Tools

The idea sounds fabulous: Call a number, talk for up to 4 minutes , hang up and a human types it up and emails it to you. Call the service as often as you want.

The reality does not quite live up to the promise however.

I’ve been using the service for over a year and am now (sadly) about to drop it. The problem? Several come to mind. Here they are in order of importance:

1) Delivery takes forever (unless you’re doing the trial!) I signed up for the trial and very soon after I’d hang up, the transcription would appear in my in box. Once I became a paying customer, the lag times steadily increased. I called a transcription in yesterday around 3pm and did not receive the mail from them until after 12 noon today. As a blogger, it makes using the service for timely posts impossible.

2) It’s too expensive. 80 bucks a month(!) If anyone knows of a less pricey alternative that provides more than 30 seconds of talk time, let me know.

3) Inconsistent results. Some texts come in with proper interpretation of what I say, others come in riddled with errors.

1 and 3 are permissible, but not when 2 exists. This is an awesome free service, it’s just a lousy $80 a month service. My two cents.

Using solar powered luggage, this is completely possible.

Fortune Small Business wrote about various solar-powered luggage options available to travelers looking to spend about $150 to $250 on a messenger bag.

Their favorite option? Reware’s Juice Bag, which costs $170, and I snagged their picture for this post. It looks wonky to me, but hey, anything with solar panels designed by someone other than Jonathan Ive is unlikely to be very sexy.

The performance, unsurprisingly, was a bit mediocre on all bags. They’re probably worth more for geek points than they are for actual utility…especially indoors. Regardless, they are pretty good for geek points.

Over at Macworld there is a great list of applications that come in handy for people who use their laptops as their main machines (yes, granted, they do mean Mac laptops).

When I bought my MacBook Pro just over a year ago, I moved all my work related stuff over from my desktop. Now my desktop is just for games and occasional heavy-lifting (some video processing, etc). I’m sure that many travelers road warriors also rely on their laptops as their primary or only computer.

Why does this matter? MacWorld explains:

You interact with a laptop in different ways (relying more on the keyboard and using a trackpad, for example), and you may use a laptop for different tasks. So the software needs of laptop users are different from those of their desktop counterparts.

If that sounds like you, go check out the list.

I know I’ve pointed to one of Kevin Kelly’s “cool tools,” before, but this one also deserves a link. It’s a Balikbayan Box Cover, which is essentially a giant, zippered canvas bag designed to wrap around a 20″ x 20″ x 20″ box:

Why do you care for traveling? Kevin shares:

The beauty of the box cover is that after TSA officials inspect and reseal your box, they can zip up the top flap on the bag closed and your box is further protected from re-opening. The bag also helps guard your box (and its contents) from rough airline baggage handling.

If you’re packing food (or just packing in a box, I guess), it could turn out to be pretty handy. The Balikbayan Gear site has a few more tips on how to effectively pack your box:

1. Pack the heavy items on the bottom first. This includes your canned goods, books, or other flat paper products that can serve as a strong base for the rest of your cargo.

2. Wrap the breakables with your clothes or any other soft material that can take the impact off those perfume bottles.

3. Stuff all empty containers with other items. If you are taking a bowl home, make sure you put something inside it to save precious space.

There’s tons more, but you should go read ‘em over there.

I have to agree with Kevin Kelly on this one, most of the “money belts” I’ve seen are basically just after market pockets for your underwear. It’s pretty cool to see a money belt that is, in fact, an actual belt:

Sure, it won’t hold your passport, spare cards, or anything like that. But on the other hand, it might let you travel in comfort. Just make sure you don’t put anything metal in it before you roll through security.

I tend to pack lightly. My parents, on the other hand, tend to push the weight limit on baggage. Aside from the annoyance of carrying all that around, it can be quite frustrating to get dinged for being a few pounds over the weight limit. Fees for breaking the limit can range from 25 to 75 dollars. Even if you are only slightly over, it’s not as though you can unpack a few things on the spot.

If you are on overpacker, I recommend getting a handle scale. You attach it to the handle of your luggage, and when you pull up, it gives you the weight. Quick, easy, and cheap. It might save you some cash and hassle if you tend to bring the kitchen sink with you.

The recent release of the i-Phone has overshadowed the release of pretty much any other electronics. This is unfortunate because the new BlackBerry 8830 is a must-have for international business travelers.

Launched by Telus, the new BlackBerry offers great band coverage for wi-fi internet. awesome security, and a QWERTY keyboard. The coolest feature is the built-in, voice-activated GPS which provides turn-by-turn driving instructions. Perfect for business trips.

