This year in tech – what 2009 will bring for travelers

by Scott Carmichael on

I’ve already looked back at the best gadgets 2008 had to offer, and in this list I’ll take a look at some of the travel technologies I expect to take off in 2009. Come back next year to either laugh in my face, or remark how amazingly clever I am.

Computer/data bundles on sale

Back in November of last year, Radio Shack started selling a bundle including an Acer Netbook computer, an integrated 3G modem and a 2 year AT&T data subscription. This combo would normally retail for about $430, but the inclusion of the 2 year subscription lowers the price to just $99.

This practice is not new, and bundles of hardware and mobile subscriptions have long been the norm in many European countries. What is new, is that these deals have finally made their way to the USA.

I predict more of these promotions in 2009, and for the deals to become much more widespread. Offering one laptop at just one store is hardly going to change the way we subscribe to mobile data services, but it is a great start.

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4G wireless broadband data

Many people are just making their first steps with 3G mobile data, but some of the major players in the market are already hard at work on 4G.

4G wireless data promises even faster speeds than what we currently get from the 3G services on Verizon, Sprint and AT&T.

Building these new networks takes an astounding amount of money, but the largest and most ambitious network already has the support (and money) from companies like Intel, Google, Comcast and Sprint.

By the end of 2009, we should see 4G networks available in about 20 major US cities. The speeds offered by a 4G service like Clear (previously called Xohm) run off a technology called Wi-Max and should reach about 4-8Mbit/s, which is the equivalent of most residential DSL or cable connections. Unlimited service will run between $30 and $50 a month, making it a very viable alternative to slower 3G services.

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A new iPhone (nano)?

In December of each year, things in the Apple rumor department start to get kind of wacky. That is mainly because January is when the years largest Apple exposition starts (Macworld). The notoriously tight lipped company apparently “leaks” all kinds of amazing stuff, 95% of which is all bogus, fake or downright stupid. One rumor that keeps popping up this year though, is a smaller iPhone.

This “iPhone Nano” has been leaked by several phone case manufacturers, and has all the die-hard Apple fans foaming at the mouth.

Whether we actually see a tiny iPhone remains to be seen, but it sure does sound like a fun little phone.

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More Netbook computers

Netbook computers were the big hit in 2008, and 2009 promises to be even bigger for the little machines. We’ll probably see even lighter machines with more power, and lower prices.

As more and more manufacturers hop on the Netbook bandwagon, companies will start putting a lot more effort into innovation, and sooner or later we’ll finally get the perfect computer.

The first fairly basic Netbook computers launched for about $350, but prices have slowly been dropping, and at the moment that same price will get you a very well equipped machine with a 160GB drive and a powerful 6 cell battery.

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Better battery technology

Current notebook computers have about 4000 times the processing power of the first portable computer, but just 2 times the battery life. Each year promises to be the biggest year ever in battery developments, but 2009 actually seems like it might come through for us.

Big players like HP have signed up for a new battery design by Boston Power, which promises battery charge times as low as 30 minutes for an 80% charge as well as higher capacities with the same weight as current cells.

What this means to you and I is that sooner or later we really might get a computer that can last an entire long haul flight on a single battery charge and can be recharged during a short stopover.

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Paperless boarding documents

I wrote about the future at the airport last week, one of the items in that futuristic lineup is already here, and will probably become more popular in 2009.

Paperless boarding involves having your airline email you a bar code that can then be used to get through security and onto your flight.

Our very own Grant Martin tested it, and says it sort of works, assuming the airport staff know what they are doing.

Product review – 3M MPro110 Pocket Projector

by Scott Carmichael on

No, the title does not say pocket protector, this review is going to give you a closer look at one of the first pocket projectors in the world.

The 3M MPro110 pocket projector is about the size of a late 90’s mobile phone (4.5″x2″). On the front of the unit is a small lens opening, on the back is where you’ll find the power and video connectors, and on the side is a single power button and a lens focus wheel.

The MPro110 is powered by an internal Lithium-Ion battery pack which should offer enough juice for about an hour of continuous use. Inside the unit is a tiny 3M projection module, which uses an LED light for illumination.

Of course, as regular travelers, you are probably scratching your head wondering just why on earth you would ever consider carrying a pocket projector in your luggage. To answer this, I’ve put together a couple of scenarios where the projector could come in handy.
The first, and probably most logical scenario for the projector is to give business presentations using your laptop or Netbook computer. Anyone out there who has had to drag a projector through the airport will understand just what a pain in the ass it is, not to mention having to deal with the constant threat of the poor projector being damaged mid trip.

