Update from the field: Mobile boarding passes still don’t work

Gadling Labs is on the road this steamy August weekend, bouncing from O’Hare to Houston to Seattle and to Anchorage. It’s a good day for flying – there are unusually few thunderstorms barreling through the Midwest, our hangovers are light and the red vinaigrette in first class is a bit punchier than normal. Perhaps its the humidity on this Canadian Regional Jet of yore.

Following up on our post last week on the questionable efficacy of mobile boarding passes, we decided to take a pair of American Airlines and Continental Airlines passes out for a spin today.

Passing the TSA officer outside of the K/H wing in O’Hare, we fired up our handy iPhone 3GS and downloaded the boarding pass on the fly. Asked about the failure rate of mobile passes at this station, the friendly officer replied “About one in a thousand here.” That’s a pretty good hit rate, and it’s too bad that we’ve been one of those out of a thousand in the past.

Slipping through security (digression: when timed, we found that the new backscatter scanners process passengers at almost half the rate as the traditional magnetometers) and ambling over to the H5, it was far too early for boarding, so a little bit of browsing on our not-so-reliable Clear hotspot helped us pass a half hour.

And when boarding began? We were the second in line. Problem was, the iPhone tried to reload the Safari webpage when we opened up the browser, and now that our session was stale the boarding pass had disappeared. We were left with the image above, no boarding pass and a line of stuffy passengers starting to grow impatient.

Lesson learned! Always carry a paper boarding pass. And when downloading the mobile pass? Make sure to cache a local copy on your phone for later use – many sites offer the option to “save a copy” when the pass initially opens and this could save a lot of time and effort while in transit.

Next up? Trials with the Continental Airlines boarding passes!

Griffin Technology PowerDuo Reserve review – iPhone/iPod power at home, in a car and on the go

Here on Gadling, we’ve covered quite a few portable battery packs in the past – and most of them are relatively straightforward (and boring). The new Griffin PowerDuo Reserve is the first truly interesting and innovative power product I’ve seen in a long time. The product consists of three parts – an AC charger (the PowerBlock Reserve), a DC/car charger (the PowerJolt Reserve) and a 500mAh ipod/iPhone battery pack (the Reserve Battery).

The combination of these three products delivers a power solution that can charge your device at home, in a car or on the go. Best of all, the AC and car chargers are designed to charge and dock with the reserve battery.

At home, you can plug your iPod/iPhone USB cable into the AC charger, while charging the battery pack. When you leave on a trip, you can unplug the charger, fold in the prongs and pack it away. Then, if you need some backup power, you simply undock the battery pack and plug it into your device. The same applies to the car charger.

Both the AC and car charger deliver 1 AMP of power – which means your device will charge much faster than many of the low cost (and low power) solutions on the market.

The AC charger is rated for 100-240 Volts, so with the appropriate plug adapter, you’ll be able to use it anywhere in the world.

The 500mAh Reserve Battery is by no means the most powerful on the market, but it’ll be enough to add a couple of hours of use to your device. On the front of the battery is a power status button and 5 green LED’s show the remaining capacity.

The Griffin Technology PowerDuo Reserve is a very well designed power solution – for a single purchase price ($59.99) , you get three chargers in one, with the ability to keep your device going, no matter what kind of situation you are in.

The parts are also available separately, so if you only need the AC or car charger, you can mix and match. The Reserve Battery is also available separately ($19.99) – which means you can order a spare and be sure you never run out of power on the go.

Product links:

PowerDuo Reserve
PowerBlock Reserve
PowerJolt Reserve
Reserve Battery

Griffin Travel Stand for iPod and iPhone reviewed

The Griffin Technology Travel Stand for iPod and iPhone is one of the the smartest little gadgets I’ve reviewed in a long time. Despite not consisting of much more than a small case and rubber headphone winder, this product fulfills multiple tasks in one.

When closed, it is a great case for your headphones – keeping them wound around the included rubber wrapper. But when you open it up, this little marvel becomes a brilliant little movie watching stand for your device. Despite the name, the travel stand works perfectly with almost any player on the market – including most mobile phones and small media tablets.

How good is the Travel Stand for iPod and iPhone? Well, when I first saw it, it made me furious. Furious because I didn’t invent it. The whole thing is ridiculously simply, yet so perfectly executed.

Headphones store neatly inside the stand when not in use.

And the whole thing folds up into a neat little headphone case.

The viewing angle is perfect, and rubber feat on the bottom prevent it from sliding around on your airline tray table.

Best of all, the Griffin Travel Stand for iPod and iPhone retails for just $14.99 (though I have already seen it at the local Walmart for under $10!).

If you have ever struggled with watching a movie on your flight, this is one $15 you won’t regret investing – even if it is just to keep your headphones protected. You’ll find this brilliant little product at Griffintechnology.com or your local electronics retail store.

V-MODA Remix Remote headphones – fantastic sound + remote control

It has been several years since we last reviewed a pair of V-MODA headphones, so when I came across the newest product from these audio specialists, I decided to take them for a spin (on a plane).

The Remix Remote headphones build upon the V-MODA concept that headphones need to look good and sound good. These headphones are no exception. On the Remix Remotes, you get plenty of chrome, an all metal casing with a pair of mini-drivers capable of producing some awesome bass.

As the name implies – the Remix Remotes add a wired remote control to the package, allowing for play/pause and track control on the iPhone 3GS, iPod Shuffle (3rd gen), iPod Touch (2nd gen), iPod Nano (4th gen), 120GB iPod Classic and even on the MacBook, MacBook Pro, iMac and Mac Pro (2009 and newer models only). I was able to use them on my Nexus One as well – but only to play/pause music.

The inline remote also houses a very impressive microphone, and the people I spoke to on the other end of my calls told me that it sounded much better than the stock iPhone headphones.

The V-MODA Remix Remote headphones have a Kevlar reinforced cable (which should take care of cable issues V-MODA headphones sometimes suffered from in the past). The headphones come with a 2-year premier warranty and a lifetime replacement program.

Included in the box are the headphones, a carrying pouch and an assortment of silicone earpieces. If you plan to use the headphones at the gym, you can use the included ear hooks to prevent them falling out of your ears.

Because all ears are different, V-MODA include four pairs of black and clear fittings in XS, S, M and L. I found the best fit with a pair of M fittings – and experienced some very acceptable noise isolation on my flight. Now, they obviously won’t perform as well as a $300 pair of active noise canceling headphones, but the reduction in noise is enough to let you enjoy your music in peace.

Bottom line is that these are very good headphones with a good remote, excellent microphone and a decent price.

The new V-Moda Remix Remote headphones are now available directly from V-Moda for $99.99.

Boingo Wi-Fi Credits for the iPhone/iPod Touch and iPad offers connectivity on the go

Boingo just released a new app for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad – their second application for the platform. In this newly released app, you can purchase Wi-Fi connectivity credits on the go – using your App store credits or stored payment method. Credits are good for a single hour of access.

Credits can be purchased in blocks of one, or ten (with a buy ten get one free promo). Best of all, the app comes with one free credit.

By linking the Wi-Fi credit purchase with your existing app store payment method, you won’t need to reach for a credit card or worry about having to enter a new payment method on the road. Credits are just treated as an in-app purchase, like many other add-ons for App store purchases.The application manages the purchases, and also acts as a hotspot finder.

The new Boingo Wi-Fi credits app can be found in the App store. If you plan to use Boingo more than a couple of hours a month, you’ll be better off with their smartphone plan – which offers unlimited worldwide access for just $7.95/month.