site if it is lost or stolen. You can also send a message to appear on the screen of the phone or sound a siren (or even an authoritative voice message) via a push notification so that you can locate it more easily.
The company has been in business for almost four years and provides an affordable way to track your phone in case it is lost or stolen. It works with iPhones, the iPod touch, and Android. There is even a way to easily gather information about your phone via the iHound web site to prepare a police report if needed. The app can be purchased via the iTunes store with payments possible via PayPal.
Special stickers are also available for purchase to put directly on the phone giving a protected form of contact for someone to reach you if it is found.
While the app does not require a wifi signal to work, it does need to have cell phone connectivity to be located via GPS. When wifi is available, it can also connect via wifi automatically. Save yourself the hassle of paying hefty annual fees and buy this affordable peace of mind. It has certainly saved me more than a few times!
Posted by Ramsey in Business Gear, Travel Light on May 2nd, 2011
Goal Zero Guide 10 Adventure Kit and Solar Charger
Goal Zero Guide 10 Adventure Kit Solar Charger
What’s the most irritating thing that can happen to you when you’re on the road? Okay, well there can be lots of answers here. But, one of the most irritating things that can happen to me is not having a place to plug in my iPhone charger when the batter is running low.
I often find myself in foreign countries without the proper adaptor (as was the case in Nigeria last month) or squatting on an airport floor because all the outlets are taken (as was the case in Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Charlotte, and New York last month. Oh and don’t forget Cincinatti where some lady spilled her coffee on my leg because she didn’t see me sitting there.) But, I digress.
I have been on the hunt for a solution for awhile and have purchased two different solar chargers that have performed so poorly I simply threw them in the garbage.
The Goal Zero Guide 10 Adventure Kit, however, is a different story. Perhaps the third time really is the charm. This easy-to-use, all-in-one-solution kit has all of the necessities in one place. Like other solar chargers, it relies on sunlight so a window is important, but it also stores solar energy too so it works in the evening hours. No electrical outlet needed.
Simply connect your phone/electronic device (it works with everything from a Blackberry to an iPod to a Kindle) with the 7-watt solar panel, and voila! It starts charging. And charging fast! It takes about an hour to power up my iPhone thanks to Goal Zero’s advanced solar cell technology that is light years above the competition. It can charge a cell phone for 30 hours, an iPhone or other smart phone for 7 to 10 hours, and an iPod for 40 hours.
The best feature, for me at least, is the nifty carrying case that it comes with including pockets for your phone or other small items and a Velcro closure to help it fit snugly into your briefcase. It’s lightweight enough to hardly notice it’s there, which is a blessing when on long trips (whether camping or on the road).
The panel is compatible with most any USB device and comes with a car adaptor and durable hooks that let you hang it from anywhere. This is the perfect, modern-day adventure kit for hikers or campers who want to remain connected, and thanks to its weather-resistant case it can be used outdoors. It also comes in handy in an emergency such as an earthquake, hurricane, or other electrical outage when power may be in short supply.
Also included are related devices such as the AA/AAA battery solar charger and interchangeable batteries. This is clearly the market leader for solar chargers as it weighs less than others, is easy and compact enough to pack in a carryon bag or backpack, and is more powerful than any others that I have tried.
The Goal Zero solar charger can be purchased at GoalZero’s web site or at REI.COM. The only downside of this excellent travel tool is that now I have no excuse to be disconnected from the office!
Posted by Ramsey in Adventure Gear, Business Gear, Travel Light on April 21st, 2011
Digital Foci Genuine Leather Hard Shell iPhone Case
Thud. Crack. #$%! Those are the sounds and subsequent words (in chronological order) of a person who drops their iPhone and knows immediately that their several hundred dollar investment just fell to pieces…literally. While iPhone cases should be a no-brainer, I have gone without one for a year. Until the day that mine fell on the floor and cracked right where my ear is when using it.
