Gadling Gear Review: SuperTooth Disco Portal Speaker

by Kraig Becker on

One of the best things about carrying smartphones, tablets and laptops with us when we travel, is that we are also generally carrying our entire music libraries with us as well. The problem is, the speakers on those devices aren’t usually the best for enjoying that music and we don’t always want to wear headphones to get the best sound. Fortunately a number of companies now make excellent portable speaker systems that do offer great sound and are fun to take with us on the road.

One of those speaker systems is the Disco from SuperTooth, which can stream music from any device that supports Bluetooth 2.0 technology. Once paired with such a device, the Disco pumps out surprisingly loud and clear music, streaming audio, movie soundtracks or anything else that you can throw at it. I was impressed with how this relatively small device could fill a room with sound, serving up distinct highs and lows and clear vocals from a variety of sources.

While the Disco does included a standard wired audio port for devices that don’t use Bluetooth, the best way to connect is wirelessly of course. Pairing my iPhone and iPad with the Disco was simple and took just seconds and once they were connected, it was a breeze to stream my personal music library, as well as audio from Pandora, Stitcher Radio or any other app. It was a joy to listen to podcasts while wandering around my apartment and it was fun to use the speaker system as a mini-home theater while watching movies on my iPad too.All of that great sound comes courtesy of two 8-watt speakers and a 12-watt subwoofer, but the Disco is packing more than just a quality sound system. It also features a built-in rechargeable battery that allows you to take it with you just about anywhere. The tech specs say that the battery is good for anywhere from 3 to 10 hours, depending on volume, and in my testing I was routinely getting 8-9 hours on a moderate setting. That’s plenty of time for most single-day outings, but you’ll want to pack the charger along with you if you take it on a trip.

While I found the Disco to be a high quality product, with better sound than I was expecting, I do wish it were a bit more portable. It is slightly more than a foot in length and weighs in at 2.5 pounds. As someone who likes to travel light, that’s a bit on the heavy side for my liking. I love having it around the home and for day trips in town, but I’m not sure I’d want to add it to my suitcase or backpack when I’m heading out for a longer trip.

SuperTooth saw fit to include a speaker cable and a decent carrying case in the box, but I wouldn’t have minded having a remote control as well. While most of the time you’re controlling the music and volume from the phone itself, it would have been nice to be able to pause, skip tracks and control the bass booster from across the room too. Once you get accustomed to wirelessly controlling your audio, it is a bit jarring to have to cross the room to adjust a setting.

All of that said, this is one of the better portable Bluetooth speaker systems that I’ve come across, particularly for the money. The SuperTooth Disco carries an affordable price tag of just $149, which is actually a steal for a device with these features and high quality sound. In fact, I’ve used systems from competitors that cost much more but didn’t sound nearly as nice.

If you’re looking for a great way to wirelessly listen to your favorite music, podcasts and streaming audio, either at home or on the road, then the SuperTooth Disco is a great option. Simply put, you’ll have a very hard time finding anything else that sounds this good in the same price range.

In-Flight Cellphone Calls To Be Allowed On Virgin Atlantic Flights

by Meg Nesterov on

Passengers on Virgin Atlantic will soon be able to make in-flight cellphone calls, send texts and browse the web on their way home from Europe, it was just announced. The new service is part of the airline’s upgrade to the Airbus A330, which will also provide expanded in-flight entertainment, USB ports and a very spiffy upper class. Cellphone service will initially be available only on London to New York flights, but will be expanded to more cities by the year’s end. There are a lot of caveats, however: you’ll need to be on a Vodafone or O2 network, only 10 calls will be allowed at one time and service won’t be cheap. Calls will cost 1 GBP per minute and texts 20p each. You’ll also still need to turn off your devices for takeoff and landing, and turn them off within 250 miles of US airspace, so no flight-long games of Words With Friends.

Gadling readers: would you use this service? Do you think it’s any improvement over the old-school in-flight phones? Or will it just be another amazing innovation that no one appreciates?

[Photo courtesy Flickr user Highways Agency]

Luxury Hotel App: The Most Perfect View

by Jessica Festa on

Have you ever wished you could choose your hotel based on the view from the guestroom window? Now you can, with the The Most Perfect View.

Launched last October, the booking site allows travelers to browse over 250 properties – each with breathtaking views – across five continents. For example, searching the site’s hotels will show you Paris hotels with views of the Eiffel Tower, Venice hotels with rooms facing Venice’s lagoon and the Doge’s Palace and remote hotels in Africa where guests can watch herds of elephants.

“Most of the chosen views are already recognized as symbols of quality and luxury, and are strategically positioned in places of rare beauty,” explains the website’s creator, Paulo Palha, in a release.

