Mobiata’s FlightBoard app arrives in the Android Market – with live wallpapers!

by Scott Carmichael on

Last year, we took a quick look at FlightBoard by Mobiata for the iPhone. This app mimics the beautiful flight schedule board found at Charles de Gaulle airport, and displays live flight information on your phone.

This morning, Mobiata announced an Android version of this popular app. The basic feature set is the same as in the iPhone version, but Android users get one cool additional feature – a live wallpaper of the FlightBoard! Sure, you need to be a bit of an aviation geek to want flight schedules as your live wallpaper, but it certainly makes for a good conversation starter.

When viewing the flight display, you can switch between departures and arrivals, and share flight information through SMS, Twitter or Facebook.

Mobiata FlightBoard for Android costs $3.99 and is available in the Android Market.

Review: Phosphor Watches E Ink curved world time watch

by Scott Carmichael on

It isn’t often that we review watches here on Gadling – and we figure most watch owners fit in two categories; settle for cheap or pricey is good. Since we’d feel a tad out of place reviewing $3000 watches on the site, we tend to decline most of the watch pitches we receive. One recent email that got our attention introduced us to the Phosphor watch lineup. Their assortment of watches stands out in the busy watch market thanks to their use of E Ink display technology. If you have ever used an e-reader like the Amazon Kindle, you’ll know how clear and crisp E Ink is.

The newest watch from the Phosphor brand is the World Time Curved. This watch comes in four versions – white plastic band, black plastic band, black leather band and stainless steel band. In all four versions, the watch portion is the same.

Features on the watch are controlled with a single button, which means you may need to carry the compact user guide with you for the first couple of weeks. As can be expected, the screen really is very crisp and clear, but the lack of a backlight means it is relatively useless in the dark.

If you are the kind of watch owner that finds $20 for a plastic Timex to be your absolute spending limit, then the $150 for a Phosphor E Ink watch will probably seem like a preposterous concept. However, if you like your watch to show off your style, and wear something innovative, then you won’t be disappointed with this E Ink powered timepiece. Sure – there may be many other options out there in this price range, but none have the same “wow” factor as an E Ink watch.

The watch covers 24 different time zones and is water resistant to 5 ATM (50 meters). Its basic features include local time, world time, date and options for five layouts (dual time, calendar, big time, small time and world time). One feature lacking is an alarm, but since most people have switched to their mobile phone for wake-up calls, I doubt this is something that could be considered a dealbreaker.

As previously mentioned, prices for the World Time watches start at $150 for the white or black plastic bands, $165 for the leather band and $195 for the stainless steel version. The entire assortment of Phosphor E Ink watches can be found at Phosphorwatches.com.

American Airlines launches Android mobile app

by Scott Carmichael on

Last night, American Airlines launched their first Android mobile app. Like most other airline apps, this one is a real one-stop-shopping stop for everything AA.

Inside the app, you’ll find your reservations, mobile boarding pass, flight schedules, flight status and a special version of AA Sudoku. Yeah, we’re not entirely sure what Sudoku is doing there, but it is a nice bonus.

Hidden under the “more options” button are 11 other handy flight features – terminal maps for six hubs, Admirals Club pass purchase link, trip locator, phone and web links and more.

The app is well designed, and (so far) without any bugs or other issues.

You’ll find this (free) app in the Android Market on your phone, or in the web based Market. A similar app has been available for the iPhone for some time now, and is available in the App Store.

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Google Translate for the iPhone arrives in the App store

by Scott Carmichael on

Google Translate voor de iPhone is nu beschikbaar in the App Store! Android users have had access to Google Translate in an app for some time, but they now get to share the fun with iOS users.

Google Translate is by far one of the best translation apps available for any mobile device, and offers translations in 65 different languages, 24 of which come with speech recognition.

Translation results can be shown full screen when you rotate your phone, which is perfect for showing someone what you are trying to say. The app stores your translation results (and lets you clear them) and you can “star” frequently used translations.

Since all the translation work is done online, you will need a data plan to use – which makes international usage quite expensive. I’d recommend doing text only when you are on roaming data to reduce costs.

The app is free of charge, and can be found on your device in the App Store, or though this link.

Review: Cell Drive pocket battery pack + built in storage

by Scott Carmichael on

In this review we’ll take a closer look at the Cell Drive. Cell Drive is a product that took me entirely by surprise, thanks to its 4-in-1 feature lineup. Inside Cell Drive is a 400mAh battery pack, 4GB of memory, an inline syncing option and a universal charging option.

The Cell Drive itself is only a bit bigger than your average USB memory drive, but with this single gadget, you can keep your mobile devices charged, carry important files and sync your phone.

The product has three different plugs – one regular USB jack for charging the battery and accessing the internal memory drive. One for plugging into MiniUSB devices (or others when used with an adapter plug) and a universal power jack (as seen above).

Included with the Cell Drive is a carrying pouch, protective caps and power plugs for MicroUSB and Apple devices. When used with the power tips, you can only charge – not sync. Additional plugs are available that turn the MiniUSB into other plugs, which enables the ability to sync and charge.

Three LED’s show the battery charging status, and a switch lets you charge phones that require special charging circuitry.

After several weeks on the road with the Cell Drive I have to admit that it really is a smart little product. The internal battery pack may not be enough to fully charge your phone, but it’ll certainly power it long enough to make a couple of phone calls or to check your email. It is compact, and the price is low enough that it is easy to justify as one of those “must carry” gadgets. With its internal memory, you can carry (encrypted) copies of important files, or scans of your passport or other documents.

Cell Drive is available with 4GB and 8GB of storage space. The 4GB version retails for $49.95 and the 8GB is $59.95. They are available directly from the retailer or from Amazon.com.