The second, and more fun scenario is using the projector for entertainment. The MPro110 comes with connection cables for standard video sources as well as a VGA cable for connecting it to a laptop or other device with a VGA plug.

So, how well does the projector perform in each of these 2 scenarios? This all depends on your expectations. If you turn the projector on with the expectation of getting super bright images like on a normal projector, you are going to be quite disappointed. If you turn it on expecting very little, you are in for a pleasant surprise.

The projector projects its image with a brightness of about 7 lumens. When you compare this against a regular projector which has an average output exceeding 1000 lumens, you’ll understand that the image is not going to be suitable for every situation. First of all, the room really has to be dark, secondly, the image can really only be focused when it stays smaller than about 70 inches diagonally.

Both of these restrictions make finding a suitable wall or screen quite hard, but by no means make the projector useless. In fact, I’m actually very impressed with the results from such a little box.

Looking back at both of those scenarios I mentioned; presentations and entertainment. Giving a presentation with the MPro110 is quite possible, but the room really will have to be dark, and it only makes sense when you have just a handful of people sitting around a table looking at the wall.



(This image actually looks brighter in real life, this game is being projected on a wall and measures 65″ diagonally)

Entertainment is actually where the projector excels. I connected the unit to my Sprint Smartphone running the Slingplayer remote TV application, and within minutes I was watching live TV on a massive screen on the wall. If you find yourself stuck somewhere without a TV, you simply turn on the device and turn any open wall space into your own little movie screen.

Image quality in each scenario is surprisingly good, not “plasma TV” good, but by no means unusable.

This brings me towards the end of my brief review, but not without mentioning some of the drawbacks and flaws of the MPro110.

  • Image quality – I’m going to go easy on the pocket projector, it is after all a first generation device. But it really does have to be pointed out that the dim and low resolution image from the unit will make it useless for all but a small handful of people with a very specific need.
  • Usability – This one annoyed me more than anything else. The projector does not come with a carrying case, lens cover or even rubber feet on the bottom. When you plug the thick video cable in the back of the projector, it slips and slides all over the place. I solved this by carrying a mini tripod, but I can’t help notice this lack of foresight by 3M.
  • Lack of control – The projector has just one button; power. There is no keystone option (for projecting at an angle), no integrated speaker, no brightness or contrast controls and no battery indicator.

I’m convinced that 2009 will bring us more developments in this arena, and I’m not totally disappointed with the 3M MPro110, it really is an amazing technical achievement. But at the end of the day I’m just not convinced there are that many people out there who could really benefit from it.

I’m a geek, and I could see myself carrying this device on a regular basis, and I think many fellow geeks would think like me, but the general public would probably have a hard time justifying the $359 purchase price (MSRP, retail prices are around $300). The future of these devices probably involves the projection hardware being integrated inside all kinds of devices. Just imagine the 9th generation iPod in 2011 being sold with an integrated projector!

Product review – Epson Artisan 700 all-in-one inkjet printer

by Scott Carmichael on

In this product review, I’m going to give you a quick look at the newest generation color all-in-one unit from Epson.

The Artisan 700 combines a photo printer, regular printer, scanner and CD printer in one stylish unit. As you can see from the photo above, the Artisan 700 does not look as boring as most other printers, and will certainly help brighten up your office/desk area.

The printer can be connected to your computer using three different methods; USB, Wi-Fi or Ethernet (wired). This also means it can be shared by multiple computers in the household, which is perfect if you have a personal computer as well as a work PC that needs access to a printer.
The front of the Artisan 700 has a tilting control panel with a fairly large display. On the panel you’ll also find 16 buttons, used to select the various features of the printer, and take advantage of the printing and scanning options that can be performed without a computer. To the right of the panel is a card reader and USB connector for connecting to a digital camera. The card reader accepts Compact Flash, SD, XD and Memory Stick formats.

Below the control panel is the paper tray, and that brings me to one of the best features of the Artisan 700; the paper tray holds both regular paper and photo paper at the same time, which means you will no longer have to keep replacing paper every time you want to switch between media.

The third printing tray is hidden inside the printer, and holds CD’s. When you press the CD tray button on the control panel, the machine makes a bunch of clicking noises, and out pops a CD printing tray. To print on a CD or DVD, you will need to purchase special printable discs, these are fairly easy to find, and only cost a few bucks more than a normal 25 or 50 pack.

