Gadling Review: Traveldodo mobile city guides

by Jeremy Kressmann on

We like to play around with mobile phones here at Gadling. They’re becoming one of the more invaluable tools for the on-the-go traveler, both domestically and abroad. Recently we were introduced to a website called Traveldodo, an online travel review site that offers an extensive selection of free mobile travel guides for cities across Europe.

Free mobile guides you say? We decided to take Traveldodo’s suggestion, download a free mobile guide to Barcelona and see for ourselves how it worked. Here’s a quick overview:

  • Extensive selection – Traveldodo offers city guides for more than 100 cities across Europe, including everything from Barcelona to Reykjavik to Istanbul
  • Free Download – the guides are free to download and don’t require a wireless connection to read. You will however pay a charge from your wireless carrier (typically around $1-2 depending on your carrier) if you don’t have a data plan. Take note.
  • City Info – the info within Traveldodo’s guides covers Things to do, Food and drinks, Places to sleep, City info, and Country info, as well as a special section where users can submit their own tips for inclusion in future versions.
  • Compatibility – the guides are designed to work with lots of different phones, meaning you don’t need an iPhone in order for it to work. Traveldodo claims most phones after 2006 to be compatible.

Overall, we like Traveldodo’s concept and their utility, though the guides themselves still have some rough spots. Downloading was easy enough – users simply point their browser at the address of their desired city listed here. Despite two tries we could not get the app to work on a Blackberry, which was a troubling sign, but did get the Barcelona guide downloaded on a Sony Ericsson device.

Having visited Barcelona a few times, we took a look through the guide’s listing of Things to do, Food and drinks and City info. The information was certainly useful, though frequent travelers might find it to be a bit basic. One feature that was particularly interesting was the Submit Do/Don’t, which allows users to add their own tips to Traveldodo’s database by email or SMS. This collaborative feature, along with the app’s free download price and extensive range of cities make Traveldodo mobile city guides worth a second look. Check one out if you’re heading to Europe anytime soon.

Ryanair introduces in-air mobile phone calls on select routes

by Scott Carmichael on

Last year, Ryanair optimistically announced that they were just “weeks” away from launching their in-air mobile phone and data service.

It took a little longer than planned, but the first 20 planes are now equipped with the gear needed to let passengers annoy their fellow passengers with their mindnumming phone conversations.

The 20 planes are all on routes to and from Dublin, and the service allows passengers to make and receive phone calls, send and receive text messages, and transmit data.

Thankfully, the in-air prices are so high, that most people will probably keep their calls to a simple “hi mom, I’m in the air”.

Calls will cost between €2 and €3 per minute, and data is a staggering €1.50 per 100KB (about the size of a basic email). For comparison – a 3 hour broadband WiFi session on Virgin America costs under $10.

Of course, the whole thing is rather ironic, since we have been told for years that keeping your phone on may result in the plane crashing and killing everyone. That was of course until the airlines learned they could make money off your calls. Then it was suddenly no problem.

Jeffrey covered a different angle of in-flight mobile phones today; the mobile phone in the cockpit. Of course, the issue here is not interference from signals, but the interference from a ringing phone during critical portions of the flight.

I’m pretty much addicted to my mobile phone, but even I think filling a low cost carrier plane with 100 chatting passengers will eventually result in someone having to have their mobile phone surgically removed.

A guidebook to New York Hip-Hop (Remixed)

by Jeremy Kressmann on

Though New York has given birth to any number of musical movements, it’s only the last 30 years that have given rise to Hip-Hop, arguably one of the more defining cultural movements of the late 20th and early 21st Century. Though Hip-Hop is alive and well in New York City, it’s not necessarily something that’s easy to pinpoint on a map for out-of-town visitors, especially not like the Empire State Building or Central Park.

Yet a new interactive online database, called Bronx Rhymes, promises to challenge this assumption. The new project takes a closer look at the Bronx, the Borough best known for jumpstarting the movement, categorizing some of the most famous places and people on an interactive map. A corresponding poster has been placed at the physical location of each map point in the Bronx, offering details of what happened there. Visitors can respond to the poster with their mobile phone by SMS, offering a comment on what they’ve read or providing a hip-hop “rhyme” of their own for inclusion in a database.

