Travel

ZAGGsparq Review: the Best Portable Battery Available

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated January 24, 2016

As a frequent traveler and an iPhone addict, I always worry to run out of batteries in an airport or worse, in the middle of a flight. I've tried various options for making sure I would never run out of juice but I never found the right accessory that would fulfill my needs: convenience, ease of use, light weight.

That was until the peeps at Zagg sent me a review copy of their ZAGGsparq, a 2-in-1, or maybe I should say a 3-in-1 accessory for iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, and virtually any smartphone out there, but we'll obviously focus on the iPhone part...

iPhone, is There Anything This Phone Can’t Do?

Cody Lee ∙ Updated March 27, 2018

It was a Thursday morning like any other. I woke up at 7:45am to "Kanye West - Addiction" blaring from my Sony alarm clock/ipod dock. I grabbed my iPhone off that dock and hobbled to the bathroom and launched a pre made playlist to listen to as I got ready for work.

For those of you who frequent the blog this is a great example of where my beef with the iPhone's speaker quality comes into play. But that's neither here nor there. I updated myself on the day's technology news using RSS Reader and bouncing around from site to site, once again on my iPhone.

AT&T Data Rates in Mexico Are Just Crazy

Sébastien Page ∙ July 9, 2010

As I was driving along the Mexican border between Phoenix and San Diego yesterday, I received this text message from AT&T, which I assume thought I was already on the other side of the border. The text message was sent to alert me of the prices abroad.

Almost a dollar per minute for phone calls! $20 per MB? Really? That sure is going to be some expensive emails...

The moral of this story, if any, is that you should always be careful what you do with your iPhone when traveling oversea, especially with data which can run in the background and get you bad surprises at the end of your trip.

If you're going to use your iPhone abroad, I suggest you check out these tips for traveling overseas with an iPhone.

10 iPhone Apps for Travelers

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated January 27, 2019

The iPhone is one of the most popular devices that has been made in the last decade and there are now literally thousands of applications designed for it. But with all of those apps to choose from, which ones are best to make sure you take with you on your travels?

Take a look at this list of some of the 10 most powerful iPhone applications available for you to download today.

1. Cheap Gas! (Free) Cheap Gas! helps you locate the lowest priced gas closest to wherever you're at and then display a map showing you the specific location. The application utilizes the built-in GPS feature to discover the ten nearest gas stations with the lowest prices according to GasBuddy.com. You even have the option to search based on zip code and determine whether the fuel is unleaded, premium unleaded, or diesel.

2. ExpenseBay (Free) Developed by Expense Cloud, this application removes the demand to maintain an actual collection of receipts and bills gathered throughout your travels, which puts a stop to any potential misplaced reimbursements. You can easily add transactions and receipt images to your ExpenseBay.com account in a matter of a few clicks, and also modify existing expenses that still require to be billed to a client or submitted for reimbursement.

3. GateGuru (Free) GateGuru is an application that provides intricate detail about services available at different gates at more than 80 major airports in the United States, as well as several others throughout the world. This application is extremely useful when you want to get a quick bite prior to boarding your flight and you're not familiar with the airport.

4. HopStop (Free) Similar to the website service available at HopStop.com, this particular application offers in depth public transportation directions and advice. Regardless of whether you are journeying by bus, subway, cab, or even walking, this iPhone application will enable you to get to exactly where you are heading.

5. Flight Track ($4.99) Flight Track monitors every part of your domestic and international flights together with live updates and gorgeous, zoomable maps. Examine gate numbers, flight delays and cancellations for more than 5,000 airports worldwide.

6. FlightCaster ($1.99) This app uses an innovative formula that tracks information on every single domestic flight within the last decade and then matches it to current conditions to predict delayed flights. At the moment FlightCaster only supports U.S. domestic flights.

7. Free Wi-Fi Finder (Free) Free Wi-Fi Finder does exactly as the name implies. No matter where you are in the world, it will use both your iPhone's GPS feature and network capabilities to to uncover free Wi-Fi Internet access.

