Do you suffer from nomophobia?

by Scott Carmichael on

Hot off the heels of my article yesterday in which I reported that 35% of those interviewed would pick their phone over their spouse, I was listening to the BBC this morning and heard about a new phobia called “nomophobia”.

Nomophoiba is the fear of being without your mobile phone. (No Mobile Phobia). Apparently some of us are now so scared to be anywhere without our phone that it can give us jitters that are “on par with going to the dentist”.

According to a study commissioned by the Post Office in the UK, 53% of people feel nervous when they are unable to stay in touch, either because they left their phone at home, lost their phone, are outside the network coverage area or because they ran out of call credit on their prepaid phone service.

While I should be laughing at this study, it actually does make more sense than you’d think; the mobile phone has become an integral part of our lives. In the past, we could walk up to a payphone or simply wait a few hours, but the urge to stay in touch with others has become so great that I’m probably a nomophobe myself. Great. I wonder if my health insurance covers this?

So, let me ask you; do you suffer from nomophobia?

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5 steps to smarter packing

Garmin Nuviphone delayed till mid 2009

by Scott Carmichael on

Back in January, Garmin announced their first combination of a GPS unit and mobile phone called the Nuviphone.

The Nuviphone was originally slated for Q3 of this year, but this morning, Garmin announced that things were delayed till the first half of 2009 due to “carrier requirements”.

While this delay may seem like bad news, it is actually not all doom and gloom. Having to make changes for mobile phone carriers means there is clearly significant interest in it from the mobile operators which means you should be able to buy the phone directly from your phone company, with a significant discount.

This 3G enabled phone will come preloaded with maps of the US or Europe and even allows you to do online Google searches from inside the map application. By combining a phone and a GPS unit, the Nuviphone also provides online access to gas prices, local weather reports, sports scores and real-time traffic.

In coming years, I’m sure we’ll see more GPS units become connected to the Internet. Magellan are working on one and the Dash Express has been available for several months. As more and more mobile phones add GPS, we’ll see more and more GPS units add a phone. The ability to do an online search for something directly on your GPS unit, is a very powerful feature.

Affordable phone rentals in China with Yoyoor

by Scott Carmichael on

If you are planning to travel to China, then this new service from mobile company Yoyoor sounds like it is worth checking out.

Yoyoor provides rental phone services, and while they are certainly not alone in that segment, their product is quite different from most others.

For just $3.99 a day, you get a GPS enabled Nokia 6110 smartphone with English language maps of China, live personal assistance, emergency support, real time text messaging help from Yoyoor staff and unlimited email/Internet access.

The per-minute calling rate of the phone makes the package even better; calls from China to the US are just $0.60 per minute, with free incoming calls and $0.20 local calls. This rate is a whopping 5 times cheaper than AT&T or T-mobile. Text messages cost $0.20 to send and $0.02 to receive. The free Internet access service will save you even more as AT&T normally charge $19.50 per MB in China.

The English speaking concierge service is preprogrammed on the phone and can provide restaurant recommendations, help with transportation questions and provide language assistance. Calls to the Yoyoor concierge service cost $1 per call plus the airtime charge ($0.20 per minute).

The phone can be reserved online, at one of the Yoyoor aiport desks or through the Yoyoor call center. Yoyoor have rental desks at Beijing and Shanghai international airports.

When you make a reservation, Yoyoor will authorize your credit card for $500, which is the average amount for mobile phone rentals. Once the phone has been returned, that amount will be released back to you.

Returning the phone is easy and can be done at the airport desks, through a courier service in China or by sending it back to their US offices once you get home.

With thousands of US tourists traveling to China for the Olympics, I’m sure Yoyoor will appeal to many people who have never been there, and who could do with a little extra help from the maps and concierge service.

Phone safety tips – safeguarding your phone on a trip

by Scott Carmichael on

If you plan to take your phone abroad, please take a moment to read through these tips on safeguarding your phone and your data. Back in January a member of the UK government lost his Blackberry during a trip to China. Of course, with a device like that there are all kinds of security risks. But even if you are not a senior government official, it is important to protect your phone.

I’ve put together a couple of simple ways you can stay safe, plus some information on what to do if your device does go missing.


Don’t show off your phone.

The iPhone and most Blackberry models rank up there with that well known Cola brand in the red can; everyone recognizes it. Sadly, not everyone around you will be as good natured as yourself, so don’t flash your phone around too much. If possible, put it in a nondescript case so you don’t tell the world you have an expensive phone. Don’t forget that those white iPod headphones can also be recognized by anyone. Replace them with something less recognizable and you won’t stand out too much.

Leave your phone at the hotel and carry a cheaper model.

If at all possible, leave your phone at the hotel, and carry a cheap disposable phone. Your Blackberry, iPhone or other smartphone is always going to be attractive to thieves, but if you carry an ugly $50 phone, nobody will think of stealing it (hopefully).

Know who to call.