To use The Most Perfect View, users do a search on the country of interest. From there, they can choose a hotel based on their favorite view. While the tool does overlap in certain ways with the hotel booking site Room 77, The Most Perfect View focuses more on view itself. For example, when searching for Venice, Italy, hotels, the only hotel information I am shown is the property’s name and a large, high resolution photo of the view from the room. Moreover, while Room 77 helps travelers find a great room in properties from 1 star and up, The Most Perfect View only lists handpicked 4 and 5 star properties with excellent window views.

This spring, The Most Perfect View will be launching a new website, with a more specified search engine. Users will be able to type “Eiffel Tower” or “Taj Mahal” and be instantly taken to corresponding hotels.

Solo Travel vs. Group Travel: How To Decide What’s Right For You

by Jessica Festa on

As someone who has been backpacking for five years, I’ve experienced the pros and pains of both solo travel and group travel. Personally, I enjoy traveling on my own, although I have had successful trips with others. If you’re trying to decide whether to go solo or recruit others, use these tips to help you decide.

The Benefits Of Solo Travel

Many of my friends often ask me, “Aren’t you scared of traveling to Country X all by yourself?” This question always amazes me, as it really is very easy to meet other travelers on the road. Of course, if you’re extremely shy and have anxiety going up to strangers, you may have more trouble; however, staying in hostels, booking day tours, taking public transportation, using money exchanges and participating in Couchsurfing message boards and meetups allows for easy socializing. What’s great about solo travel is you can choose when you want to be alone, and when you want to hangout with other people. It’s like being on a silent retreat and being able to really enjoy your own company and not feel pressure to always be having discussions. Moreover, there is nobody else to dictate your itinerary. For example, I once backpacked Europe with a girl who was extremely cheap, and wouldn’t splurge on any day trips or go to any bars or clubs. While walking around the free parks and doing the complimentary walking tours was nice, there was a lot more I wanted to do. I couldn’t, however, because she wanted us to do all our activities together. Thankfully we ended up parting ways, and it was at this time that I began to really experience Europe the way I wanted to.The Cons Of Solo Travel

Of course, traveling solo also means heightened uncertainty. While getting lost in a big city or getting on the wrong train can seem like an adventure when with friends, it can be nerve-wracking when you’re alone. It’s also nice to have someone to share the burden of making important decisions with you. If you make the wrong one, it’s less scary when you’re with someone else. Likewise, the road can get lonely at times. Even if you’re constantly meeting new people at your hostels and on tours, it can be nice to have a real travel partner to share the experience. And of course, there’s always safety in numbers. It’s good to have someone who can watch your stuff while you go to the bathroom, and look out for your safety in general.

The Pros Of Group Travel

Along with the above-mentioned safety in numbers and relief of stresses, the best part of group travel is it can be a lot of fun. Sharing all these unique, day-to-day experiences can help you become close with your travel companion(s), and can lead to a lot of great memories together. It also relieves the lonliness many solo backpackers feel on the road. Even when meeting other people along the way, there are often many goodbyes and loose connections. Traveling with someone else can help you feel like you have a real friend and ally with you. Furthermore, you never have to worry about going to the bar alone and feeling awkward or having nobody to talk to during an activity.

The Cons Of Group Travel

The main reason I dislike group travel is I don’t like other people dictating my itinerary. When traveling, there are certain experiences I want to have, and having other people there can cause you to have to give up things you want to do. Moreover, it can be frustrating at times needing to wait around for other people to get ready, get money, unlock their bank card, pick up their laundry or do any other of the little everyday hassles travelers face. Additionally, dealing with different budgets can be difficult, as you never want to be forced to spend more than you can afford, or miss out on things because of a cheap travel partner.

Choosing A Travel Partner

While I love solo travel, I have to admit group travel can be a lot of fun. With group travel, it’s important to find someone who is compatible as a travel partner. When envisioning your trip, is there a mix of alone time and group time, or do you always want to be with your companion(s)? Do you enjoy adventure activities, seeing tourist sites or simply relaxing? What’s your budget? Do you like staying in hostels or hotels? These are some of the questions you should ask before committing to traveling with someone. As mentioned previously, I traveled Europe with a girl who wanted to do everything together. For me, it was completely stifling. However, when backpacking Argentina, I traveled with a girl who was even more independent than I am. This allowed us to both enjoy the activities we liked doing without having to worry about hurting the others’ feelings. It was also comforting to know if I wanted to do something with a partner or go for a beer, I had someone there.

Technologies That Help You Find Travel Companions

Whether you decide to travel solo or with a partner, there are many technologies that make travel more social. For example, for solo travelers, sites like Couchsurfing, Tripping and TripTrotting connect travelers with locals. This allows you to hangout with someone for sightseeing, and also to get a local point of view on your trips. For travelers who would like a travel partner but don’t have any friends who can commit, sites like Globetrooper and FindMeetGo allow you to post trips and connect with potential travel partners.

Should You Sign Up For A Group Tour?