As I mentioned earlier, the printer has several features built in that can be performed without a PC, these include a copy function, photo viewer (with greeting card option and CD print option), scan to memory card and an option to print ruled papers or graph paper.

Of course, the most important thing a printer can do, is print. And that is one thing the Artisan 700 does quite phenomenally. The machine impressed me both in speed, noise and print quality. Regular documents (I used a full page Word document) print in under 10 seconds, photos on 4×6 or 5×7 photo paper are done in about a minute, full page photos take about 3 minutes when printed on premium paper in the best quality setting.

Included in the retail package is of course the printer itself, as well as 7 ink cartridges. The printer holds 5 color cartridges and one black cartridge, and Epson includes one spare black cartridge as it tends to run out first.

The ink retails for just under $50 for the color multipack and $25 for the black cartridge. After several hundred prints, in various sizes, the printer is down to about half its ink capacity.

The scanner on the Artisan 700 was equally impressive, Epson has a long history of making high quality scanners, and it shows in this product. Photo scans are vibrant and very sharp.

Despite all the great features, there is one area where the Artisan 700 does not always perform as it should – the Ethernet and Wi-Fi interfaces are no very reliable, and I regularly ran into problems connecting with the printer, or kept getting errors that the printer was in use by someone else (I was the only user connected to it at the time).

Of course, these issues could be resolved by a software update in the future, or by connecting the unit to USB and ignoring the network ports.

The Artisan 700 has an MSRP of $199, but can often be found for as little as $149.99. At this price point, it is one of the cheapest network enabled all-in-one machines on the market. The Artisan 700 has a big sister, the Artisan 800. The 800 adds the ability to send and receive fax messages, as well as a sheet-feed scanner.

I’m quite impressed with the Artisan 700, there is no denying that the cost of ink may be a deal breaker for many, but for day to day work at home with the occasional photo or CD print, it will not disappoint you. The print quality is outstanding, and almost on par with the commercial prints you pick up at the local drugstore. CD prints are absolutely fantastic, and allow you to do quite a bit more with your photos than just let them collect dust.

The future at the airport involves your phone, fingers and eyes

by Scott Carmichael on

The year is 2016, you wake on time and make your way to the airport in your battery powered car. At the UnitedDeltaContinental airlines desk you wave your phone in front of the check-in kiosk and a green light indicates that you are cleared to proceed to the security checkpoint.

At the checkpoint, an agent waves his rfid reader tag in front of the wallet in your pocket, and you stick your hand in a biometric ID reader. The agent stares at a hidden display for a few seconds and allows you to walk through the full body scanner. As you pass through the device, you think back to the days when you had to place your bags on that stupid conveyor belt, and how it always delayed getting to the gate on time.

At the gate, you connect your iPhone 5G with the gate information system, and you instantly receive a message about your upgrade request, sadly you’ll be stuck in coach again for this flight.

Boarding is delayed 20 minutes, once it begins, your phone begins to vibrate that your boarding group is allowed to get on the plane. At the gate, you stare into the airline iris scanner, and the gate attendant allows you to board.

A lot of what I just wrote sounds very much like science fiction, but the idea behind it is based upon developments being made in the world of aviation technology. Airlines and airports have long been very outdated places, and innovation meant investing in new equipment, which is something airlines hate doing.
Mobile boarding passes

The “swipe to board” mobile phone boarding pass may not be here just yet, but the foundations for this kind of technology are already in place. Our very own Grant Martin was one of the first people to post a real life review of using an iPhone instead of a paper boarding pass, and wrote about his experiences here.

The idea of using your phone as a boarding pass is nothing new, but now more and more phones are being sold with large high-resolution displays, airlines are beginning trials that will allow you a true paper-free experience. There are even some phones out there with the ability to “swipe and read”, like a system being offered on some Nokia phones called “Near Field Communications“

My prediction? We’ll be seeing more airlines introduce trials of mobile phone boarding passes in 2009, and by 2011 all airlines will have the equipment in place to let you board using a bar code image on your phone display.

TSA/immigration biometric ID readers

In an ideal world (in the minds of the Department of Homeland Security), we’ll all be fingerprinted, and will have our personal information stored in a massive government database.

The first steps are already being taken at the immigration checkpoint where visitors to the country are fingerprinted. The next step beings early next year, when US Permanent Residents get fingerprinted when they return to the US.

As the fingerprint database begins to grow, it probably won’t be too long until someone floats the idea (again) of a national ID with fingerprint information.