If disaster does strike, and someone runs off with your phone, do you know who to call? If your phone is stolen or missing, don’t assume it’ll be OK, and don’t think you can take care of things when you get back home. Call your operator immediately. When someone steals your phone, the first thing you’ll want to do is block the account to prevent it from ending up being used by 100 people at the local phone store to make international calls.

Since some countries block access to US toll free numbers, you’ll need to use the international customer service number for your operator. In some cases, if the call is about a stolen phone, you can ask the customer service representative to call you back, or even use collect call to contact them.

  • AT&T Wireless: 1-916-846-4685
  • T-Mobile: 1-505-998-3793
  • Verizon Wireless: 1-908-559-4899
  • Sprint: 1-817-698-4199 (Sprint also have several toll free international access numbers here)

Password protection is your friend – use it!

Pick up your phone right now, and read through all your emails, text messages, notes and contacts. Now picture all of that information being handed over to a complete stranger. That is what happens if someone steals your device. Everything you have stored on the phone will land in the hands of someone else.

If you must use email on your device, make sure it is not using the same email account you use for banking, Paypal, Ebay or anything else important. If someone steals your phone while it is set to receive your primary emails, then they could gain access to all your personal information and bank accounts in a matter of minutes.
Some devices have the ability to be remotely locked, if you have a company phone with this option, be sure to carry the number of your IT department so they can assist you.

Always enable the password protection feature of your phone. I’m fully aware that it is a hassle to have to enter the password every time you want to use your device, but it really is the only way to safeguard your data. If someone does make off with your phone, you’ll at least feel safer knowing that there is no way for them to make things worse.

Gadling’s guide to GPS and location based services

by Jeremy Kressmann on

Traveling for me evokes memories of ancient explorers, navigating across vast oceans with only a sextant and the light of the stars and moon. Or the arduous journey of Lewis and Clark as they mapped a slow path across the great wilderness of the Louisiana Purchase. We’ve certainly come a long way since then in terms of navigation – in fact the now-ubiquitous availability of handheld GPS units and Google Maps has made finding your way around in unknown places a cinch.

But in fact, GPS and Google Maps is only the beginning. As we saw with yesterday’s new 3G iPhone with built-in GPS, we’re in the midst of a new era of “location aware devices.” This includes everything from from cameras with geotagging to “location-aware” mobile phones which promise to revolutionize the way we travel and gather information for our trips. Follow along and we’ll take you through Gadling’s guide to GPS and location based services.

Mobile Phones and Location Based Services
A whole range of mobile devices are now on the market that can pinpoint your exact location. Companies like Blackberry, Nokia, Motorola and Apple all make devices which can access this information over the network. This has enabled a huge range of new ways to use your phone, from getting turn-by-turn driving directions to more advanced applications that combine the power of social networks with your location. Services like Where and Socialight not only know where you are, they also let you access location-specific “tags” left by other users in popular locations. Want to know the best place to grab a drink when most bars close at 11pm in London? Find the closest late-night pub by subscribing to Socialight’s “Late London” channel. Looking for a place to cool off this summer in the Northeast United States? Check out the “Swimming holes” group. Drank too much coffee this morning? Better get MizPee. The best part of all this is that the recommendations are based on your location, so you can find the most interesting/useful spots closest to you relatively quickly – no guidebook required.


Geotagging and Photography
Not only does your mobile phone know where you are, your camera is also getting in on the act too. Tools like this Sony GPS unit let you add location data to your snapshots, providing a whole new dimension to your digital scrapbook. Perhaps you’re trying to track down that street in Austin where you took a photo of the great Mexican restaurant? Not a problem, just check out the location data embedded in your image and the next time you’re there, you can swing by for a few tacos. Even popular photo-sharing site Flickr has gotten in on the trend, allowing you to view maps of destinations with popular photos pinpointed to where they were taken. Interestingly enough, there are now even cameras on the market that have built-in GPS capabiltiies.

GPS Just for Fun
In addition to GPS-equipped phones and cameras, there are also plenty of other ways you can use GPS devices just for goofing around. Sony’s popular PlayStation Portable offers a GPS add-on, allowing you to access location data for some of your favorite games like Metal Gear Solid to unlock special bonus characters. And you’ve probably heard by now about the artwork people have been creating using GPS software. Even though the recent DHL piece proved to be a hoax, other copycats have already followed suit. Of course, no article about GPS would be complete without a mention of everyone’s favorite GPS activity, geocaching. If you want to take it step further, you might even use GPS to create a life-size game of Pac-Man for yourself. The possibilities are pretty endless.

Not only do these new location-aware devices services provide us with useful information, they promise to change the way we travel. We are no longer tied to the recommendations of guidebooks. We can call upon user-created information about places to make informed decisions about what to see and where to go. We can take a look at a tiny street in a far-away land, without ever having to step foot there. Or we can use these new services for just plain fun. As location-based devices and services become cheaper and more widespread, they can only serve to help us make more informed travel decisions in the future.