Feb 1st, 2012 at 3:30PM: No need to worry about tipping your tour guide on your next trip to Vancouver, Canada, as the OPUS Vancouver hotel has recently added iPads to each of their 96 guest rooms to act as personal tour guides of the city. While the trend of adding tablets to hotel rooms is not a new concept, the OPUS adds a new spin by having the technology reflect the guests' personality and show them around the city. ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
technology posts
Hotel in Vancouver, Canada, puts a new spin on in-room iPads
Feb 1st, 2012 at 3:30PM: No need to worry about tipping your tour guide on your next trip to Vancouver, Canada, as the OPUS Vancouver hotel has recently added iPads to each of their 96 guest rooms to act as personal tour guides of the city. While the trend of adding tablets to hotel rooms is not a new concept, the OPUS adds a new spin by having the technology reflect the guests' personality and show them around the city. ...10 travel resolutions to make in 2012
Jan 6th, 2012 at 12:00PM: It's the beginning of a new year and the time when people start thinking of ways to improve themselves in 2012. Instead of just focusing on how to make yourself better, why not think about ways to make your travels more worthwhile? Here are 10 travel resolutions to make this year.
Go green
Eco-tourism is a hot topic in the world of travel right now, and for good reason. There are myriad ...10 best photography apps for travelers
Dec 30th, 2011 at 2:00PM: Sometimes, your basic camera just doesn't cut it. With all of the advancing technology we now have, the possibilities for travel photography are endless. Before your next trip, make sure to download these ten photography apps that will help you capture, edit, and share the perfect picture.
Pro HDR
Pro HDR is perfect for people who want to take high dynamic range shots without investing in an ...New public artwork imitates the changing mood of the city
Dec 17th, 2011 at 10:00AM:
For the people of Lindau, Germany, there is no such thing as keeping your mood to yourself. At least, not since German artists Julius Von Bismarck, Richard Wilhelmer, and Benjamin Maus installed a "Fuehlometer" (Feel-o-Meter), an interactive piece of public artwork that gauges and replicates the city's mood swings.
The large smiley face is set on top of a lighthouse and changes ...
Does Online Sharing Diminish Real Life Experiences?
Dec 9th, 2011 at 9:00AM:
When we travel, we love to share our experiences. Whether via blog posts, tweets, Facebook status updates or photo sharing apps, broadcasting experiences - particularly those involving travel and food - has become as much a part of life as, well, life itself. But is that a good thing? Does constantly live-sharing experiences diminish the experiences themselves? Watching this video for the ...
Gadling Gift Guide: Tech for Travel
Dec 8th, 2011 at 9:00AM: Travel has certainly changed in the last decade and most of us would probably agree that those changes haven't always been for the best. Fortunately, technology has been one of the bright spots over the past few years however, and we now have a plethora of options for entertainment, staying connected, and getting work done while on the go. Here are a few great gift ideas for the techie traveler on ...Gadling gear review: Samsung Focus Windows phone
Nov 28th, 2011 at 8:00AM: Remember when buying a cell phone was easy? You simply walked into a store, found a device that was the right size and price to fit your needs, bought it, and walked out the door. You usually didn't have to buy another one until that phone died, and the thought of upgrading on an annual basis was nearly unheard of. The increase in demand for smartphones over the past few years, spurred on by the ...New travel alert tool helps passengers get the seats they want, even on sold out flights
Nov 11th, 2011 at 1:00PM: Expertflyer, a company that gives travelers information so that they can get the best possible airline tickets, is offering a free feature to travelers who want to change their seat or who are trying to get onto a sold out flight. To take advantage of the tool, called "Seat Alerts", travelers create a free account on the ExpertFlyer website where they can setup an alert to be notified when the ...Is the iPad a threat to hotel Wi-Fi?
Oct 27th, 2011 at 4:00PM: While many hotels are now offering free Wi-Fi for guests, there now seems to be a glitch in the system, and that glitch is the iPad. Along with other tablet computers, these devices are most often used for video streaming.
David W. Garrison, the chief executive of iBAHN, a provider of information systems for the hospitality industry, explains why this is a problem. "The bits used for video ...Digital technology meets art with a floating orchestra of ping pong balls
Oct 15th, 2011 at 11:00AM: The Poietic Studio in London in the United Kingdom has combined technology with art in their new exhibit, the Floating Orchestra. Here, 19 ping pong balls come to life, becoming orchestral instruments that increase in volume as each ball rises. By manipulating each ball, you can create your own symphony of music. And, how is this all controlled? By technology, of course, via the touchscreen of an ...