8. SitOrSquat (Free) SitOrSquat allows you to track down the closest restrooms nearest to your present location. You can check out close by restrooms on the map or in a list categorized by distance and see which ones are open for use. Not only that, but you can read reviews and ratings, and even see photos of the toilets so that you know what awaits you.

9. AroundMe (Free) Developed by TweakerSoft, AroundMe easily determines your location and helps you pick the closest bank, gas station, hospital, hotel, restaurant, supermarket, and so on. You can view a comprehensive listing of all of the businesses inside the chosen category and see how far they are from where you are at.

10. Urbanspoon (Free) Urbanspoon uses a unique slot machine system that determines a high quality restaurant that you can try when you're hungry, but not sure what exactly to eat. Just shake your iPhone until you find a suggestion that suits your tastes. After locating the restaurant, you can read ratings and even compare your choices with friends. At the moment it is available in most cities in North America, along with London, Melbourne, and Sydney.

This is a guest post by Melissa Tamura. Melissa ranks online schools for the Zen College Life Directory. She most recently wrote about becoming a Massage Therapist.

Traveling With An iPhone: My Experience in Vietnam

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated March 18, 2016

I had done a little research online before flying to Vietnam about the communication network there. Reading the many positive comments about the infrastructure of this country, I flew there very confident that it wouldn't be much of a hustle to find a SIM card for my iPhone.

After going through the very unfriendly Vietnamese customs, I headed straight to the Viettel booth inside the airport. Viettel was not my choice. It just happened to be the only phone store I saw inside Hanoi's airport.

A woman welcame me and asked me what I wanted. As usual, I was pretty clear that all I wanted was a good data plan for my iPhone as well as a few minutes of communication so we can call hotels, etc, in the country.

For about $8, I got a SIM card, 100,000 Dongs of talk time and an extra 50,000 Dongs of bonus time. To activate the data plan, she took my iPhone and sent "3G on" as a text message to the number 161. I immediately got a text message back saying that 3G was activated. Very good.

Now what I wanted to know was the cost of 3G. She was unable to tell me and after calling her own customer support, she came back to me saying they didn't know but that I shouldn't worry too much about that because 3G is very cheap in Vietnam. Ok, not really the answer I expected but there was nothing I could do.

On my way to the hotel, I tried to call Viettel customer service myself, only to be turned down several times in Vietnamese. Since my taxi driver spoke English, I asked him to tell them I wanted to know the cost of 3G and if there was any monthly plan I could sign up for. They didn't know. Hmm, I started wondering if they knew anything at all. Anyways.

I decided not to worry too much about that and started surfing the Vietnamese 3G to email, tweet, blog and more. Turns out I used crap loads of data until I had to recharge my SIM. I didn't make any "scientific" study about it but it was clear that data was dirt cheap.

Viettel doesn't allow internet tethering but I remembered that someone commented on my last travel post about Laos, giving me information about custom APN settings to allow tethering. Sweet! I had tried help.benm.at and unlockit.co.nz to download the custom APN but none of these site had them available.

A big thank you to Thy for telling me about custom APN for Viettel and VinaPhone. Without him, I would have probably been incapable of tethering my iPhone while in Vietnam.

Those of you interested in downloading the custom APN settings to tether your iPhone in Vietnam on Viettel or VinaPhone should go to Giaitri.net. The site is very slow and all in Vietnamese but it clearly says "Internet Tethering" at the top. Then you just need to select your carrier and install the custom APN, then reboot (don't forget to reboot).

While I can't say I'm impressed in any way by Vietnam (no offense to my Vietnamese friends but many bad things happened to me there), I have to admit that their network seriously kicks ass! It is my far the best network I've seen so far in my travels. That's mostly due to the fact that their network is so new that they pretty much have the latest and best technology available.

