FlightView for mobile devices tracks and maps your flights

by Scott Carmichael on

Regular (and not-so-regular) travelers can stay one step ahead of the airline by keeping a close eye on their flight status. In most cases, airlines will wait as long as they can to alert you to any changes in your flight, which is where FlightView can help.

This app is available for the iPhone, iPod Touch, Palm Pre, Blackberry and Android devices. FlightView uses realtime FAA flight data to keep you informed about any changes, delays or cancellations. Once you enter your airline and flight number, FlightView displays the current status of your flight, along with a map showing its location. If you have more than one trip, you can add them to “My Trips.”

Once added, you can even share your flights through email, text message, Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter. Another handy feature inside FlightView is its real time airport delay map, once again harnessing data from the FAA. When following the status of a flight, you can even view weather reports for the departure and arrival airports.

Now for the best part – FlightView is free for Android devices, $1.99 for the iPhone and $4.99 for other devices, making it one of the cheapest flight status apps available. In a perfect world, the app would support syncing with TripIt, but other than that, this is a well designed and easy to use application, and one that is in a category of “must haves” for any traveler with a mobile device. When push comes to shove, you really are on your own when you travel.

You’ll find FlightView in the Apple App store, the Palm Pre app catalog, Blackberry Appworld and the Android Marketplace. Android users can scan the bar code on the right to access the app.

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HotelPal by Mobiata brings easy hotel reservations to Android phones

by Scott Carmichael on

I’m a happy Android user today, because Mobiata finally brought their popular iPhone hotel app to Android phones. With HotelPal, you can find, research and reserve hotel rooms directly from your phone, without having to mess around with mobile sites or other unfriendly hotel booking engines.

The process is simple – you can locate hotels based on your current location, or by entering a destination. The app then pulls up hotels from the Travelocity Partner Network and displays them based on price or distance.

Each hotel listing shows the current cheapest rate, along with a description of the property, available amenities and its address. On most properties, you also get a photo gallery showing the hotel and its rooms.

Once you find a suitable hotel, you can pick your preferred room/rate, and make a reservation. Before you submit your personal information, you even get an exact price quote, including taxes and fees, which should prevent nasty surprises.

As I said, I’m very happy that this app made it to the Android platform, as I consider it a “must have” for any traveler, and an important part of any emergency app arsenal.

HotelPal is free of charge, and is available in the Android Market by searching for HotelPal or by scanning this QR code.

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Space tourism one step closer with Virgin Galactic’s first manned flight

by Sean McLachlan on


The VSS Enterprise, also known as SpaceShipTwo, has taken its first crewed flight. It stayed in the air for six hours attached to its mother ship, the VMS Eve. Two crew members stayed aboard and conducted systems tests. This is the latest aviation milestone in an active month that saw the first overnight flight by a solar airplane and the first unmanned solar plane to fly for a whole week.

This “captive carry” flight was the third for the ship. The first flight of the VSS Enterprise was only three months ago and it appears that the project is developing rapidly. Testing will continue into 2011 before commercial flights start. Tickets for the suborbital flight will be $200,000. Another space tourism company, Space Adventures, promises to offer flights for $102,000, although this won’t happen until 2012 at the earliest. While the VSS Enterprise will detach from VMS Eve and soar into suborbital space, the Space Adventures capsule will launch from a traditional rocket.

Solar-powered plane flies at night

by Sean McLachlan on


An airplane that relies entirely on solar energy has flown for 24 hours straight, cruising along happily through the darkness and emerging into the dawn with three hours left in its batteries. Once the sun rose, of course, the batteries immediately began to recharge.

The Solar Impulse is the product of the same great minds that brought you the cuckoo clock–the Swiss! The entire wingspan is covered with 12,000 solar cells that power four electric engines. Average cruising speed is 70 km/hr (43.5 mph). You can see complete stats on the plane here.

The next step for the engineers is to make the next generation of the plane, one that will fly around the world by 2013. The Solar Impulse is not the first solar-powered airplane, only the first to complete a manned night flight. Scientists and engineers have been experimenting with solar-powered planes since the 1970s and manned flights since the 1980s. This new leap forward will add impetus to a field of study that has so far received little attention from the press.

While this technology is still in the experimental stage, the potential impact for the airline industry and the environment is obvious. Airline emissions pose a major environmental threat, and G8 leaders have called for a 50 percent reduction in airline emissions by 2050. That’s a tall order, but it looks like the Swiss have shown the way forward. Of course the Solar Impulse’s slow speed and small cockpit mean the age of solar-powered 747s is a long way off, think of it as the modern equivalent of the Wright Brothers plane. It was only a generation after Kitty Hawk that passengers started flying to international destinations.

Ten kid friendly travel products to calm, soothe and entertain

by Scott Carmichael on

Kids are spoiled nowadays – I used to have to entertain myself with a piece of string and an empty toilet paper tube, but today, even young kids are aware of the coolest technology products and want a piece of the action.