Wildlife refuge on island of Sanibel, Florida, introduces iNature Trail for smartphone users
Oct 13th, 2011 at 3:00PM: The J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge has introduced a new interactive smartphone capability for visitors. Called iNature Trail, the program utilizes QR (Quick Response) codes that are located around the refuge, which can be scanned by your smartphone using free downloadable applications like Neoscan and QR Scan. Once scanned, the codes will bring up YouTube videos and other informative ...
How smartphones are changing air travel
Oct 12th, 2011 at 2:00PM: According to SITA/Air Transport World's 2011 Passenger Self-Service Survey, airline passenger use of smartphones has doubled in the past year, making it now 54%. Not only that, but 74% of business and first class passengers had a smartphone on them at the time of data collection. The survey questioned 2,457 air passengers from 70 countries and 73 airlines.
In an article from The Press, they ...Download Wikitravel to your smartphone for free
Oct 11th, 2011 at 2:00PM: One of the biggest difficulties for the modern traveler in a foreign country is in acquiring smartphone data. Domestic telecom companies, still stuck in the stone age of pricing models charge a ridiculous amount for international data, and horror stories about $85,000 phone bills have flooded the internet.
Without a data plan to download Google Maps or reference the cloud for research, dynamic ...Lost pyramids found in Egypt
May 25th, 2011 at 8:30AM:
You'd think it would be pretty hard to lose a pyramid, yet in fact plenty have gone missing in Egypt over the years. Not all of them are giant edifices like the Great Pyramid at Giza. Most are only a dozen or so meters high and were meant to house the body of a Queen. In 2008 the pyramid of Sesheshet was discovered in the desert near Saqqara, and now a survey using infrared satellite imagery has ...Warsaw, Poland: an up-and-coming European museum destination
Mar 16th, 2011 at 9:30AM:
As an EU member with a good exchange rate and low prices, Poland is becoming a popular tourist destination in Eastern Europe. Most of the love goes to Krakow, with its original architecture and "new Prague" charm, but capital city Warsaw has plenty to offer as a European museum destination. While much of the old town was leveled in World War II, the restorations have been painstakingly done and ...What's in your pack: Scott Carmichael
Feb 22nd, 2011 at 9:00AM:
It has been several years since we last visited our "What's in your pack" segment here on Gadling. As times (and gadgets) have changed, it is time to breath some fresh air into the feature, and we'll start with yours truly.
Lets get something out in the open - I'm a total gadget freak. My gadget needs go way, way beyond the usual "laptop, camera, charger", and it isn't uncommon for my ...Word Lens: the iPhone app that will change travel
Dec 17th, 2010 at 7:30AM:
There aren't many apps that come along and significantly alter the way we live or travel, but this is one of them. The future is here.
Word Lens, released yesterday by QuestVisual, is an iPhone application that analyzes text in either Spanish or English and produces live translations in real time on your iPhone's screen. Just point your iPhone's camera at a sign, menu, or document and the ...The future of budget travel: Q&A with Benji Lanyado
Dec 16th, 2010 at 11:00AM: Many budget travel topics are old hat. Everyone interested in traveling on a budget knows, for example, about the money-saving potential of hostels, supermarket dining, train passes, and low-cost airlines.
We can come up with tips, talk about new stylish hostels, pass on information about fare sales, and strategize about how best to exploit a particular train pass, but the truth is that there ...Europe expands high-speed train system with new bridge
Dec 12th, 2010 at 9:00AM:
A new bridge across the Ill river in Strasbourg is a major step forward for the European Union's plans for a high-speed railway reaching from Paris to Bratislava, the BBC reports.
An earlier bridge had only one track and could only carry trains going a maximum of 100 kph (62mph). The new bridge has two tracks and can deal with trains going 160kph (99mph). The Paris-Bratislava line is one of a ...Prehistoric balls may have built Stonehenge
Dec 11th, 2010 at 2:00PM:
There have been a lot of theories over the years about how Stonehenge was built. Moving massive stones ranging from 4 to 45 tons over hundreds of miles isn't easy in modern times, and certainly was a challenge 4,500 years ago. The two leading theories--log rollers and wooden sledges greased with animal fat--both have detractors. Many archaeologists believe rollers would have left deep scars in ...
