Top 10 travel gadgets for Dad on the go

1.Portable laptop/tablet
Laptops are getting smaller and lighter and if you can you should bring one along. With a laptop you can go online, read emails, check Facebook, watch movies, store photos and videos. They are convenient to have period. And now with the tablet it is even easier to take one on a trip.

Laptop/tablet reviews:
http://www.pcmag.com/category2/0,2806,9,00.asp
http://www.consumersearch.com/laptops/compare
http://www.pcmag.com/category2/0,2806,2358246,00.asp


2. i/Android Phone
A smart phone lets you access travel tools such as emails, maps, GPS, compass, check the Internet for hotel and restaurant reviews etc.
The iPhone/Pad/Pod is essential for killing time while traveling on buses, trains, and airplanes. With amount of apps available these days for these and Android phones you can keep everyone entertained for ours, find useful information, and simply find and listen to music while on a trip.


3. Travel related Apps

Best travel app I have seen yet! It is awesome and it's free

(NOTE: Language packs must be purchased from within the app)

Wi-Fi Finder - Instantly find Wi-Fi Internet hotspots wherever you are online or offline(free)
FlightTracker - Live Flight Status Tracker
Currency Converter- up-to-date exchange rate information for over 100 currencies and countries(free)
Spanish Phrasebook - 630 spoken phrases
Google Translate - Translate words and phrases between more than 50 languages
TripIt - Travel organizer (free)
GasBag - gas price finding applications (free)
Shazam - quickest and easiest way to discover more about music, identify the track, buy it, check out the videos, get the lyric
Gowalla - social travel guide and passport on your phone (free)
Truphone - transforms your 2nd or 3rd generation iPod Touch into a phone (free, though rate charges apply)


4.Noise-Cancelling Headphones
Music just makes the day go faster and helps you immerse in your own world and your relaxation. Give your dad a music interlude with comfortable and stylish noise-cancelling headphones to provide him with some uninterrupted personal time.

Noise-cancelling headphones give the ability to listen to what they want while avoiding outside interference and help reduce the risk of hearing impairment as well. These headphones also provide excellent music quality. With high sensitivity, excellent impedance and a wide frequency range. Frequent travelers consider noise-cancelling headphones a necessity rather than a luxury. This gadget would be something that is at the top of the list of things to take along on flight or ride. They can:
- reduce the whoosh of airplanes' ac and engines
- tune out snoring neighbors
- drown out kid noise
- just help you tune out

Noise canceling headphones - life saver for travelers?

Cool Find of Today: How Do Noise Reducing Headphones Work?

5. Water bottle 
Reusable water bottle keeps you hydrated during the trip, keeps the liquid cool, and can be used over and over instead of buying and carrying multiple water bottles. Hence these bottles save money, space and weight. And they also help save our planet.
It is well known that to avoid waterborne creepy crawlies you should not drink tap water in places where you are not sure about its quality. Having a reusable water bottle with you instead, you can fill it up at a hotel or other sources of safe drinking water before heading out.
Also bottled water available for purchase has a significant impact on the environments we visit. A better choice and also much cheaper would be to take a reusable water bottle. That combined with a water purifier would make travel more budget-friendly, healthier, as well as eco-friendly.


6. Compact Digital Camera
A digital camera is probably the most essential travel tool so make sure you have one ready for your next trip.
When going on longer trips or tours, that would be better taken in without a lot of bags to drag around, it is great to take along a point-and-shoot camera. As mentioned in post Rechargeable batteries charger - saves money saves planet, it is more convenient to have a digital camera as well as rechargeable batteries. Some small cameras nowadays can take great shots that are almost as good as some semi-pro ones. Get your dad ready for the trip and his stint as a photo journalists with a digital camera with a 10x (or there about) optical zoom to have some great resolution memories. It would also be great to have a little folding tripod like the one from Gorillapod with the digital camera. Gorillapod is a very bendy tripod. It goes just about anywhere with its flexible legs that can wrap around objects and let you take pictures without having to hold the camera. This way you can get a whole shot of the family without leaving dad behind the camera.

7. GPS
One of the most annoying things about going on vacation is getting lost. If you've never been to the area and aren't good at reading a map, then consider taking along a GPS. You'll be surprised at the number of options that you have for a GPS device. You'll find a number of pocket size, easy to use options in GPS, with more coming out every year. There's no excuse to get lost anymore!


8. Charging pad/pod
Most travelers are taking along a cell phone on their trips nowadays. A cell phone charger could certainly come in handy if your battery runs out and you aren't near your hotel, right? There are options for cell phone chargers that using hand crank technology, and an even smaller option that uses 1 AA battery to charge up your cell phone for a full 5 minutes of use. That should be long enough to call the hotel and get directions back to it or to call a taxi.

