GadlingTV’s Travel Talk 012: Trains, planes, & mergers! Behind the scenes at Southwest Airlines, Gowalla & Gadling in Austin + a brand new GIVEAWAY!!

by Stephen Greenwood on

GadlingTV’s Travel Talk, episode 12 – Click above to watch video after the jump
Well, we’ve been bouncing around the country this week and have got a great show to prove it! From Dallas, Texas to Austin, Texas and finally Portland, Oregon – we’ll take you behind the scenes at Love Field Airport and the operational headquarters of Southwest Airlines!

In the news this week: United & Continental’s big merger, a new train makes tracks in a forbidden country, we look into the biggest World Expo in history, and find out why your toothpaste may once again be safe while traveling through Europe.

We get the inside scoop on Austin-based tech startup Gowalla, and catch up with Gadling crew for a day out on the town. Last but not least, we’re GIVING AWAY TWO FREE TICKETS on Virgin America!! Watch to the end to find out how to enter!!

Tune in next week for our full Portland, Oregon special!

If you have any questions or comments about Travel Talk, you can email us at talk AT gadling DOT com.

Subscribe via iTunes:
[iTunes] Subscribe to the Show directly in iTunes (M4V).
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Links
Get the official scoop on the United/Continental merger.
U.S State Department’s guidelines for visiting North Korea.
Must Watch!! The Vice Guide to North Korea. An in-depth look at DPRK guided tours.
Going to the World Expo 2010? Download and print this form and read these instructions.
More Shanghai World Expo 2010 photos!

Contest:
We’re giving away two free tickets on Virgin America!

To enter, join our Facebook group and send us an email, telling us 1) where you would go 2) what you would do there 3) who you would take.

At the end of May, one lucky winner will be randomly selected from our inbox. So, get your friends to submit to increase your chances!!


Hosts: Stephen Greenwood, Aaron Murphy-Crews, Drew Mylrea
Special Guest: Jonathan Carroll, Jeremy Kressman.


Produced, Edited, and Directed by: Stephen Greenwood, Aaron Murphy-Crews, Drew Mylrea

Update **The current video has been revised from it’s original version at the request of Southwest airlines. We were given a sneak peak at the TSA’s baggage screening room and filmed bags being opened, which presented privacy concerns. That footage, as well as a mention of Southwest’s mechanical practices – has been removed.



Music by:
“Hraka”
Finn Riggins
myspace.com/finnriggins



All other music used in partnership with nonstopmusic.com

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

by Scott Carmichael on

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.

Just Mobile Gum Plus battery backup pack review

by Scott Carmichael on

Here on Gadling you may have noticed a trend in my reviews – I have a strange addiction to anything that can power my gadgets. This addiction comes from sad memories of dead gadgets, and being “on the road” with a bunch of products with “low battery” messages. So, hence the abundance of products that can keep things powered. In today’s review, I’ll introduce you to the “Just Mobile Gum Plus”. Yes – the name is rather weird, because there is very little about this product that resembles gum.

The Gum Plus is an external battery pack – but unlike some of the others that paid Gadling a visit, this one excels in capacity and good looks. Inside the Gum Plus is a 4,400 mAH battery – more about that later. The good looks come from some polished aluminum, not unlike that found on Apple laptops.
The Gum Plus has just one button, five LED lights and two power ports. The button has a single function – to show the battery status. The five LED’s show charging status when plugged in. One of the power ports is the input, the other is the output – it doesn’t get much simpler than that.

Included in the box of the Gum Plus is a carrying case, an iPod/iPhone charging cable and a MiniUSB device cable, which doubles as a charger cord for the battery pack itself. To charge, you simply plug the unit into any USB port or USB power source. This can be a PC, laptop, wall USB charger or even a car USB port.

Given the high capacity of this battery pack, it takes a couple of hours to reach a full charge, but this speed obviously depends on the performance of the power source as well.

As I mentioned in the opening, the Gum Plus has a 4,400 mAH battery pack. What this means in real life is that most gadgets will get up to four full charges when hooked up to the unit. This is a huge advantage over most other chargers, which usually offer just half of this (the highest we reviewed here on Gadling was the 6000 mAH Zagg Sparq).

The output capacity of the Gum Plus is 5 Volts/1 Amp – which means it can charge an iPhone at “full speed”, unlike some other chargers that can only power it, and not charge.