In this list, we’ve gathered ten awesome kid friendly travel products – from a way to help them sleep at night, to the latest in kid-proof digital HD cameras. The biggest advantage of all this new technology is that parents get a little more peace and quiet, and don’t need to play “I Spy” for 6 hours on a flight. Especially when the answer to all 450 questions is “clouds”.
Aerobed Sleep Tight for Kids

We recently reviewed the Aerobed Sleep TIght for Kids here on Gadling – and it has so far been the best piece of kid travel gear we’ve seen in a long time. The bed fits in a compact (included) carrying bag, and comes with an electronic inflation pump and a cute moon/stars cover.

Product page: Aerobed
Price: $79.99

Olympus Stylus 8010 rugged digital camera

The Olympus Stylus Tough 8010 is the perfect camera for taking photos where other cameras would normally crash and burn in a matter of minutes. The protection inside the Stylus Tough 8010 takes “rugged” to the extreme – with waterproofing up to 33 feet, drop protection up to 6.6 feet, freezeproofing down to 14F and even crushproofing up to 220lb.

This is one camera you’ll be able to hand to your (young) kids, and not worry about what they plan to do with it (as long as they don’t open the battery compartment underwater).

The camera features 1GB of internal memory, HD video recording and an internal optical zoom with automatic lens protector.

Product page: Olympus Stylus Tough 8010
Price: $399.99

Scosche reviveLITE II

The iPod and iPhone are slowly becoming “must have” products for young kids – their movie and music abilities, along with the massive lineup of kid friendly apps has taken them way beyond their original audience. The Scosche reviveLITE II is a wall charger for your device, with the added bonus of a night light. It even features a second USB charging port, which means you can charge your boring Blackberry and your kids iPhone at the same time.

Product page: Scosche Industries
Price: $24.99

Kodak Playsport HD camcorder

The Kodak Playsport HD camcorder shoots video in 1080p, and can swim in up to 10ft of water – which means you can make some pretty neat video clips at the beach or pool. With large easy to operate buttons, you can even teach your kids how to make their own video clips.

Product page: Kodak Playsport
Price: $149.99

Air Play airplane tray table play cover

For (really) young kids, the boredom of air travel may prove to be too much for them to deal with – which is why Star Kids Products invented the Air Play. This table and seatback cover fits about as much as possible into the cramped space. Kids get a variety of toys, a peek-a-boo mirror and even a small photo album. Best of all, it’ll keep their tiny hands away from the filthy table.

Product page: Air Play
Price: $29.99

Leap Frog Leapster Explorer

Leapster game consoles have always been a great way to entertain kids while providing some education at the same time. The upcoming Leapster Explorer is half gaming console, and half learning tool. An optional digital camera attachment will even let kids make photos and video clips. The Leapster Explorer will be available starting July 1st.

Product page: Leapster Explorer
Price: $69.99 (includes 18 games)

Mobi TykeLight Jr.

The TykeLight Jr. is a battery operated night light – with up to 100 hours of use off a set of AAA batteries, this light is a great way to help your kids fall asleep. The light can stay on all night, or for 15 minutes and is available in pink, green and blue.

Product page: Mobi TykeLight Jr.
Price: $12.95

Kidz Gear headphones

A DVD player in your car or flight is a great way to entertain kids – but the last thing you want, is to listen to Yo Gabba Gabba on a 7 hour road trip drive. This is where Kidz Gear headphones can help. The headphones are specially designed to fit kids, and go small enough to fit a three year old. Volume is kept to a minimum. They are available wired and wireless – and the wireless ones will work on the majority of wireless audio systems found in today’s vehicles.

Best of all – the company also makes a wireless transmitter, which is great if you want to add it to a hotel TV so you can get some peace and quiet, while they get some Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

Product page: Gear for Kidz
Price: $16.99 (wired) and $29.99 (wireless)

iPhone and iPod Touch kids apps

There are thousands of kids apps in the App Store – but for every great app, there is usually at least one dreadful one. This is where Best Kids Apps can help – the team behind this great site reviews apps, and takes the hard work out of picking the best apps for your kid(s). Apps are sorted by age and category, making it really easy to find the best of the best.

Product page: Best Kids Apps
Price: Apps start at $0

Mobile device video cables

As more hotels start adding the ability to connect your mobile device to the in-room TV, an investment of about $30 can turn your iPhone, iPod, Zune or other brand player into a portable media center.

The most common input system used is “composite”, but some hotel brands even allow HD content using HDMI or Component cables. Check your local electronics store for the correct cables, or refer to the product site of your specific player. In an upcoming article, we’ll show what you need, and how to stay entertained without having to invest in pricey pay-per-view movies.

[Photo credit: Flickr user Rob!]