2010 › May

Whereboutz by TeleNav lets you create a social networking travel journal

by Scott Carmichael on

Whereboutz is a new social networking site from the people behind the popular Telenav navigation software. The site lets you create your own trip journal, filled with maps, geotagged photos, videos and more.

Unlike many other social networking sites, Whereboutz allows you to keep your site private, which means you get to pick the people you share your trip with. Of course, if you prefer to share everything you do, you can also share your updates using Twitter of Facebook. With the iPhone app, you can upload your location, along with photos, videos and voice memos.

The site is free of charge, as is their iPhone app. Best of all, if you sign up, and provide some feedback, you’ll be entered to win a $500 Visa gift card!

So, if you are heading on a trip this summer, and you’d like to keep friends and family updated on your adventures, go sign up for the site and take it for a spin.

Portland’s Hotel Modera reviewed

by Laurel Miller on

Portland, Oregon, knows it’s pretty damn cool, which is why the city has garnered a rep for having a bit of a ‘tude. Let’s just say you should study up on your coffee order before getting in line.

Blissfully free of hipster snark, however, lies downtown’s funky Hotel Modera, a two-year-old addition to the area’s eclectic mix of venerable and boutique properties. Another selling point: Modera has ($27/day in summer)) valet service, removing the pain from downtown Portland’s notoriously scarce parking. Check-in was prompt, and every staff member I encountered during my brief stay was genuinely friendly and helpful. The twenty-four hour concierge service and business center are useful for night owls, businesspeople, and insomniacs. Asthmatics like me and healthy types will appreciate that it’s a 100% non-smoking property.

A member of Small Luxury Hotels of the World, a group of which I am fond,
Modera’s butt-ugly, nondescript, colorless exterior is deceptive. Built in 1962, it was originally a Days Inn, and then the Portland Inn City Center. But ah, inside lies a colorful, groovy oasis full of local art, Italian marble, and polished walnut floors. Fusion jazz emanates from hidden speakers.

Modera’s decor may not be to everyone’s taste. Done up in textural and tonal variations of white, orange, chocolate, and red, it looks kind of like the love child of Ikea and the Brady Bunch house. I’m not a Danish Modern person, but for some reason, I found this hotel fun, without trying to be. It just suits the utter weirdness and iconoclastic nature of Portland.My premium suite room, while small by some standards, had a nice, open layout, filled with light and glam trappings, and sensor-controlled heat, AC, and entry lights. The front room contained a dining table, LCD 32-inch flat screen TV, and a nice little desk/office area, with an iPod docking station and free Wifi. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any electrical outlets in which to plug my laptop.

The sunny bedroom featured a comfy King, with quality linens and loads of pillows; another flat screen, and a great view of downtown. The faux lynx bed throw and gigantic polka dotted carpet were a bit over the top, but the spacious, spotless, marbled-tiled bathroom made up for it. The open shower had two heads- one a European-style, and I loved the yummy, blood-orange-scented Tarroco bar of soap, shampoo, conditioner, and bath gel, which somehow found their way into my duffel bag.

Room rates vary seasonally and according to local events, but nightly averages per person for summer are $179/Premiere City King room, $189/Premiere Garden King, $199/Premiere Double Queen, and $289/Premiere King Suite.

What’s nice about Modera’s location is that it’s centrally located (but safe), yet a few blocks off of the retail corridor of Pioneer Square, and about 20 blocks from the boutiques, galleries, restaurants, and bars of the vibrant Pearl District (the free Portland StreetCar is one block from the hotel if you want a lift). Parts of lower downtown and Pioneer Square are like running a gauntlet of panhandlers and obnoxious, punky street kids. Ignore them, and focus your attention on the collective of glorious, multi-ethnic food carts clustered nearby, as well as other locations downtown.