The only time I didn't have signal was when I was 30 feet underground visiting the tunnels of Cu Chi. At all time I had coverage, with at least Edge and in most cases 3G. 3G is burning fast too, which was really handy when looking for hospitals... but that's another story...

I had to recharge my SIM with 150,000 Dongs, which is about $8 and this last me forever. Definitely the best and cheapest data plan I had been on.

As a side note, it is very easy to find free Internet everywhere in Vietnam. 90% of hotels, bars or restaurants have free wifi available (not even password protected). Vietnam is the most "Internet friendly" country I have ever visited (except for the censorship of Facebook.com in North Vietnam).

I'm now back in Thailand and I am typing this post from the airport, tethering my iPhone thanks to the great (but slow) DTAC network. The network is not as good here as it is in Vietnam but I don't mind it if I can get my health back. We'll be in Thailand for about 3-4 weeks, then heading to Kuala Lumpur to catch a flight to Paris.

If you're traveling with an iPhone in Vietnam, I hope this article will help you figure things out, especially for tethering your iPhone.

Questions or comments, please feel free to write a comment below!

Traveling With An iPhone: My Experience in Laos

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated September 20, 2016

After about 5 months of traveling through Australia, New Zealand, Bali, Thailand, and Cambodia, my lovely fiancee and I decided to check out Laos. Before even going there, I had a bad feeling about the place.

I had done some research online to find out what seemed to be the carrier of choice so I can enjoy the freedom of the Internet on my iPhone. I found some contradictory information and was more confused than not. I gave up on my research thinking that as usual, I'd be able to find a SIM card for my iPhone while at the airport in Laos.

Well, we got there and nowhere was a phone shop to be seen. After settling in our hotel room in Luang Prabang, we went for a walk around town and I bought a SIM card from one of the zillion stores that sell them.

There are several carriers to choose from. I went with Tigo because that's what the lady at the store gave me. It could have been any other carrier, I don't think it would make a big difference in the end.

I asked the lady about Internet. She said "yes yes". After a few months spent in South East Asia, I can tell when someone has no idea what I'm talking about, and she clearly was just saying "yes" to please me and close the deal. So anyways, I have nothing to lose but my $2 so I get a SIM card, pop it in and bingo, it's working without requiring me to tweak the APN settings.

So now I can enjoy calls and data on my iPhone, in Laos, on the Tigo network. Turns out there is no 3G (not a big surprise), and Edge is painfully slow. What's more annoying is that this data plan is costing me a fortune. The $1 credit I was given when I bought the SIM card was gone in 4-5 tweets.

There had to be a better plan than that. Like I did in Cambodia, I have to be able to subscribe to some kind of plan that gives me unlimited Internet for a good price.

I went back to the shop where I got my SIM card and asked the woman about plans. She was absolutely clueless. To this date, I still think she had no idea what I was talking about. So I asked her the phone number for Tigo Customer Service, which she gave me.

I called Customer Service, hoping someone would be able to help me figure out the best option for me. Well, if I hadn't hung up the phone after 15 minutes, I think I'd still be trying to get in touch with them. Basically you just go through an automated menu with no option to talk to a real person. I managed to find an alternative phone number for Tigo's offices and the phone rang and rang forever, with no one answering.

I was really really pissed. I think I was more pissed than I would have normally been in such a situation because I didn't really want to be in Laos in the first place. This whole phone thing was just an excuse for me to justify even more my desire to leave this country asap.

For the next few days, I just recharged my iPhone plan $5 at a time each day. I spent about 4 days in Laos and decided to go back to Cambodia.

Next step is Vietnam. This should be fun!

Oh, did I tell you I shot a bazooka in Cambodia?

Traveling With An iPhone: My Experience in Cambodia

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated January 23, 2016

After spending about a month on the beautiful beaches of Thailand we decided to go to Cambodia for a couple of weeks. Before flying there, I had done a little bit of research and from what I had read it would be very hard for me to get a SIM card. Well, that was not the case.