The handy review site blogonbooks just posted about a new book that I’m eager to get my hands on. It’s titled The Traveler’s Web and it focuses on the vast array of Web resources for travelers. The folks at extremesearcher.com have posted all the links detailed in the book, so you can click through to many of the resources immediately.

Several US online booking tools are intergrating themselves with the European rails in order to provide a much easier travel experience.

GetThere and Concur Technologies Cliqbook, two of the top US selfbooking tools, are hoping to do what no one else has been able to successfully do; allow you to book your entire trip, flying out of the US and riding all over the rails in Europe.

While there are several European companies such as Amadeus and KDS trying to provide this, there still is no single tool which is superior in all markets, and it is recommended that you may try more than one of these booking tools to get the best deal and the most information.

I have been using FareCompare.com recently in hopes of finding a unique approach to fare searches. One of the cool tools on the site is what is called the Getaway Map. Plug in your departure city and it will search for the lowest fares according to geographical destination–such as US/Canada, Asia, Europe, etc. Its a nice, easy to navigate layout and makes for some quick results. They also claim to be ‘one of the handful of companies worldwide who receive raw air ticket prices directly from the airlines’. Then if you are signed up on their email alert system, you will be notified minutes after the fare is released to them, presumably giving you a jump on that cheap airfare before your seat partner.

I just added it to my daily RSS feed and was able to get a quick heads-up on some great fares for an upcoming European trip planned for this summer.

But this site is most useful if you have a specific route in mind. They provide data such as ‘historical lows’ for the specific city pair as well as information about the lowest fare during the previous 30 days (displayed in a convenient graphical format), a volatility graph to see longer term trends for this fare and a chart showing the lowest fare for each of the previous 12 months including a star rating to help you size up how your current fare compares.

I have no idea if anyone but me does this, but since aircraft tray-tables are so small and too highly positioned, I often move my mouse down so it’s tracking on my pants leg when I’m flying coach. It doesn’t work very well, but I like the positioning better and my arm doesn’t cramp up quite so much. I also use my trackpad at times, but I don’t like it nearly as much as a mouse. Bottom line is that mid-air mousing has been a pain for me for years.

I just ran across the Logisys Optical Finger Mouse, and it may just be the solution to my problems. Strap it to your index finger, and this tiny gadget uses a laser to detect movement across almost any surface, including fabric(!) You use your thumb to scroll and click.

Needless to say, as soon as I finish this post, I am buying one. Thanks to coolhunting.com for their reporting on this.

Want to capture a whiteboard, business card, contract, brochure (or even a wine list) and send it back to the team at home as a PDF (with extractable text?) Try the online photo to PDF service ScanR.

With ScanR, you e-mail your picture to the service and they send you back a PDF version of your picture. They straighten, tonally adjust, sharpen, and run OCR (optical character recognition) on the file.

Admittedly, the OCR is limited and white board images can’t easily be converted into text, but with a good source image the service can make a vCard accessible by a contact application from a good picture of a business card.

The better your phone can capture images, the better off you are. You can test your camera here. The best cameras tested so far are:

1. Sony Ericsson K790a/K800i
2. Nokia N73
3. Samsung A990
4. Sony Ericsson K750i/W800i/W810i

Advantage won the third annual Business Travel Show Innovation Award for its GDS CAT35 initiative. CAT35 is a new feature which allows airlines to immediately upload all fares and related info onto a global distribution system which can transmit directly to agents or clients. 43 airlines are currently involved, and last year, Advantage members saved an estimated 2 million pounds in discounts and rebates.

Tired of not having a useful reading light (or no light at all) while on that evening flight?

Try out the I-Sight® by Synergy Lab. It’s an over-the-ear hands-free light with a high intensity LED that shines everywhere you look. The ear piece is flexible and fully reversible (to wear on either ear).

I’ve tried lots of lights that either tend to get too hot, don’t have a directional beam, are too bulky or not efficient (my I-Sight® is still going strong after a month’s usage–thanks mainly to the ultra bright LED)……especially irritating are the lights that are designed to attach to the book or reading material you are working on—-that type of design just doesn’t make sense to me.

With the ability to direct the light to my desired location, I have yet to hear a complaint when the lights go dim for another in-flight movie rerun.

I have friends that claim this is the most useful cool gadget they’ve seen.

I got mine at Hammacher Schlemmer for $25.

Amazon (via Cyberguys) also sells a model powered by 2 CR2032 lithium batteries, but I prefer the AAA version because I find these batteries are easier to find if I need a replacement during my travels.