The 174-room hotel is a peaceful oasis from all the bustle, made more so by an attractive courtyard that provides outdoor seating for the hotel’s Mediterranean-influenced restaurant, Nel Centro (helmed by acclaimed local chef David Machado). The eye candy, however, is Portland’s first “living wall,” a verdant, sustainable backdrop covered with ferns, moss, and other native plants. At night, fire pits light the courtyard, which is packed with guests and locals, who come for Nel Centro’s screaming deal of a Happy Hour. From four to six, cocktails and wine are five dollars a glass, microbrews are four, and three to seven bucks will get you pomme frites with harissa ketchup, a lamb burger with peppers and feta, or a seasonal pizza. If it’s chilly outside, seat yourself at the lively square bar, where you still have a courtyard view.

Modera is walking distance to the many arts and cultural events held within the downtown area, such as the Portland International Beer Festival, as well as the Portland Art Museum and Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. The city has a great public transit system, MAX, and is very bike-friendly, so get out to explore the Hawthorne District and Mt. Tabor, the Alberta Arts District, and the spectacular Forest Park. Even if you never make it past downtown, there’s plenty to see and do (and Modera offers complimentary passes to the adjacent 24 Hour Fitness if you want to get some exercise in). All just groovy to me.

Archos 5 Internet tablet review – an Android powered iPad alternative?

by Scott Carmichael on

The Archos 5 Internet tablet is the first Android powered device from this French media player company. The device features a 4.8″ touch screen, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS and storage through built in memory with MicroSD expansion or hard drive storage up to 500GB.

The device runs the Android operating system, along with a whole host of Archos developed improvements and applications. The device takes the regular Android experience, and turns it into a very compact media/Internet tablet. So – can this $249.99 device really take the place of the iPad?
Multimedia features

The Archos 5 Internet tablet supports music, photos, video and online content – half of the device is a great portable media player, and the other half is a portable computer. The Archos 5 even features a built in FM radio and FM transmitter – something not found on most portable devices.

When connected to a TV, the tablet itself acts as a trackpad to control all the playback features.

Hardware

The Archos 5 Internet Tablet is extremely thin – a mere 10.4mm (0.409 inches) on the MicroSD versions, and 20mm (0.787″) on the hard drive versions. Unlike Android phones, the Archos 5 Internet tablet relies entirely on screen presses for controlling the device, though there are power and volume buttons on the top. On the left side is a MicroUSB port and a headphone jack, and on the bottom are the usual 2 ports found on most other Archos players.

Battery life is rated at up to 22 hours of music, and 7 hours of video, and in my tests this turned out to be quite accurate. When you connect the Archos to its mini dock, you can use the USB host connector to add a mouse or keyboard.

When out of range of Wi-Fi, you can also use the built in tethering feature to hook the device up to your Bluetooth enabled mobile phone.

Expansions galore

The list of available accessories for the Archos 5 includes a DVR station that turns the device into a TV recorder, a mini dock with video output, an mini HDMI dock, a mini DVR dock, a battery dock, a variety of cases and (on the non-hard drive models), MicroSD cards. Ideally, video outputs like component and HDMI would have been built into the device itself, without the need for additional accessories.

Hardcore geeks may even want to replace the Android operating system with something a little more powerful – and Archos provides all the information you need to turn the device into a dual-booting portable computer.

Prices

The cheapest Archos 5 Internet tablet comes with 8GB of storage an a MicroSD expansion slot. At $249.99 it is quite a bargain. The 16GB version is $299.99, 32GB is $379.99, 160GB is $399.99 and 500GB is $499.99.

These prices are quite good – the 8GB model may not have enough space for most people, but for around $30, you can add a 16GB MicroSD memory card.

The Archos 5 Internet tablet for travelers?

The Archos 5 has pretty much everything a traveler needs – movie and music playback, excellent browser, email client and a variety of decent Android apps. With the optional mini-dock, you can plug the Archos into a (hotel) TV, and with a USB or Bluetooth mouse/keyboard, you’ll even be able to use it as a full computer replacement. Unlike some devices, the Archos displays everything from its screen onto a TV – not just specific TV enabled apps.

In my tests in a hotel room, using the Archos 5 as an entertainment device was just fantastic – very easy to set up and a breeze to use.

A viable alternative to the iPad?

Can the Archos 5 Internet Tablet replace an iPad? In one word – maybe.