Some airports already have government backed biometric systems in place; Amsterdam Schiphol introduced the Privium system back in 2001 and London airports have been offering passengers the ability to bypass the immigration desk with their IRIS system since 2006.

The US “INSPASS” biometric immigration system was in place as early as 1993, but was abandoned in 2002. The foundations of INSPASS are now being used for border crossings between the US and Canada in the NEXUS system.

My prediction? A nationwide US biometric database won’t happen for at least 10 more years. Privacy is something far too important to allow technology to intervene with, especially when the government has a poor track record of implementing these new projects. I do forsee larger projects by the private sector allowing travelers to pass the checkpoint faster. Clear already does biometric authentication at the airport, but only at a limited number of cities.

Security checkpoint full body scanners

The full body scanner is not new, but it is needless to say that the concept of a full body x-ray doesn’t sit too well with many people. The scanners are currently being tested at 10 different US airports, but the trial only involves offering the scanner as an alternative to a pat down in a secondary security search.

The obvious question is whether the scanner can see “everything”, and the answer is yes – the full body scanner will see all your “parts”, the TSA tries to alleviate passenger concerns by moving the screener away from the machine, hidden away in a dark room. Your face is also blurred on the display, so there is no risk of TSA agents pointing at you while giggling like little school girls.

Sadly, the truth is that the full body scanner is probably here to stay, and will eventually become the way all passengers are scanned at the airport. There is no denying that the ability to see right through you and your clothes is the most effective way to scan for weapons or other unwanted items at the airport. Whether this technology will also involve you walking through with your bags is just a matter of time.

My prediction? By 2012 we’ll have full body scanners at some of the major airports in the country, and by 2015 all airports will be scanning passengers with these devices.

Gate technology improvements

A large number of passengers at the airport already walk around with a Bluetooth enabled phone in their pocket, so when you mix that technology with tracking software, you end up with something that can tell where you are, or more importantly where you are when you should be at the gate getting on your flight.

Copenhagen airport has a system in place that uses this technology to track passengers who voluntarily participate in the program.

Imagine a world where the airport announcement doesn’t just ask Mr.Jones to proceed to gate 12, but also tells him to get the hell out of the duty free store and run, because it is a 9 minute walk from where he currently is.

My prediction? Within the next couple of years, we’ll see a true “real time” boarding announcement system that can communicate with your mobile phone. It may be as simple as an email telling you to hurry up, but I have no doubts that airlines will do everything they can to speed up the boarding process, and try to get a better idea of where passengers are when they should be at the gate.

Product review – Solo CheckFast Netbook instant messenger bag

by Scott Carmichael on

In this product review, I’m going to give you a quick look at a new laptop bag. Of course, new laptop bags are introduced by the boatload every week, so you’ll understand that this bag is something special.

The Solo CheckFast Netbook Instant messenger bag does 2 things most other bags can’t do; it is TSA friendly, and it is designed specifically for Netbook computers.

The Solo Netbook instant messenger is the first true Netbook friendly bag I have come across. I’ve previously reviewed a different Netbook protective cover, but it did not offer the same features as the Solo.

As I mentioned earlier, the CheckFast Netbook instant messenger bag is TSA friendly. Being “TSA friendly” means that the bag can be folded open, allowing the airport X-Ray equipment to see the laptop, without having to remove your laptop from its bag.

The bag itself is quite impressive. The laptop portion of the bag is designed for Netbook computers up to 11 inches. In addition to this compartment, you’ll also find 2 other portions, one of which is designed to hold small items like USB flash drives or a portable hard drive.

Opening the bag for inspection at the airport is quite easy, and only takes about 10 seconds. When you arrive at the security checkpoint, you simply unclip the buckle at the front, loosen a piece of Velcro, and fold the entire bag flat on the conveyor.

Other features of the bag include a nicely padded handle and a non-slip shoulder strap.

The best part of this bag? It only costs $35 (when purchased from Amazon). I’ve been carrying the bag around for a few days now, and I absolutely love it. It suddenly dawned on me that it does not make sense to carry a small computer in a large bag, but until now, I did not want to say goodbye to my regular TSA friendly laptop bag.

Of course, with a smaller bag, you’ll have less room to carry stuff, but being forced to travel lighter is something you’ll learn to appreciate. Even if you don’t plan to travel with your Netbook, having a stylish bag to protect it is a wise investment.

The Solo CheckFast Nebook Instant messenger bag is available from Amazon, Ebags or one of the other retailers listed on the product page.