The trickery of the iPhone case has always beleaguered me. I refused to pay $20 for a piece of rubber at the cell phone store. Later, I discovered you could buy the same case for $1 on Ebay. That should tell you something about the quality of it. But, when I learned about and tested the Navjack designer iPhone cases distributed by Digital Foci, I became an instant fan.
There is more to these cases than just cheap rubber. I sampled a couple of their cases with my favorite being the Genuine Leather Hard Shell. The authentic leather surface has an elegant look and is sturdier than the traditional casing. Plus, no two cases are the same as the pattern and stitching on the leather varies for each. Even the most intricate details like the interior of the casing were considered when the case was produced so as to provide extra cushioning to protect from damage. Cutouts for the buttons are well-designed making it easy to use the phone when the case is on it. I have an iPhone 3G, but Digital Foci also produces cases for the iPhone 4G.
Another option is the Carbon or Glass Fiber case produced from 100% real carbon or glass fiber material, which makes it one of the most durable cases while also measuring in at one of the thinnest. The lightweight nature eases any effort to carry it with you in a purse or briefcase, which is very important for the frequent business traveler.
The retail price for these NavJack designer cases ranges from $19.95 to $49.95 (they are on sale directly at the Digital Foci web site), which makes sense considering the design and effort put into them. Makes me glad I never forked over for that cheap rubber one from the cell phone store. It’s true, we must spend money to save money in the long run when trying to protect expensive electronic devices. These NavJack iPhone cases distributed by Digital Foci make me glad that I waited to do just that.
Posted by Ramsey in Business Gear, General Gear on March 21st, 2011
SugarSync Program is a Life Saver for Frequent Travelers
If “your whole life” is on one laptop or smart phone, what happens if you lose it? If you use a desktop at home and a laptop or small netbook when you travel, how do you make sure you have all the files you need on both devices, in their most current form? What if you need to get one of those docs from a third device, like an iPhone or iPod Touch?
I used to sweat and worry about these questions before I discovered SugarSync a couple years ago (including when I had GoToMyPC, which was often a bust). Now I’m completely relaxed when I travel, knowing I can get to anything I need from any device anywhere. It’s a file sync program, an online back-up program, a file sharing program, and a photo upload program all rolled into one. At a price that starts at $50 a year for 30GB, it’s really cheap insurance and is cheaper than a sleeping pill prescription. If all my devices get wiped out in one day and the backup hard drive does too, I’ve still got my files and photos.
I seldom feel comfortable raving about a software program as there are always a few annoyances that keep it from being as useful as it should be and most of them let me down on a regular basis. I can honestly say this SugarSync one works like a dream though. You just tag the folders you want to share between devices and with “the cloud” and let ‘er rip. After the files, photos, songs, and videos are uploaded, each time you make a change to any of the folders on any device, behind the scenes this program makes the updates. It works in the background, seldom taking up much in the way of resources or slowing down your system.
Then you can access those files from either registered device or just log into your dashboard online and view or download what you need. You can also e-mail a file link to someone (like YouSendIt), attach a photo to send them, or share a whole folder of files/photos by invitation.
What’s really cool is, you can do all this from your mobile device as well. For the iPhone or Touch you just download the app, sign in once, then magically all your stuff is there. (You can even put files into a “Magic Briefcase” to get at them quickly without searching around.) If you take a photo with your iPhone, it’s automatically added to your “mobile photos” folder and it’s on every device you have registered—no cables required.
In case all that is not enough, the file syncs are done with SSL encryption so nobody snoops, plus they keep the last five versions of your files in case you make changes and then need the old version. And on top of that, you can show off photos from your home PC or stream music that’s on your laptop from your smartphone or Touch. How cool!
There’s almost nothing I wish this could do that it doesn’t and if you don’t believe me, you can take it for a 30-day trial run or test out a 2GB version indefinitely. To me that shows a lot of confidence in the product and it’s well-deserved.
Plans range from $50 a year (or $4.99 a month) to $250 a year for 250 GB. Here’s the pricing breakdown.
SugarSync Online Backup, Sync, Share – Try FREE for 30 days
Posted by Tim L. in Business Gear, General Gear on August 26th, 2010