This would especially be great when traveling and have your cell phone and a couple of cameras and a GPS with you.  The Chargepod comes with 6 adapters to accomodate different types of connections as well. And you can tell that it is designed as a travel gadget since it is also compatible with all foreign 120/240 V adapter wall plugs. It is compatible with most phones, PDAs, MP3 players, GPS and portable gaming systems.

Charging pad - lets you charge multiple electronics at once without having to plug all of them in an outlet. Only the charging pad gets plugged in and all other gadgets are placed on top of it. The devices are charged using inductive charging. It is a wireless charging method used for mid-sized items such as cell phones, MP3 players and PDAs

9. Digital Travel Clock & Photo Frame
Foldable digital travel clocks are great to have as you can set them up ahead of time and would not need to figure out the ones provided in the hotel rooms each time you travel. Dad can tote these with him wherever he goes as they are light and some can be set for multiple time zones. Perfect solution for the dad who travels a lot.
Moreover, the digital clocks with photo frames are great gift for dad or other frequent travelers so that they can always keep photos of their friends and family with them as the picture viewer comes built into the clock. Upload your favorite family photos and wake up to them every morning no matter where you are in the world


10. Swiss Army knife
Swiss Army knife - its a classic multi-tool. Everything you need and more within one device. The basic models include a blade, scissors, nail file with a screwdriver tip, tweezers, and a key ring. Now it also comes with tech gadgets such as USB, flashlight, digital clock and thermometer. Dad would be glad to have this gadget along (make sure it travels in checked-in luggage) on a trip as it can be very handy in numerous situations and make him feel like a regular Macgyver. Check out multiple versions on SwissArmy site http://www.swissarmy.com/MultiTools/Pages/default.aspx?category=multitools&

Did You Know?:
With regular headphones you have to turn the volume up several decibels to drown out the noise around you. Even raising the music a few decibels can cause permanent significant damage to hearing.

Make your travel buddies jealous.. and be green

 I have been talking up traveling with a reusable water bottle in a few of my posts. There are quite a few benefits of using these bottles such as keeps you hydrated during the trip, keeps the liquid cool, saves money, saves you from drinking water that could cause issues, as well as helps save the planet by keeping the plastic bottles out of the landfills. It can also make your friends jealous...
 Last weekend we and a couple of our friends took a trip to Botanical Gardens. It was a sunny day but quite muggy for Spring. As we have been there once before, we knew we need to travel light and also have some essentials with us. We took with us sunglasses, a hat, put on sunscreen, and a bpa free plastic water bottle very similar to this one: Nalgene Tritan BPA-Free Water Bottle. In the Botanical Garden they do not allow outside food and drink unless it is water as they have a cafe that sells these. When our friends saw the water bottle their reaction was a slap on a forehead saying "That's great idea. Why didn't we think of that."
 As we continued on our tour of the gardens we visited some greenhouses that had tropical forest plants and were very hot and humid, desert native plants with very dry atmosphere, and the garden itself which was warm in the sunlight. We were very glad we had the water with us to keep us hydrated and going. And we were able to fill it back up at our pit stop. Our friends also filled up on water from the fountain. The water bottles at the cafe were selling for $3. It was a great trip as the weather held up and also got a bit cooler towards the end of the walk through, we saw a lot, hung out with friends, enjoyed a lot of greenery and oxygen, and also did our small part in keeping the planet green.

 Our next weekend trip is to Atlantic City. With lots of casinos, restaurants and entertainment, it is well known for pricey outings and nutty prices for bottles of water. We already have a couple of reusable water bottles ready to go, as well as camera, sunscreen, and sunglasses.

 What are some weekend trips have you taken? And how do you keep them green and fun?

How to take care of reusable water bottle

Make love not landfill

New Cool Gadget Find of Today: Wrist watches making a comeback?

I have a great time piece by Fossil that I have had for quite a few years. Actually since I finished high school as that was a graduation present to myself. And until a couple of years ago I would not have gone anywhere without it. However, I have not worn the watch in quite awhile since, like most folks these days, I always have the phone with me to tell me the time. This new watch/gadget might be changing that.
Fossil is looking to make wrist watches relevant once again with their new model Metawatch, that will be available in stores in July 2011.
There are two models, one analog/digital with two 16x80 white OLED (organic light-emitting diode) displays and digital with 96x96 reflective/always on display technology. The analog watch has two hands, and the 2 screens appear above and below that can show updates and information. The digital watch has a reflective LCD face that can display just about anything, but only in black and white.
The Metawatches use Bluetooth technology to sync with the phone and are able to display email notifications, Twitter/Facebook updates, and other short messages. They also have a rechargeable battery.

...

Metawatch press release:

Meta WatchTM offers developers freedom to start their own wrist revolution

Richardson, TX, May 3, 2011 - Meta WatchTM is proud to announce a wearable development system that enables rapid development of 'connected-watch' applications. With Meta Watch, developers can quickly and easily extend the interfaces of devices and applications to the wrist. The Meta Watch platforms utilize embedded Bluetooth® technology to connect to smartphones, tablets and other electronics devices. The Meta Watch SDK/API makes it easy for the watch to display information from mobile applications or Internet services. For complete information, visit www.metawatch.org.