If you don’t want to travel alone, and you’re the type of person who likes plans to be guaranteed to run smoothly, you may think about booking a group tour. Although I enjoy solo travel, I’ve done tours with Intrepid Travel and GAdventures before, and have had great experiences. Their styles cater to my travel philosophy of trying to go local and get closer to a culture. Before booking a group tour with a company, make sure to look into the style of the organization and the trip itself. If you’re a luxury traveler, check to see what kinds of accommodations you’ll be staying in and restaurants you’ll be eating at. For those looking for adventure, check the itinerary to ensure you’ll get to do the types of activities you enjoy. If you like learning about culture, what ways does the tour ensure this will happen? As long as you do some research, and you’re the type of person who doesn’t mind having each day planned out, than a group tour can be a very enjoyable experience.

Gadling Gear Review: Western Digital My Book Live

by Kraig Becker on

The biggest buzz word in technology over the past year or two has been “cloud services” with a number of companies, including Apple, Microsoft and Google, all announcing options that allow us to store files onto a virtual drive that is available whenever and where ever we have an Internet connection. We even told you how cloud services will change the way that you travel in our recent “Travel Smarter” series, in which we took a look at some of the best cloud storage options available today. But if you don’t like the idea of your personal files being hosed on a server owned by a corporate tech giant or you simply need more storage than those companies are currently offering, you may be interested in Western Digital’s line of My Book Live hard drives. These nifty pieces of technology connect to your home network and provide personal cloud services while you’re at home and on the road.

Available in capacities ranging from 1 to 6 Terabytes, Western Digital has a My Book Live for all budgets and storage needs. These drives look like most others on the market although they do include an Ethernet port which allows you to connect it to your home network via a router. Configuration is a breeze, and Western Digital provides software for both Windows and Mac computers to walk you through the process. The only hiccup I experienced during the initial set-up was that in order to complete the installation I first needed to connect my laptop to the network via Ethernet as well. That allowed the two devices to more easily locate one another for the first time. After that, the full functionality of the My Drive Live was available whether I was connected by cable or wirelessly.

Once successfully configured, the drive will appear on your network and will be available for any computer to access. An easy-to-use suite of administrative tools allows you to control just who can gain access to the drive however and it is even possible to create unique folders for each individual. Western Digital has streamlined the whole process and within minutes you’ll have a fully functional network storage solution for backing up and storing your most important files.Of course, network storage isn’t really a new concept and what really sets the My Drive Live series apart from competitors is its ability to exist “in the cloud” as well. That means that even when you’re not at home you’ll still be able to access your files over the Internet. This is a great option for business travelers looking for a way to get to their important documents while on the road, but it can also be a lifesaver for other travelers as well. For instance, I’d recommend keeping a copy of your passport on the drive while traveling abroad and should something happen to your physical passport, you can get to the digital version quickly and easily. That same approach holds true for other travel documents, such as itineraries, invoices, airline tickets, insurance and so on.

As you would expect from a drive built by Western Digital, the hardware is solid, fast and responsive. But it is the software that comes with the drive that makes the “personal cloud” work so effectively. The included WD Quick View utility facilitates access from any computer and the WD 2go apps give you limited access to your files on an iPhone, iPad or Android device. Once installed, those free apps do allow you to browse photos, documents and music from your My Book Live, but you aren’t able to edit those files in any way, which can be a bit frustrating at times. At the very least I would have appreciated the ability to email those files to someone in a pinch, but in its current state the mobile apps are simply glorified file viewers.

I tested the 1 Terabyte version of the My Book Live, which provided more than enough storage for my needs. Multi-computer families may want to consider one of the larger versions of the of the device however, as multimedia files such as music, photos and video can eat up a lot of space very quickly. Additionally, the My Book can serve as a back-up drive for Windows PC’s and a Time Machine drive for Macs. When the computer and drive are on the same network, the back-up process is seamless and transparent, taking place in the background while you work.

I’ve had the opportunity to test the My Drive Live on multiple occasions while traveling lately and it has never failed to deliver. Whether accessing files from my laptop or iPad, it has worked as expected and advertised every time. Internet speed plays a big part in performance however, so be warned. If you try to connect to the drive over a slow connection, it may take awhile for it to respond.

As a traveler who happens to love his technology and gadgets, I’ve found the My Book Live drive to be a fantastic edition to my home network. Not only does it provide plenty of great benefits while I’m at home, it also gives full access to my files while traveling. It provides great piece of mind knowing that not only are my files securely backed-up, but that they’re also available to me anytime and anywhere. If Western Digital puts some more time and effort in developing their mobile apps, that functionality will be extended even further.

Prices vary depending on the amount of storage on the drive. The 1 TB My Book Live that I tested carries an MSRP of $159, but it can be found online at substantially lower prices than that, making it a bargain for those looking to launch their own cloud.