I’m sure many of us lost hours of previous vacation time wandering the streets of an unfamiliar city wishing we had a smartphone with ready access to the Internet. There’s good news for travelers who are headed to Hong Kong: Handy , a new smartphone rental service, has officially launched in the city, offering unlimited 3G service, local and international calls on its Samsung Galaxy Note or Nexus devices.
Handy maintains that its service is the “only one of its kind in the world”, though it’s certainly not the first company to rent out smartphones. It does, however, do more than just provide a device, as it has preloaded guides for tourists and will also offer exclusive deals from partnerships around the city.
Special offers include discounts on tours, massage packages, and tasting menus. Much like an Amazon device, those deals could actually help subsidize the cost of the rental by providing a secondary source of revenue for Handy.
Speaking of which, Rentals start at $9 (HK$68) a day, though a current promotion that runs through the end of the month brings the price down to an affordable HK$18. Of course, a deposit is required, and it will be kept if the device is lost or stolen. One generous feature is the inclusion of Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and USB tethering support.
Terence Kwok, the CEO and founder handy’s holding company Think Labs, called the product “the next exciting chapter in travel technology.” He said the soft opening was “incredibly successful” and reached near-perfect customer satisfaction during the trial.
Handy is launching with two service counters at the Hong Kong International Airport and has plans to add additional distribution channels in coming months. Currently, the only devices on offer are the Galaxy Note and Nexus, though the company is looking into other devices as well.
Think Labs says that Handy is “the first step” in its goal to meet the needs of global travelers, so it’s possible that the service could make its way to other cities if successful. We’ve contacted them to ask and will update if we hear back from them.
Image via Pond 5
Here’s everything you need to know about Apple’s iPhone 5 event
As usual, there were plenty of rumors and speculation in the months ahead of today’s Apple event, some of which managed to spoil the surprise. Since so much was announced just a few minutes ago, including the brand spankin’ new iPhone 5, we’ve put together this hefty guide to make sure you stay in the loop on all things Cupertino.
Opening up the event, Tim Cook has revealed a number of new statistics. Most notably, there are a total of 380 Apple stores in 13 countries , all of which support 1 million visitors a day. Apple has also announced it has sold 7 million copies of Mountain Lion , and that downloads have more than doubled in just two months.
Later on, Cook shared that 90% of the over 700k apps in the App Store are downloaded every single month. Additionally, Apple announced that there are now 200 million iTunes in the Cloud users .
As expected, Apple has revealed its latest iPhone , dubbed the iPhone 5 , featuring a larger 4″ screen, support for 4G LTE (and HSPA+, DC-HSDPA), Apple’s A6 chip with 2x faster CPU and 2X faster graphics capabilities, improved battery life, wideband audio and a faster, 8MP camera .
More specifically, the new device is 7.6mm thick (which is 18% thinner than the iPhone 4S), 112 grams and 20% lighter than the iPhone 4S. Additionally, it still features a 326 PPI display, despite the screen size increase. It is priced the same as the 4S was at $199 – $399; as such, the 4S now costs $99 and the 4 will be free with contract. All three of these devices will run iOS 6.
“It’s a jewel. It’s the most beautiful product we’ve ever made, bar none,” said Apple’s Phil Schiller.
There can be 5 rows of icons now, instead of four, as the screen has been elongated vertically with 176 rows of pixels. All of Apple’s iLife suite has been updated to take advantage of this new screen size. Pre-orders begin on September 14th , and the device will start shipping on the 21st.
To learn more, check out our first look at the new iPhone 5 . You can also read more about the iPhone 5’s upgraded FaceTime camera .
Named similarly to its older brother, Thunderbolt, Apple’s new Lightning connector is 80% smaller and more durable than the old 30-pin connector from 2003. Sadly, an adapter for that old connector will cost you at least $29 .
This move was surely made to make room for the iPhone 5’s upgraded components. Read more here .
Apple has announced today that iOS 6 will be available for download starting September 19th. As we said above, iOS 6 is coming to the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, 4S and iPhone 5. We’ve known most of the details relating to iOS 6 since it was first announced months ago, and now it’s finally ready for the masses. Read more here .
Apple’s iPod Touch has also received a major update today, featuring a 4″ display, Siri, Airplay and a 32nm A5 chip. The device will be available in 5 colors (black, silver, blue, red, yellow), is 6.1mm thick and weighs just 88 grams.
Read more here .
Apple’s iPod Nano continues to evolve: the device is now 50% thinner with a 2.5″ multitouch display and Bluetooth support. The Nano continues to support video playback, and comes in 7 colors (black, magenta, blue, silver, green, yellow and red).