Meta Watch platforms are available in analog digital or digital versions, and include: a 3 ATM water resistant stainless steel case; leather strap; mineral glass crystal; vibrating motor; three-axis accelerometer, and ambient light sensor. Optimized for low-power operation, both watch platforms are based on the MSP430TM ultra-low-power microcontroller and CC2560 Bluetooth host controller interface solution from Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI).

"Meta Watch makes our everyday mobile experience much better by enabling us to view important mobile notifications at the right time with virtually no effort", said Bill Geiser, Vice President Watch Technology, Fossil. "Of course, you can get this information today, but it requires many different steps. Meta Watch simply makes it more convenient and, in the process, it opens the door to new partnerships like we have with TI and a growing network of development partners."

"TI welcomes the opportunity to work with the Meta Watch team on creating a new channel for the community, and to helping developers push the watch's capabilities to the next level," said Eran Sandhaus, Director of marketing, wireless connectivity solutions, TI. "TI's MSP430 ultra-low-power microcontroller and CC2560 Bluetooth host controller interface provide a solid foundation for the next- generation, connected devices based on the Meta Watch's sleek form factor. We look forward to seeing the Meta Watch community flourish with ideas for wearable technology that will spark new consumer experiences for years to come."

Why good to have on a trip:
- easily view messages, emails and notifications without taking out the phone
- safety, no need to display your expensive phone/gadget
- a reason to keep wearing a wrist watch

Earn Cash for Gadgets With Trade-In Programs

Here is a list of current trade-in programs:

(via laptopmag.com)

Amazon
www.amazon.com/trade-in

One of the latest to enter the tech trade-in fray, online retailer Amazon recently expanded its trade-in service to include gadgets such as tablets, phones, MP3 players, and cameras. Users looking to get rid of old gear will receive reimbursement in the form of store credit deposited directly into their Amazon accounts. The site sends you a box and a label to cover the cost of shipping.

BuyBackWorld
www.buybackworld.com

BuyBackWorld covers the basics, letting you sell old gadgets or donate them for recycling if they’re not worth anything. When you visit the site you’re greeted by a video avatar, which offers the basic directions. This site looks the least professional in terms of the design, but it also offers a referral program where you can make $10 for every $100 worth of electronics that one of your friends sells.

BuyMyTronics
www.buymytronics.com

This site will accept cell phones, smartphones, digital cameras, MP3 players, eReaders, game consoles, GPS devices, and all Apple products. BuyMyTronics promises to wipe all personal data before the devices are recycled. The service covers the cost of shipping and then pays you via check or PayPal. BuyMyTronics also offers a unique fundraising option; the site will send you a giant box that you could place, say, in the middle of an office space. People can then deposit their old gadgets in the donation box. When you’re done, you mail it in using the pre-paid shipping labels. You can then have the funds sent directly to your charity of choice, along with a 5-percent bump, courtesy of BuyMyTronics.

Gazelle
www.gazelle.com

Thanks to an aggressive advertising campaign and excellent service, Gazelle is the most prominent company in this space; it handles the trade-in program for Walmart, where you can get store credit for your old gadgets. In addition to buying your gadgets (everything from laptops and eReaders to Blu-ray players and video games) for cash, Gazelle allows you to send them in for recycling. However, the service won’t pay for shipping if your device is worth less than $1.

The site also has a charitable side. You can organize a gadget drive, where a group donates its old gadgets to Gazelle, with the proceeds from the sales going to a charity of your choosing. And if you’re in Boston, you can drop off the gadget directly at the Gazelle office.

NextWorth
www.nextworth.com

Helpfully, NextWorth offers in-store drop-off. You can take your used cell phones, cameras, game consoles, DVDs, and other gear into one of 850 more than Target stores nationwide, and exchange them on the spot for either a gift card or store credit. If you’re in range of a Target, it’s hard to beat that level of convenience.

YouRenew
www.yourenew.com

YouRenew offers the basics in the cash-for-gadgets space, and its claim to fame is that it’s the “easiest, fastest, and greenest way to turn your old electronic devices into cash.” If your gadget isn’t worth anything, or if you don’t want any money, you can simply turn it in and recycle it. For every device YouRenew takes in, the company lets you choose between a donation to Carbonfund.org (one metric ton of carbon offset per 20 recycled devices) or Americanforests.org (one planted tree for every four YouRenew customers who choose this option). YouRenew also offsets all its carbon emissions through CO2stats.com.

Did You Know?:
Some of the recycled gadgets get refurbished and donated to schools, armed forces, or 3rd world countries. Additional info on recycling your no longer needed gadgets: Recycling Old Gadgets