We landed in Phnom Penh, the capital. The airport was so small that while I was walking and looking around inside the airport to find a Mobile Store, I realized that I was actually out of the airport. Does that make sense? Anyways.

Local SIM Cards

So right in front of the airport exit, I see a handwritten sign saying "Local SIM cards", provided by the local carrier Hello. Nice! I head over there and ask the woman if I can get Internet access with this SIM. She says "yes" but I can tell she's not really convinced by her own answer.

The Hello SIM card is $5 and I get another $5 of credit so we can make a few calls while in the country. After making the mandatory copy of my passport, she gives me the SIM, I put it in my phone, reboot, and bingo, it's working.

First things first, I check if the Internet works. It doesn't because I need to know the Cellular Data APN for this particular carrier, which is hello. Before leaving, I ask her about APN info and she has absolutely no idea what I'm talking about. Finally she says to me "for Internet, call this number", which is the Customer Service Department for Hello in Cambodia.

Getting Internet to Work

While on our way to our hotel, I deciced to call Hello and figure out how to get Internet on my iPhone. The rep I talked to spoke very good English and after asking me about what device I use, he gave me all the info I needed to get 3G and Edge going, namely the APN hellowww.

He also told me more about pricing. It charges 1 cent per 100KB of data used. For $2/day, you can get unlimited data, which is the option I chose. So everyday, I had to send a text message to a specific number to activate my 24 hours of unlimited Internet. Not very practical but not inconvenient either.

Coverage in Cambodia

I was so stoked at first to be on 3G. After a few months in Thailand, Bali, Australia and New Zealand, this Cambodian network was without a doubt the fastest.

As soon as you leave the borders of major cities though, you're on your own, no 3G, no Edge, just the uber slow GPRS. While in Phnom Penh, I was on the fast 3G pretty much all the time. When in Siem Reap, I was mostly on Edge, although there was 3G coverage.

All in all, my experience getting a SIM card and a data plan for my iPhone in Cambodia wasn't too bad. Now that I'm in Laos, I actually regret how easy Cambodia was...

You’re Nothing Without Your iPhone

Sébastien Page ∙ March 1, 2010

As my fiancee and I are a few minutes away from boarding a flight to Cambodia, I'm freaking out at the idea that I might not be able to get a data plan for my iPhone over there.

I've been doing a little bit of research online and the information I got is not reassuring. Apparently you have to be a Cambodian citizen to be able to buy a SIM card. Not much of a problem as you can always pay someone to go get a SIM card for you.

The real bad news for me is that it seems you only get coverage in larger cities.

I've been expressing my concern to my fiancee about this several times during the past day and I think she's getting over it. Today she said to me: "you're nothing without your iPhone, aren't you?"

It made me think about it for a minute and I came to realize that it's not really my iPhone that I need most, it's the mobile Internet access I get anywhere, anytime.

So no, I am not nothing without my iPhone. However, I'm totally miserable without a connection to the Internet that fits in my pocket.

Do you feel the same?

Traveling With An iPhone: My Experience in Thailand

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated January 23, 2016

If you follow this blog on a regular basis, you probably know that I'm traveling for a few months and that I am sharing my experience getting pay-as-you-go plans for my iPhone in every country I visit. So far, I've documented my experiences in Australia, New Zealand, Bali, and it is now time to tell you about Thailand.

Before even going to Thailand, I had done a little research on the web about possible options. Turns out that there are only 2 mobile carriers in Thailand. Additionally, I learned that there is no 3G in Thailand as the communication infrastructures to support 3G haven't been put in place yet.

As soon as we went through the customs at Bangkok airport, I turned on my iPhone, which was still under my Balinese carrier. I received a text message telling me to switch to the Balinese partner in Thailand called DTAC. So I did just this, hoping that I'd be able to get on Edge to at least check my emails. No luck for me. While I was able to make calls, I couldn't get on the Internet.