I can’t tell you how many times while on a flight I hear: ‘It’s really cold–can you turn up the heat?’. Usually the passenger is next to a window–or worse yet, one of the window exits. If you are like me and prefer a window seat, try taking the chill off with this USB powered blanket from Brando. Just be careful it doesn’t lull you into a nice long nap……

While attending the Consumer Electronics Show recently, the buzz was not about the latest 100″+ Plasma TV from Panasonic or new Digital SLR’s from Canon and endless new renditions of iPod docking stations, but…..you guessed it….the iPhone announced by Apple, Inc. While the chronological overlapping of MacWorld and CES this year was apparently by design, Apple could not have asked for a
better ‘captured’ audience than the one at CES. All eyes were on Steve Jobs the morning of his keynote…..clearly Apple is here to stay and will continue to be a threat to other consumer electronic retailers and designers in the years to come.

While navigating the continuous maze of TV’s, car stereo’s and GPS navigation devices, I will admit my level of excitement was subdued compared to past visits.
Maybe its the format wars, maybe it was just the crowds.

But don’t get me wrong—-my pulse goes up just arriving at the airport with all the ‘Welcome to CES’ banners and CES still is and always will be the best place in the world to fuel my gadget obsession and converse with the manufacturers of all these great toys.

In the next few posts, I will offer up a few of the latest items that will help make your travels more productive at 30,000 feet.

At this rate. someday we’re going to be able to use our notebook computers to power our homes. Yet another cool USB-powered device is the USBCell. It looks like a regular AA battery, but it’s lid opens to reveal a USB connector. Plug it in and recharge–no wall outlet required. About $12 each.

It’s pretty easy to get run down by the insanity of travel. Everyone has different ways of coping with the challenges, but I find it’s nice to pamper myself a bit. Sometimes the difference between making it through a 4-hour delay on the tarmac and blowing your top at the flight attendant is a nice moisturizer or, in this case, a very very nice laptop bag with a matching clutch bag from Violet May.

I’m partial to the model in peacock and blue lilac.

If there’s one thing photographers really understand, it’s versatility and ease of use in a bag. Neither of these Kata bags from Bogen Imaging is intended to schlep a lot of stuff, but if what you need is a superior structured bag for all your carry-on essentials that will easily slip under the seat in front of you, these two models are right up your alley.

The bags are made out of a neoprene blend, which makes them easy to carry, but provides structure and padding for your electronic goodies. They also feature fuzzy yellow interiors that make it easy to find little things that might otherwise be doomed forever to obscurity at the bottom of a black travel bag. They also have luxuriously padded straps to save you from chafing.

Another cool feature that could come in particularly handy for female travelers is the small zip-up pouch. It’s originally designed for film canisters, but it could easily be used to carry a few select makeup products or discreetly stash tampons. It attaches to the interior with little strips of velcro and comes out easily in case you need to run to the lavatory mid-flight.

Both bags (the Prism and the Sensitivity) are priced at just under $100 and have room for a laptop.

A couple of years ago, Grand Central CEO Craig Walker stepped off a five hour flight and spent the next half hour checking voice mail messages. He had to call three separate numbers just to find out who all was trying to get hold of him while he was in the air. He decided that he wanted an easier way to keep track of missed calls, so he started GrandCentral.

Basically, GrandCentral is a friendly Web-based service that takes all of your existing phone numbers, organizes them, and gives your friends, family and professional contacts one phone number to call. Your voice mail is accessible from your phone and from your browser. You can even set it up to give different voicemail greetings to different contact sets, so your friends can leave a message for laid-back, casual you, while your colleagues get a crisp, professional greeting.

Additionally, the software allows all calls to be forwarded to a temporary number, so if your cell phone happens to get lousy reception at the Holiday Inn & Suites in Boise, you can temporarily forward all of your calls to the room phone.

Grand Central also offers some robust filtering features. If your annoying ex-girlfriend keeps calling, you can tell the software to give her a “this number has been disconnected or is no longer in service” message. If a telemarketer keeps pestering you about vinyl siding, you can flag his number as spam and never have to take a call from him again. Of course, it would be a bad idea to do this to creditors.

GrandCentral offers two levels of service. A free public beta and a $10.00/month service that allows more granular features and longer saving of existing voice mail messages.

The biggest drawback I saw in the software was the lack of ability to easily import an existing number to make it all-access. I’d like to take my existing home number and make it my GrandCentral number so that I don’t have to make new business cards and tell all my friends that I have a new phone number. That would be really annoying. Walker told me that this problem should be solved by this summer, and that making a phone number from another service portable is possible, but currently a little complicated.

For those of you who are worried about trusting such an important part of your lives to a startup that’s still in public beta mode, keep in mind that they raised $4m in venture capital from Halsey Minor and are likely to get a second round of funding. Hopefully, that means they’ll be around for a while.