I don’t know if there is anything I hate quite as much as listening to traffic reports on the radio. The grating voices, the lightning-fast run down and the annoying background noise make it impossible for me to keep track of what it is they are telling me. Especially if I want to think back to what they said before making a route choice.
Besides, in the world of satellite radio and in-car MP3 players, who listens to the AM/FM format while driving anymore? But I, like most, still love traveling by car, and so traffic jams are always a risk. Checking the net for traffic information isn’t helpful if you can’t do it on the road, with conditions changing through the day and a sudden accident enough to lock up a freeway for hours.
That is why I have turned – as I so often do – to my Android phone and the many apps that have been created to maximize convenience in today’s busy world. It is great that they now have traveling and traffic apps, because this smartphone is in my hand so often that my family probably thinks a prankster has super glued it there.
Here are some of the best apps for avoiding traffic jams to download onto your Android phone:
This can officially be labeled a classic choice. Google is the single largest web company around, and they are famous for their many products. One of their most used is their Google Maps, which you can now get on your phone.
You get the usual features of looking up any area on a map grid, but there is also a navigation aspect that they have on the program itself, which will give you good directions. It will also let you know of any traffic problems in the area so you can find and follow an alternative route.
A handy GPS unit, Waze is socially based, just like all of the biggest Internet products. It works by allowing you and other drivers to build interactive maps based on the on-board GPS unit in your Android phone.
They have a navigation tool to plan rroutes for walking, running and driving, as well as real time traffic updates to avoid trouble spots. But it tends to have more information than some other apps, such as information on local areas and a social networking feature.
Where is like an all-in-one travel app. Not only does it give you current traffic conditions updated in real time, but you can find local restaurants, events, places of interest, deals and offers from nearby businesses and more.
You can save personalized ”favorites” that keep track of spots you visit often to target results when accessed, such as any accidents or slowdowns on the way there.
There’s a similar app for iPhone coming later this year from Cheaphotels.org.
Conclusion
Don’t get stuck in traffic, or stuck listening for a quickly-spoke traffic report on the radio. If you have an Android phone, the details are just a few clicks away. What are some of your favorites? Let us know in the comments.
Unboxing of the limited edition Nokia Lumia 800 Dark Night Rises. This version of the Nokia Lumia 800 ties in with Batman, The Dark Night Rises. The phone wont be for sale and there is only 40 made worldwide.
I came across this amazing wooden iPhone 4 case that I would love to get my hands on! This wooden iPhone 4 case makes it look like you are taking a photo with an amazing old school camera. Sexy, old and futuristic at the same time!
Samsung Illusion 4G pictures have been floating around for some time now, but it has been confirmed that Verizon will be shipping the Samsung Illusion 4G in the US this holiday season.
A leaked rebate sheet reveals the device could be headed to Verizon very soon.
Cnet have put together a very cool video that journies through the life of the iPhone (and the phone in general). The journey moved from the very first phone call in 1973 all the way through to the iPhone 4.
It seems as though Steve Jobs’ last project was the iPhone 5. An inside source has been disclosing the details and it all seems understandable.
The iPhone 4S was not a major rework of the iPhone, it was just a tech spec upgrade. Jobs was working on the iPhone 5 which we will probably see at Apple’s next Developer conference.
As you may have already heard. There is no iPhone 5 release, but instead an iPhone 4S release. The iPhone 4S has the same design as the iPhone 4, but it is a lot faster under the hood.
You will be able to pre-order from October 7th and then available to buy October 14th.
It has been reported that Apple will start selling their iPhone 5 on either October 7 or October 15. It is set to be available to pre-order on the 29th of September.
There have been a lot of rumours around the iPhone 5, but this seems to be pretty solid!
When reverse phone look up services were first introduced, they seemed completely frivolous. Why use a reverse phone look up service when everyone has caller-ID these days? While the service may superficially seem far fetched, it actually has some pretty cool uses.
These services, such as Anywho’s reverse phone number finder, essentially finds the person who belongs to a phone number you may have. Why would anyone have a phone number, but not a person attached to that number? For plenty of reasons, including:
Prank-Calls
Prank calling is predominately a thing of the past thanks to Caller-ID, but it still happens more than you think, and it can be quite annoying to repeatedly receive calls late into the night. Instead of answering the phone and threatening whoever is calling you with hopes of scaring them into stopping, simply type their number into a serve like Anywho, find their info, and send it over to your local police station. Those pesky calls will be sure to stop in no time.
Telemarketing
Telemarketers are some of the most relentless callers on the planet, and have been known to contact the same individual up to three times in the same day. If you find yourself receiving frequent calls from mysterious numbers which you are sure are telemarketers, don’t answer to receive an earful of sales pitches. Reverse phone look up the number to find out the exact company name and then put yourself on their no call list. If they continue to harass you, you can then take their information to the BBB.
Found Numbers
Do you ever come across numbers that you have written on miscellaneous papers or notes. Instead of having to call the number and giving the person the tenth degree before figuring out who they are, you can now simple type the number in to a reverse phone look up service. You may find out that the number is innocuous and simply that of your family physician, or you may find that it is the number of that man or woman who wouldn’t stop bothering you at your last conference – the one whose number you wrote down simply to be polite.
Services like reverse phone look up exist because they actually do have a few great uses. If they were completely worthless, companies, like the one that runs AnyWho, would waste their resources to keep the site up and running. The service is free too, which gives you all the more reason to use it the next time an unidentified number comes across your smart phone.
The Rotary Mechanical Smartphone is a very cool modern touch screen phone that has been steampunked! I really love the old school dial and the touchscreen combination.
The longer the phone is carried around and used, the more attractive it will get: the overlying layer of paint will wear away to expose the electroplated copper body beneath.