Anyone interested in learning more about hip-hop luminaries like Afrika Bambaataa, DJ Kool Herc or KRS-One can find the artists’ entries listed on the website, along with the text message comments of anyone who’s contributed. For instance, an entry for DJ Kool Herc reads, “he was kool like a king threw one two punches in the hip hop ring.” It’s an interesting and participatory approach to creating a tour guide, one that is just as dependent on the input of the visitors as it is on the project’s original designers. It works especially well for Hip-Hop, a movement that is highly dependent on the remixing and blending of sounds and voices for inspiration. And with high-powered mobile phones and Google Maps becoming ever-more pervasive, we can expect to see more of these type of tourist mash-ups coming soon to a vacation hotspot near you.

[Via PSFK]

Rentobile lets you rent the hottest mobile phones

by Scott Carmichael on

When it comes to mobile phones, there really are only 2 kinds of users – those that buy a phone and use it until the tape holding it together finally gives up, and those that consider their phone to be part of their fashion ensemble, requiring a new phone every 2 months.

Sadly I have to admit that I’m one of the latter – I’ll swap my phone out for a new one in anything from 2 weeks to 2 months, but rarely will I be happy with my purchase for more than a couple of months. Not because the phone sucks, but because the damn phone companies keep releasing something newer (and better) at a frantic rate.

Of course, this silly hobby is quite expensive, so when I came across Rentobile, I couldn’t help wonder whether they have finally cracked the code to keeping us phone freaks happy (and solvent).

Rentobile appears to be Netflix for phone lovers. You add a phone to your wishlist, and when one becomes available, they’ll ship it to you. You then continue to use it until you are bored with it, or until the next best super phone pops up on their site.

Rental rates are between $20 and $50 a month, and their lineup includes top sellers like the T-Mobile G1, the Blackberry Bold and Storm smartphones and the Verizon Touch Pro.

Rental rates are different for members and non members. For example; the Nokia N95 costs $42 per month for non members, or $28 per month for members. Membership starts at $5 per month when prepaid for an entire year.

The site itself could use a little polishing, and most of the bestselling phones are currently “not available”, but the concept seems brilliant so I wish them all the luck in the world in making this a huge success.

(Via Engadget Mobile)

The Gadling Top 10 Top 10 lineup of 2008

by Scott Carmichael on

Can you believe that the year is almost over? When I saw the first Christmas items pop up at my local Costco back in September, the Holiday season seemed so far away.

But now, with less than 2 weeks left in the year, it is time to slowly start looking back at some of the best Gadling had to offer in 2008.

So, please let me present (in chronological order), the top 10 of top 10’s posted here in 2008:

In January, Neil posted about the 10 most common cities where Americans are arrested. Number 10 is Hong Kong, but you’ll need to visit the top 10 to see where in the world Americans seem to misbehave the most.

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If you like travel and food, then this list by Iva mentions the top 10 foodie destinations. You’ll read where the best food is, and what is on the must eat list when you travel abroad.

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New York City has some of the worlds most impressive architecture, and this list by Anna talks about the top 10 must see building in the Big Apple.

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When you add the best roads in Europe, with motorcycles, then you end up with this list posted by Iva. The list mentions the best 10 roads to enjoy on your bike.

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British band Scouting For Girls had a big hit this year with “I wish I was James Bond“. If you share their wish to be the British Spy for a day, then this list of the 10 best Bond locations is a must-read. It’ll even tell you where you can find the Goldeneye hotel, which is the Jamaican location where Ian Fleming wrote most of his novels.

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Do you still book your trips using a travel agent? Chances are you might not be getting your moneys worth. Back in June, Aaron posted a list of the top 10 signs you have a bad travel agent. Don’t worry though, the list was written by David Letterman, and has some hilarious entries like “Your plane ticket is a post-it note”.

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This top 10 list was one of my favorites of the year – Annie dug up 10 of the most stupid laws you’ll find around the world. Thanks to the list, I learned that I can no longer be drunk in Scotland while in possession of a cow. If her top 10 wasn’t enough to entertain you, she added another 10 to the list in her followup post.

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In October I wrote down my top 10 ways to make cheaper phone calls when you are abroad. In the list, you’ll find tips like using a Blackberry to make free calls, or when to use prepaid mobile phone cards.

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Karen assembled this awesome list of the top 10 things you must pack before you go abroad. It is a must-read if you are leaving the country, and has some great tips, including my favorite – “an open mind”.

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And finally, in December I decided to vent, and list the top 10 things I hate about staying at a hotel. Check out my list, and decide for yourself whether hotels suck, or whether I am just a chronic complainer.

So there you have it. The top 10 top 10’s from 2008. If you have any suggestions for a new top 10 list, feel free to leave a comment below!