The Gum Plus retails for $69.99 – which is very much in line with the retail price of many other battery packs – despite offering a much higher capacity. Unfortunately, the unit does not come with its own AC or car chargers, which would have made it an even better deal (but would probably have raised its price).

All in all there is little more to add about this product – in my tests, it performed exactly as it should, the design is nice and sleek, and the internal battery really did keep my phone going in line with its rated capacity.

The target audience for products like this is obviously anyone who may be away from a regular power outlet. The Gum Plus can keep an iPhone or iPod Touch playing video or music for an entire long haul flight, and can power a Blackberry or Android phone for 3 or 4 times its normal battery life. If you usually get 2 full days from your phone battery, the Gum Plus may be able to extend that to a full week.

You’ll find more information about the Gum Plus on the web site of Just Mobile, where you’ll also find a retailer locator.

Could Apple fix airports?

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Maybe this is exactly what we needed – someone from outside the aviation industry to fix it. With Apple‘s latest patent, iTravel, the company stands to make some cash on mobile payments and paperless ticketing, and it could alleviate the bottlenecks we rush into at so many points while traveling. New regs look like they’ll yield a substantial paperless boarding pass/check-in market, according to a post on SocialTimes, and Apple wants a big piece of it. Hell, Apple probably wants all of it – who could blame them?

Now, it appears there’s potential beyond merely taking paper out of tickets and boarding passes. Other reservations and rentals could be brought into the system, using an approach similar to the iPhone-based payment system adopted by Starbucks. The possibilities are endless, as suggested by the hypothetical proposed on SocialTimes:

Imagine this scenario: you visit an iTravel-enabled website (or via your iPhone), book a vacation package including hotel and car rental, with details downloadable to your iPhone, which in turn triggers information for the NFC chip. A barcode or QR code on your iPhone, displayed by the iTravel app, is scanned for your airplane boarding pass. You can check in your luggage yourself, at a special unmanned kiosk, and claim your luggage on arrival at a similar kiosk, thereby reducing wait times at carousels. You arrive at your hotel without manually checking in, go straight up to your room and wave your NFC-enabled phone near the NFC-enabled security plate, and voila, your door opens. Later, when you go to the check-in desk to ask about restaurants, your iPhone gets a push notification to join an ad hoc network (courtesy of Apple’s iGroups patent) which lets you see if any contacts you know might be nearby. You also get access to special coupon offers for transportation, if you decided not rent a car. You might even potentially be able to pay transit fees with your phone – something trialled successfully in various places around the world.

Apple may not own the travel market yet, but it certainly has the potential to seize a decent portion of it. If Apple were to launch an online travel agency and integrate it with a variety of device-driven services that make lines shorter and reduce frustration, it would be an unstoppable force in this business. To see how Apple could change the business, go visit your local Tower Records. Oh, right …

Review: Novothink Surge solar charging case for the iPhone

by Scott Carmichael on

What better way to introduce your iPhone to Earth Day than to outfit it with a charging case that harnesses the power of the sun to keep it powered? The Novothink Surge is the first iPhone case to be officially certified by Apple.

The case has several handy features – a built in 1350mAH li-ion battery pack, large solar panel, battery status indicator and an optional app to calculate the required amount of sun for a charge.

Using the case is as simple as can be – you slide your phone into the Surge, and let the sun do its work. The four LED indicators show battery charge status, but most importantly – they also show whether the solar panels are doing their job. Out in the bright sun, the lights turn red, which means you can actually see whether it works (or not).

The Novothink application is quite smart – you tell it how much you plan to use your phone, and whether it is in direct sunlight or overcast – and the app tells you how long it’ll need to be charged using the solar panels. For a full charge, you’ll need about 9 hours of direct sunlight, but you can get away with an hour or two if you just need to do some browsing.

Of course, you can still charge your device using your computer or USB charger, thanks to the included MiniUSB cable. Best of all – this cable also syncs your device. Openings on the front of the Surge keep your speaker and microphone working.

The Novothink Surge is available in black and white and costs $79.95. An iPod Touch version is also available (for $69.95).

Not much more to add about this product – it works exactly as promised, has a battery capable of fully recharging your device, and a solar panel with enough power to bring the internal batteries back to 100% in a day.

If you have sun, but no outlet, this is a reliable way to keep your device working. Even though the case is well built, you won’t be buying it for its looks; it makes your phone look huge, and certainly isn’t the prettiest thing out there – but at the end of the day, being able to check your email is probably more important than looking good.

You’ll find the Novothink Surge case at the Novothink web site.