Easily enough, there was a DTAC store right inside the airport. I went to the counter and inquired about prices. The guy was super friendly and spoke a better English than I do, which is always nice.

So he told me that for $3 I could buy a SIM card, and that they had various plans for talk time and data. Since I'm more interested in data than talk time, I asked him if it was possible to have unlimited Internet for a month.

He gave me a pricing sheet that showed me the various options. For unlimited Internet for 30 days, the price was about $30. So I chose this plan and added $10 worth of talk time so we can call hotels and stuff.

In about 5 minutes from the time I walked in to the time I walked out, I had a brand new Thai phone number with unlimited Internet and about 2 hours of talk time. That was without a doubt the most painless experience ever!

Edge is not very fast but I'm used to it now. And to be honest, it feels like Edge in Thailand is as fast as 3G in Bali or Australia.

The coverage is amazing too! We've been traveling to remote little islands and I've always been able to get coverage. Heck, even on ferries while island hopping, I was still able to tweet and email.

Next stop for us is Cambodia. Hopefully my experience getting a plan for my iPhone there will be as pleasant and easy as it was here in Thailand. To be continued...

Traveling With An iPhone: My Experience In Bali

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated July 24, 2016

My fiancee and I are at month #3 of our travels around South East Asia, and like I did with Australia and New Zealand, I'd like to tell you about my experience traveling with my iPhone in Bali, Indonesia.

Ignorance Will Kill Me

When I first arrived in Bali about 3 weeks ago, I didn't have much hope to get my iPhone hooked up to a local carrier. Sure my iPhone is jailbroken and unlocked but I thought that Bali would never be able to provide me with what I really wanted: 3G.

I was way too judgemental and didn't deem necessary looking into a pay-as-you-go plan. I simply assumed that Indonesia didn't have 3G. How stupid was I!

Then one day I met with the owners of the hotel we were staying at (Villa Bintang in Nusa Dua). It all started with me being curious about their computer set up. After exchanging a few words, I realized that they were French, so we kept chatting in French.

It turned out that Bamboo (the wife) owned an iPhone and couldn't figure out a few things with it. I told her that I knew my way around an iPhone and in 2 minutes, all her iPhone issues were just gone. I asked her if Indonesia had the iPhone and she said that they don't, but she had bought hers in France on her last trip back home. She also confessed that she had paid about $30 to unlock it.

So I asked her what service she used and she told me to get XL, one of the many carriers available in Indo. She advised that I'd go get a SIM card in one of these little shops across the street from the hotel.

Getting Hooked Up With 3G and Talk Time

I first went to the shop by myself and I asked the woman about a SIM card and Internet for my phone. She said she could give me a SIM card and talk time, but to get Internet on my iPhone, I would have to go to the company's headquarter in Denpasar, 30 minutes away. That sounded kinda strange so I asked her again and she confirmed that I needed to "activate" the Internet plan in Denpasar.

I didn't buy anything and I went back to the hotel to ask Bamboo about this. She explained me that these little stores don't want to deal with Internet for some reasons I didn't really understand. But she said that she would walk me through it.

Bamboo then came with me and helped me set up my plan. It just took a few seconds. We walked in the shop (note that there are literally hundreds of these in Bali), I paid about $2.5 for a SIM card and an additional $30 for 3 million pulsas (units).

After doing a quick manipulation on the phone - dialing *123# - and selecting an Internet package, I was all good to go. These 3 million units I bought for $30 actually got me 1.5GB of data.

I was surprised how quick it was. At no time I was asked for an ID or anything. It took about 2 minutes from the time we got in to the time we left, and this included me practicing my "thank you" in Balinese...

I was also suprised by the massive amount of data I had for about $30. 1.5GB is huge! That sure was a change from Australia where every MB costs you a fortune.

The Downside

Getting a SIM card and 3G in Bali sure is easy but I have to admit it's not as reliable as I would hope. 3G here is pretty slow and I noticed that it just disconnects every few minutes.

