The pocket translator goes mobile

by Jeremy Kressmann on

One of the more difficult parts of my trip to Russia last year was the language barrier. Aside from having to navigate a whole new alphabet, it was difficult at times to find anyone that understood English. I frequently found myself pointing and gesturing or making use of a few phrases of poorly pronounced Russian I had picked up from my guidebook. That’s why I was excited to hear about Steape, a Dutch company that produces a line of language dictionaries and phrasebooks you can download to your mobile phone.

According to the Steape website, the company offers two main products, Steape Travel and Steape Mini Speaking Dictionary. Steape Travel offers a catalog of around 100 commonly used travel phrases, whereas the Mini Speaking Dictionary offers a database of around 500 traveler-friendly words. Both can be purchased on the Steape site for only $4 each. If you purchase Steape Travel or Mini Speaking Dictionary, you’ll also get Steape Knowledge as a free bonus, which has basic vocabulary like numbers and days of the week. The interface for each application works basically the same way – you search for a word or phrase you want to use and press the action key to have it pronounced using your phone’s speaker.

Currently, the applications are supported on more than 160 phone models and in 17 different languages. Check out the site to verify compatibility for your particular phone model and language needs. For only $4, Steape seems to have a cheap and highly useful application on their hands. Then again, as Jamie suggested recently in her post, there are “alternative” methods to help you learn foreign language phrases for your next trip.

[Via: Xellular Identity]

Your new travel stereo system

by Jeremy Kressmann on

Music is absolutely essential to me when I travel. I find it hard to leave my house, let alone the country, without my trusty iPod and headphones in hand. Listening through headphones suits me just fine for those long plane rides, bus trips and other solitary moments. But what about when you’re traveling with others and you want to share your music? After a long day walking around, there’s nothing better than pouring a few cocktails while you listen to your favorite playlist.

For many people, the answer to the portable music dilemma is a pair of travel-size speakers like the ones found here. However, the sound quality you get from these units is sub-par at best. Not to mention the fact that you have to carry them around with you in your luggage and many require batteries that suck up power like it was going out of style.

For the optimum in portability, good sound and low price, go buy yourself a RCA to 1/8″ stereo cable. This particular cable, which can usually be purchased for less than $10, plugs easily into the headphone jack of your favorite music player and connects to the back of stereo systems worldwide. In a pinch you can also plug this cable into many hotel television sets too. For those not technically inclined, the “RCA” connections are the red, yellow and white colored holes on the back of your favorite electronic device. The cable you want is the “stereo” version with two RCA-style plugs on one end and headphone (1/8″) plug on the other. When you add your cable, match up the plug colors to the connections and then check the “input” settings for your stereo/TV – flip between a few of the A/V channels and you’ll usually find it. That’s it – now add your favorite MP3, CD or Minidisc player and you’ve got an instant party. Happy listening!

Credit card fees: Purchases overseas will cost you; know how much before you travel

by Jeffrey White on

I’m sitting right now at the spanking new airport in Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro, having just finished a simple breakfast and a cup of coffee for which I paid with credit card.

Credit cards are growing more accepted in an increasing number of countries around the world (though, strangely, not in Germany, the world’s third largest economy). More than ever before, you can reach for the plastic to cover pretty much all of your foreign purchases, not only in well-heeled tourist haunts like Rome and Paris, but in the darker corners of eastern Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, to name a few. This is a nice option for those averse to carrying large amounts of foreign currency in their pockets while traveling.

Of course, CCs will hit you with a fee for every international purchase you make (some — like Bank of America — in the form of a specific line item on your monthly billing statement, others worked into the exchange rate you’re given on the purchase itself).

Just how much varies with the card policy and the card’s issuing bank. Typically it hovers around 3 percent, with the Visa, Mastercard et. al. taking maybe taking 1 percent of that and the issuing bank the rest.

It’s a good idea to know what your card policy for international purchases before you head overseas, so you’re not surprised when the monthly bill comes, and because, if you’re a frequent traveler, you can shop around for a card offering a better fee structure.

Want to know how your card stacks up? This is a good comparison chart offered at Bankrate.com that was accurate through December 2007. You can also call your credit card company directly and get more updated rates.

Fuel surcharges: Royal Caribbean, Celebrity cruise lines to give refund to passengers

by Jeffrey White on

Did you book a cruise on Royal Caribbean or Celebrity before Nov. 16? If so, you’re getting some money back.

On a day that saw more news of soaring oil prices, the two major cruise lines voluntarily settled with passengers and agreed to refund $21 million in fuel surcharges, the Florida Attorney General’s office said yesterday.

The agreement came after a probe by the AG’s Economic Crimes Division, which began investigating the pricing disclosure policies of cruise lines after hundreds of customers filed official complaints that they were charged fuel surcharges retroactively after they had made their bookings and, in some cases, their initial deposit, according to a report in the Orlando Business Journal.

The AG said the surcharges were not properly disclosed. Authorities also looked into whether those charges violated a 1997 agreement among major cruise lines where they vowed not to add additional fees beyond advertised cruise fares in an effort to make prices easier for consumers to compare, the Journal said.

“This resolution will serve as a model for the rest of the cruise line industry, and I expect the other companies to take this example and follow suit,” Florida AG Bill McCollum said in a news release.

Any guest who booked on these two cruise lines before Nov. 16 will get the refund. Those consumers who have already sailed will get the refund for the full amount of the fuel surcharge in the form of a payment. Those who have not yet sailed will get the refund in the form of an onboard credit voucher, the Journal said.

The two cruise companies are said to be contacting eligible customers directly, and must report back to the AG in a month.

Tired of removing your laptop at airport security? TSA is looking into solutions

by Jeffrey White on

Are you sick of having to take your laptop out of its case every time you pass through airport security? Apparently, the Transportation Security Administration is sick of it, too — or at least tired of how this ritual is slowing down screening lines.

The TSA is busy soliciting prototypes for laptop bags that would be able to pass through X-ray with the laptop still inside. The plan is to begin testing these bags in June with the aim of rolling out a TSA-compliant model soon thereafter.

What would the bag look like? It’s unclear, though USA Today floats one idea: A bag that looks like a large book, with the laptop fastened to one side when opened and gear fastened to the other (though this still sounds to me like you’d at least have to open the bag, if not remove the laptop). Maybe there is a line of clear bags in the offing, like the ones that popped up in high schools after Columbine, to make viewing what’s inside easier.

Whatever bag companies come up with, TSA-approved bags are likely to have a few identifying features that screeners can spot, allowing the bag to go right onto the X-ray conveyor. (Right now, you have to remove your laptop because it is too difficult for X-rays to see through them and catch what else might be in your bag.)

Clearly there would be a huge market for this, as it’s hard to imagine frequent travelers (the vast majority traveling with laptops) not shelling out for a bag that is pre-approved by the TSA. But then again, who knows how much of an inconvenience travelers really see in removing their computers.

Blogger Andrew B. Einhorn over at OhMyGov has to be joking when he says that removing laptops is the most time-consuming requirement in security lines. Removing shoes and belts is far more cumbersome, in my view.

What do you think? Does removing your laptop each time through security annoy you? Let us know.