Smartphone Technology Getting Closer To What Travelers Want

by Chris Owen on

As smartphone technology continues to advance, travelers are being offered more connectivity choices. Making calls, sending text, voice or video messages and surfing the Internet is becoming commonplace almost anywhere on the planet. Now, pricing is coming in line too as service providers realize what it is we want when traveling.

“Our mission is for all travelers to have the freedom to use their mobile devices the same way as at home when traveling abroad, without having to worry about chokingly high mobile bills,” says Joacim Boivie, CEO and Founder, HolidayPhone, a leading solutions provider of roaming free mobile Internet, voice and text services for international travelers in a Breaking Travel News report.

Like Boingo, the worldwide connectivity company with over 700,000 Wi-Fi hot spots in over 100 countries, HolidayPhone also enables connection. Unlike Boingo, which automatically communicates then connects with local hot spots on your behalf, enabling connection using only an installed app, the HolidayPhone method is a twist on the SIM card pay-as-you-go trick that has travelers buying cards for each country they visit.Providing an easy, inexpensive way to call and access mobile Internet while abroad without roaming fees, HolidayPhone’s travel SIM cards are prepaid and sent in advance. Before departure, U.S. users forward calls to a provided U.S. landline number. On the plane, they insert the HolidayPhone SIM card in their smartphone. Landing at the destination, their phone is ready to use, at local rates.

Here is more on how HolidayPhone works:

Luxury Travel: Uber Launches UberCHOPPER, Hamptons Rides Just In Time For July Fourth

by McLean Robbins on

What says “patriotism” more than a long Fourth of July weekend in the Hamptons? For luxury seeking beachgoers, not much. Unless, of course, that beach trip comes with a private driver and a helicopter transfer.

Uber is launching a special UberCHOPPERS service exclusively on July 3, offering SUV service (for you and up to four friends) for transport to the helipad, to East Hampton, and on to your final destination. The cost? A cool $3,000 for the entire deal, all pre-paid via credit card, tips included. Considering a standard trip is around $3,500 on other charters, not including rides to and from the helipad, this is a good deal.

Should you prefer a slightly less pricey mode of transport, flat fare transport in Uber cars that seat between four and six cost between $300 and $500, depending on the level of service selected.

Additionally, Uber is running its network of cars all the way from Southampton to Montauk this July Fourth and during weekends this summer.

Yelp Maps Show Where To Find Hipsters, Cheap Eats

by Libby Zay on

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Yelp, the go-to place for restaurant reviews, is now mapping trending topics in major cities. By pulling frequently used keywords from reviews, data visualizations show where the dim sum hotspots are in San Francisco and where hipsters congregate in New York (Williamsburg is a big red cluster, go figure!).

At first the maps seem to do little besides confirming stereotypes. But for travelers exploring new cities, the tool could come in handy. Filter locations by “cheap” and find hotbeds of budget dining in Los Angeles. Or use “view” and “romantic” to locate a neighborhood with some ambiance in Philly. Other helpful keywords include “kosher,” “brunch” and “espresso.” Yelp’s World Map site currently covers 16 cities, mostly in the U.S.

[via Gizmodo]

Video: The North Pole: Where Exactly Is it?

by Elizabeth Seward on


Although you might not be planning a trip to the North Pole, it’s good to know that we don’t know exactly where it is. Well, it’s less like we don’t know where it is and more like where it is depends on what you care about. This handy video, which I found thanks to Laughing Squid, illustrates how the location of the North Pole changes depending on whether you think about it in terms of geographic, geomagnetic or magnetic terms. Henry Reich from MinutePhysics tackles this subject in the video and explains that each type of pole sits at a different place on our planet and their locations even within themselves are not fixed. Check out this video for a clear understanding of the location of the North (and South) Pole.

Explore The World’s Tallest Building In Google Street View

by Kraig Becker on

At 2722 feet in height, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai is the tallest building in the world and quite an impressive feat of modern engineering. Since its opening in 2010, the glass and metal spire has become an iconic structure, even managing to stand out in a city that is known for its over-the-top architecture. Most of us will probably never get an opportunity to see it in person, let alone step inside, but now, thanks to Google Street View, we can still explore the building in all of its glory.

Yesterday, Google added the Burj to the ever growing number of places that it has cataloged and put online as part of Street View. The building is the first ever skyscraper to make the cut and the first place in the Arab World to be added as well.

In order to capture the Burj for use in Street View, Google employees spent three days walking in and around the building while wearing the Trekker backpack. That device, which has been specially built for capturing places that the Street View cars can’t go, shoots 360° panoramic photos that are later incorporated into the system. In this case, it captured the view from the observation tower on the 124th floor as well as from the world’s highest swimming pool on the seventh floor, amongst various other locations throughout the building.

You can begin your exploration of the Burj by clicking here. But before you do, check out the video below that gives you a bit of a behind-the-scenes look at this amazing structure and the lengths Google had to go to capture it.