Jaunted

Travel Tech

Worldwide Bathroom Maps on Your iPhone

October 27, 2008 at 3:00 PM | 1 Comment

Nothing is worse than being in unfamiliar territory and desperately searching for a restroom. Now thanks to good old technology, we can all work together to make being bathroom-less a thing of the past.

Sit Or Squat is a new web and phone application that maps out the location of public bathrooms. Just enter an address and it will pop up a Google map mashup with little blue dots indicating usable restrooms.

Restaurants, hotels, train stations and more are all listed on the community-created site. Users can write descriptions and add comments--and there are even pictures.

So far, London and seven US cities are listed, with more in the works.

Related Stories:
· Sit Or Squat [Official Site]
· Bathrooms coverage [Jaunted]

Winter Travel

Warm up for Winter Travel: Touch Screen Gloves

September 18, 2008 at 1:35 PM | 0 Comments

Heads up, iPhone lovers. Winter is coming soon in the Northern Hemisphere, and you need to remember two things: You'll want to stay warm, and you'll want to figure out a way to keep using your touch screen gadget as much as humanly possible.

Dots Gloves will help to enable your tech habit when the cold weather hits. These hand protectors come in two warm fabrics and have tiny metal dots on the fingertips that keep you in contact with your touchscreen.

Don't worry, the dots are ice-smooth and won't scratch the screen. A simple add on yes, but a very cool design innovation.

Related Stories:
· Touch Screen Friendly Gloves [Core 77]
· Dots Gloves [Official Site]
· Winter Travel coverage [Jaunted]

Travel Gear

Digital Nomad Travel: Packing the World's Smallest Hard Drive

September 15, 2008 at 11:30 AM | 0 Comments

For digital nomads in a perpetual state of travel, getting the most out of your gear is essential. Less is more is the motto when trying to cram all your necessities into one or two not so big bags.

So the Freecom Mobile Drive xxs should be a blessing for travelers who need to lug around large amounts of data, but don't have much extra space in their carry-on. Designed by Sylvain Willenz, the xxs is billed as the world's smallest external hard drive. At 2.5" wide, it's about the size of a deck of cards, but somehow manages to fit up to 320 gigabytes of data.

All components have been stripped down to the basics and miniaturized to keep the gadget footprint to a minimum. The xxs looks like a great piece of gear--and your bulging laptop bag will thank you.

Related Stories:
· Sylvain Willenz [Official Site]
· Freecom xxs [MoCo Loco]
· Design coverage [Jaunted]

Travel Wi-Fi

In-flight Porn? Not if American Airlines Flight Attendants Get Their Way

September 14, 2008 at 10:50 AM | 0 Comments

One of the issues that arises from the introduction of in-flight wi-fi is that of internet pornography. Sure, it's great to be able to check your email and surf the web on your laptop instead of having to watch Wild Hogs or Cheaper By the Dozen 2 for the fourth time, but should people be able to access pornographic material in view of other passengers? The Association of Professional Flight Attendants doesn't think so. Bloomberg reports that a group of flight attendants from American Airlines has asked the company to filter its in-flight internet access to block inappropriate content.

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Qantas

Paperless Travel: Qantas to Launch Cell Phone Check-In

September 12, 2008 at 9:30 AM | 3 Comments

Here at Jaunted we can have travel geek tendencies. We've been loving the paperless ticket world for a long time and love to check-in online too but have still been annoyed at how often we need to print out our own boarding pass--easy at home, not easy on the road. But slowly we're seeing alternatives and we like that a lot.

This week it's Aussie airline Qantas that's taking the paperless travel ideal further. From early next year they're introducing an entirely paperless check-in option which will involve passengers getting a barcode sent to their cell phone for scanning at the boarding gate.

Two reasons we especially love this kind of airline geekiness: Less paper (we're green, too) and harder to lose--our cell phone is always near. We can't wait to get our first mobile barcode.

Related Stories:
· Mobile Phones and PDAs to Act As Qantas Boarding Passes [The Australian]
· Subway Travel: London's Oyster Coming to Cell Phones [Jaunted]

[Photo: Tom Loth]

Laptops

Travel Accessories: One Plug Is Never Enough

August 26, 2008 at 10:00 AM | 1 Comment

It's hard to believe that something like this hasn't come along before. The Belkin Mini Surge Protector with USB Charger is one of the most ideal travel accessories we've seen for people who travel with gizmos. If only it had a catchier name!

The charger is simple enough, turning one plug into three while protecting your devices with a built-in surge protector. (So while you're charging at the airport during that heavy lightning delay, there's no reason to worry!) It also offers two USB ports so you can charge your cell phone, iPod or anything else that uses a USB connection.

Best of all, the charger starts at only $25 and is available directly through the company's website.

Related Stories:
· Mini Surge Protector with USB Charger [Official Site]
· Travel Tech coverage [Jaunted]

Maps

Travel Maps That You Aren't Ashamed to Carry

August 15, 2008 at 10:00 AM | 0 Comments

Sure you could grab the oversize, all-encompassing city map for your next trip, but then you're doomed to look like the biggest tourist ever as you struggle with folding and unfolding it in the middle of the street. Alternatively, you can get one of those pocket-sized, laminated "downtown" maps--but they always end just where the city starts getting interesting.

With the new website Mapufacture, you can define the borders of your own map, plot your points of interest and then print out an easily foldable pocket-sized map.

You can also browse through the city, country and world maps others have already created, from green roofs around the world, to California State Parks and Prisons--great combo!--or even Beijing air quality during the Olympics. Of course the coolest map is the one you make for yourself.

Related Stories:
· Mapufacture [Official Site]
· Maps coverage [Jaunted]

Luggage

Showy Suitcase: Heavy and Ugly but Pushes Itself

July 30, 2008 at 9:45 AM | 0 Comments

The last hi-tech suitcase we looked at can follow you, but we're still waiting to see a live version. What we have seen in real life is the Live Luggage electric-powered suitcase, and after hearing what a UK Times reporter had to say after taking this case on holidays, we've decided to stick with what we've got.

This motor-powered suitcase has quite a few drawbacks, starting from the fact that when it's empty, it already weighs 25 pounds, so you're going to have to pack super light. It's hard to get up and down stairs--and we also think it's ugly. Sure, when you're pulling it on a flat surface the motor makes it really easy, but since the British version costs £700 (almost $1,400) we're really not thinking it's worth it.

Related Stories:
· Live Luggage [Official Site]
· The £700 Motor Suitcase That Drove Me Wild [UK Times]
· The Suitcase You Can't Lose [Jaunted]

[Photo: LiveLuggage]