We’ve all heard horror stories from people who’ve gone away on a trip and then returned home to a huge bill thanks to their mobile phone roaming on data networks when they’re away. The good news is, this doesn’t have to be you. There are lots of options for getting internet access when you travel, ranging from entirely free through to more premium options. In today’s post … [Read more...]
Oppo R7 Android Smartphone Review
I’ve been using an Oppo phone for almost two years now as my main phone. You might not have heard of Oppo, but they’re making big strides in the smartphone world, currently ranked as the eighth most popular smartphone brand in the world, and shipping 50 million devices in 2015. Basically, they’re big in the Asian markets, but still making inroads in the rest of the world. … [Read more...]
The Best Backup Solutions for Travel
When we travel, we often rely very heavily on technology to help us preserve the memories of the trip we are taking. From photos to diary entries, trip notes to budget tracking, technology pops its head up all over the place to help us out. But what happens when things go wrong? What if our laptop or camera is stolen, or the hard drive fails, or we get some kind of virus … [Read more...]
Reviewing the LG G4 Phone– Plus how to win one yourself!
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of LG. The opinions and text are all mine. Ah, smartphones. I remember my first one, almost a decade ago (!) - a venerable device with an actual keyboard, with which I could access the internet using a technology called WAP. At least, I think that’s what it was, my memory is a little hazy. Unfortunately, back … [Read more...]
Working from My Happy Place With the HP Stream 8 Powered by Intel Inside®
This branded content was produced by me as part of the HP & Intel #WorkFromHappyPlace project, and I was compensated for taking part in this campaign. All thoughts remain my own – see my code of ethics for more information. Work. It’s not a word that conjures up tremendous excitement I suspect. I am lucky, admittedly, in that I get to do what I love (for the … [Read more...]
The Best Travel Apps – 2021 Edition
Pretty much everyone these days travels with a smartphone or tablet device - and we're no exception! In this post, we're going to round up what we think are the best travel apps that we use on a daily basis when we travel. We've been using a smartphone in our travels since 2010, and in that time, we've seen a lot of apps come and go. Not to mention a lot of smartphones! In … [Read more...]
MiFi review – XCom Global Europe Travel Plan
When XCom Global got in touch and asked me if I wanted to take their mobile hotspot for a spin, naturally I leapt at the chance. After all, the promise of a device that lets you connect to the internet from wherever you happen to be sounds rather splendid. I didn’t really think it through in terms of a review, which maybe I should have done. You see, little plastic boxes … [Read more...]
Dear future technology: a travellers wishlist
Today, I’m going to do one of my rare technology themed posts. I’m writing about what I’d like to see from my technology in the coming years. Don’t worry. I’ll be back to talking about the rest of the world’s awesomeness soon enough. I’m not one to complain. I already have the equivalent of a 1970’s supercomputer available to me … [Read more...]
How to find free internet in New Zealand
New Zealand has a lot to offer. Widely available free internet is not one of those things. The reasons for this are naturally cost related, with the cost of providing internet access being a prohibitive factor for most businesses. This situation is improving, with fibre rollouts planned, but for now, it’s not easy getting your internet fix on. However, there are a few … [Read more...]
How to increase your Alexa rank
Alexa is a widely used metric for measuring a website’s popularity. Websites are assigned a score, which starts at 1 for the most popular (currently Google), and then increases in number as sites are deemed to be less popular. Today, in one of my rare technology themed posts, I’m going to share some thoughts and tips on how you can improve your site’s Alexa … [Read more...]