I tried tethering my iPhone over 3G on a few occasions but it just didn't do it. It would work for 2 minutes, then lose connection, then come back for a minute, then break up again, etc... I don't have the patience for this and when I really want to be productive, I don't mind paying $1 or $2/hour to access the web in an Internet Cafe (they are everywhere).

Conclusion

All in all, getting a SIM card in Bali was probably the most pleasant experience I had dealing with getting a phone plan. It was fast and cheap. Even though the network is not very reliable and makes me miss AT&T, I am still glad I got my iPhone hooked up with a local carrier. I can now tweet, check emails and read the news from almost anywhere on the island, which to me is priceless. After my lovely fiancee, my iPhone really is my best travel companion!

If you have experiences traveling with your iPhone, please share them in the comments. I always enjoy reading your stories.

Traveling With An iPhone: My New Zealand Experience

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated October 10, 2018

Following an article I wrote about a month ago about my experience finding a carrier for my iPhone while traveling through Australia, I wanted to write a quick post about my experience in New Zealand.

As I said in a post earlier last week, internet in Australia sucks big time, which makes me miss AT&T and I was wondering what kind of pay-as-you-go iPhone plan I could get in New Zealand. Prior to flying there, I contacted Chris Rawson, a writer at TUAW who recently moved to New Zealand to ask him what carrier he would recommend.

Chris suggested I go with Vodafone, who apparently is the largest carrier in NZ. Great, I thought. Now I just have to find a Vodafone store when we get in Auckland.

We flew from Sydney to Auckland. We went through the customs without much problems and as we were walking out, I noticed a Vodafone kiosk right in the airport, next to the car rentals offices. Perfect! I walked there, inquired about prices and in just minutes minutes, I had a fully activated SIM card as well as 100MB of data, which is what I need the most.

I also charged the SIM card with $50 which gives me $20 worth of talk time and an extra 500MB of data to satisfy by internet addiction. It took about 10 minutes from the time I started talking to the Vodafone guy to the time I walked away.

The 3G coverage in Auckland and in major cities is good, but as soon as you drive in the country, which is pretty much 95% of the country, you have to rely on GPRS or in some cases, don't get any signal at all.

Dealing with Vodafone was a pleasant experience. Even though the coverage is not great in NZ, it's better than nothing, and it allows me to write this post, while tethering my iPhone from Otorohanga.

We will be in NZ for a few more days, then we will return to Australia where we will stay in Melbourne for a few days before driving all the way west to Perth. I can see much more tethering in my future ;)

AT&T on the iPhone Doesn’t Sound That Bad Anymore

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated November 12, 2018

I was with T-Mobile before getting an iPhone and I was very satisfied. I've never really complained about AT&T. The only problem I have with them is the cost of the service.

I pay roughly $80/month including $30/month for unlimited data. Until now I was really pissed about the $30 which I thought were a complete rip off.

Things have changed since I started traveling overseas... Here in Australia, I pay $50 for 250 minutes of communication and 500MB of data with Optus, and that is where it hurts.

3G in Australia sucks! Internet in general sucks in Australia but 3G is worth than you might even expect. First it is not cheap, but I'm ok with it. It's pre-paid so I don't expect a cheap price. What I'm really disappointed in is the slow 3G network. I feel like I'm back on Edge.

I was able to try it in several places in Eastern Australia, including larger cities like Brisbane and Sydney, but no matter where I am, it still is painfully slow.

Yesterday night, as I was refreshing my email inbox, I started feeling nostalgic of the good old AT&T network. Sure I had a few dropped calls here and there but the 3G coverage is pretty good and most importantly, it is pretty fast.

I miss you AT&T! I miss how fast you can update Twitter. I miss how quickly you load my news feed on Facebook. I miss how fast you download email attachments. Most importantly, I miss the safety of unlimited data download and upload.