It all depends on your requirements. The Archos 5 Internet tablet will most certainly not replace your iPad if you enjoy the applications Apple offers on its devices. Don’t get me wrong – there are plenty of decent Android apps, but the Archos lacks access to the Android Market, opting for a specially designed app store built by Archos which does not offer access to some of the most popular Android apps.

Where the Archos beats the iPad (in my opinion) is multimedia – there is no need for iTunes to load content onto the device, and with an available 500GB version, you can carry a lot more content.

The Archos 5 Internet Tablet also has more media format support than the iPad, offering video support for MPEG-4 up to HD resolution, WMV, MKV, M-JPEG and optional support for MPEG-2, VOB and WMV HD. Music support is built in for MP3, WMA, AAC9, OGG and FLAC. The device even supports subtitle files for movies.

I also find the form factor better for travel – the iPad is a really big device, and watching a movie on it when flying just isn’t all that practical. The 5″ screen on the Archos is just right – nice and bright, and the kickstand makes it perfect for movie watching. I’ve used it on several flights, and actually enjoyed it more than using my iPad in its case.

As delivered, the Archos 5 Internet Tablet does not come with a dock or video output – so you’ll need to invest in the Archos Mini Dock ($29.95). Ideally, this should have been included with the package as it seems like such an essential device.

Final thoughts?

The Archos 5 Internet Tablet is not perfect – it suffers from a fairly mediocre touch screen and the lack of Google apps (market, Gmail) are a bit of a disappointment. That said – there is a very easy way to load these apps onto the device without having to be too much of a hacker. Obviously, this is not an Archos endorsed method, but it really does improve the device.

Video, audio and photo support is just fantastic – with its long list of formats that work, you won’t have to waste time encoding clips to work on the device.

The hardware is also very good – I love the kickstand on the back, and the general look and feel of the device shows a lot of effort went into designing it.

All in all I am quite surprised by the usability of the Archos 5 Internet tablet – so much in fact, that once I send this review unit back, I’m ordering one for myself. The unit is one of the only on the market that has so much video format support, and the option for a large hard drive. Of course, being a huge Android fan only helps my decision.

To make a great media player better, it also works very nicely for email, web and other applications – and you can even use the pre-installed navigation system to turn it into a GPS system.

When selecting an Archos 5 Internet Tablet, you’ll want to order the largest you can afford – as delivered, more than half of the space on the 8GB version is occupied by apps and demonstration content.

You can learn more about this very competent little tablet at Archos.com.

The world’s most dangerous destinations (according to the Los Angeles Times)

by Kraig Becker on

The Los Angeles Times recently compiled a list of their picks for the world’s most dangerous places, with some popular tourist destinations earning amongst their ranks. Unlike other lists of this kind however, they automatically omitted places like Baghdad or Afghanistan, which are not travel friendly to begin with. Instead, this list points out the the very real dangers that a tourist might face while visiting one of these places.

For example, Gansbaai, South Africa earns a spot amongst the world’s most dangerous destinations because of the shark infested waters that surround the city. The region has an abundance of seals and penguins, which attract hordes of great white sharks, making it a popular place for visitors who want to see those predators up close. Thrill seekers can take a dip in those dangerous waters inside a shark cage, while most will look on from the safety of their boat.

Other dangerous destinations include Mt. Everest in Nepal for the extreme conditions and high altitude. The entire country of Australia gets the nod thanks to all the dangerous snakes and spiders that live there, and Memphis, Tennessee is a surprise entry for its proclivity for earthquakes. The city sits on a major fault line that could make it a major disaster waiting to happen.

There are a number of other popular destinations on the list, each with a unique threat to those that visit there. The list is a good reminder that we don’t have to visit a war torn nation to face real dangers on our next trip.

Photo of the Day (5.23.10)

by Jeremy Kressmann on

Imagine coming across this fearsome Grizzly Bear in the woods. Pretty unnerving, right? Lucky for you, Flickr user mciccone640 got up-close-and-personal with this enormous animal so we don’t have to. The bear’s snarling jaws and immense bulk certainly quickened my pulse and got my blood pumping. What about you?

Have any great wildlife photos from your travels? Why not share them with us at the Gadling group on Flickr? We might just pick one of yours as our Photo of the Day.