Read more here .
The classic white Apple headphones have received a major update and a new name: EarPods . The new EarPod headphones feature a “natural fit and increased durability,” plus improved acoustic quality. Given that the previous headphones were known for their sub-par fidelity, this is a welcome change.
EarPods are shipping today. Read more here .
As you’d expect, iTunes 11 has been announced , bringing integration for iCloud right inside the software. But what’s perhaps more interesting is what Apple appears to have done with Ping, its less-than-impressive social networking service which was built into iTunes last year. Artists can now share photos directly with listeners and search has been improved.
Apple also touted that there have been 29 billion iTunes song purchases across 63 countries. Read more here .
All in all, today is clearly an important day for Apple, but it comes without many surprises — thanks to all the leaks that surfaced over the past few months. The iPhone 5 was the star of the show, and all of the above releases keep Apple looking quite competitive against its rivals.
There is no word on new Mac updates or if NFC will ever be embraced, but you can see all of TNW’s Apple event coverage by clicking the image below:
Via: Macworld , Engadget , The Verge , GDGT & Wired under Creative Commons license. Featured image by Dennis Goedegebuure, originally posted at DPictureom at Apple White Logo, color background . Creative Commons 2.0 License: Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Nomadic’s Wise-Walker messenger bag fits loads of gear in an impossibly-small space
Let’s talk bags. First off, you have to know that I have an obsession with finding the perfect bag, and I try to avoid the “usual suspects” whenever possible. There are just far too many great choices out there to limit yourself. So when the folks over at JetPens got in touch about the Nomadic Wise-Walker WR-08 shoulder bag, I was intrigued. This city-born messenger bag promises to hold more than it would appear possible, while still staying small enough to not require a second seat on the bus.
At first blush the WR-08 is just another messenger bag. Its main pocket is the perfect size for a 15-inch laptop, but a 13-incher would be more at home as 15 inches means that you’re going to have a tight fit. In front of that main pocket there’s another compartment, which I found to be the perfect size to fit my iPad inside of its Twelve South BookBook case .
While having two larger compartments isn’t uncommon, where the WR-08 differentiates itself is that there’s a third. It’s along the back of the bag, and it’s plenty big enough to hold either your computer or iPad, a tablet of paper, some cables or whatever else you might want to throw at it. But here’s the kicker – the entire bag is also physically smaller than almost any other one that I’ve ever used.
That’s really the selling point of the Nomadic brand. They’re made in Japan, a place that’s known for crowded public transportation and where saving space comes at a premium. The WR-08 is made from rip-stop nylon, with contrasting-color nylon on the inside. Using the nylon saves not only space, but also allows unused portions of the bag to “collapse”, keeping the overall-tiny footprint.
Flipping open the top flap, you’re greeted with the two main compartments, but also a healthy bit of organization, as well as a mesh area for keeping small, hard-to-find items. I was a fan of this area for stashing my wallet and phone while dashing to the security line at the airport, and there’s just enough padding to keep everything feeling safe without going bulky.
Along the front of the bag, under the flap, there are two large cargo pockets. For me, this served as a holster for my MacBook Pro’s charger. I’d wind up the wall cord, stick it into one side, then put the power brick into the other. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the flap would still Velcro into place, and the elastic straps on the side of the bag helped to keep it there.
Now let’s take one moment to focus on the not-so-good. Nomadic chose to not waterproof their bags. I got caught in a sprinkle one day and was surprised to see the bag’s sponge-like tendency. Had I known this before, I’d have grabbed a $5 bottle of waterproofing spray and coated the bag. If you buy one, I suggest you do the same. It works wonders.
My only other gripe is what I’d classify as an over-use of Velcro. You can argue against my point of view here if you want, but I really don’t like that ripping sound happening every time that I want to grab something out of an inner compartment. There’s Velcro on the closing flap, more along the inside pockets and yet even more to keep separators in place. It was a bit much in my opinion and Nomadic could have chosen a different route, such as a magnetic fastener.
At a retail price of $84 the WR-08 stands in line with most other mid-range bags. It might not hold more than something from Timbuk2 (another favorite of mine) but it’s going to be infinitely easier to carry around and it’s hard to argue with something that’s still very good at nearly half the price.
If you’re in the market for a new bag, give Nomadic a look. The company has loads of unique solutions and we’ll be reviewing a couple more very soon. For a messenger bag, the WR-08 is absolutely my new favorite.