Mobile technology is increasing enhancing trips that start off properly with the purchase of cheap airplane tickets and discount hotel rooms or cheap vacation packages.
The following are travel tips for Android users:
Friends can track your trip in real time if you open Google Maps on your phone. Select Join Latitude. You will then be prompted to add friends who may follow you if they wish. To do so, your friends will have to have Google accounts (i.e. be Gmail users). They will be able to follow your GPS location on their Android phones or, if they download the iGoogle Latitude widget, on their laptops.
Save power and extend your cell phones battery life by turning on the Auto-Brightness setting. This can be done by going to Settings, then Sound & Display. Scroll down to Brightness. By checking the Auto-Brightness option your phone will only use the power needed, based on how dark or bright your immediate area is, to light up your screen.
If you do not want to pay for data connection while traveling, but do want to communicate via the Internet while on the road, do not use your 3G connection. Instead use an adequate 2G connection (either GPRS or EDGE networks). You can determine which connection your phone uses by contacting your wireless provider. 2G networks work for email, Twitter, and similar basic messaging communication.
You can find specific locations on your phones map such as a restaurant or coffee shop without scrolling through pages and pages of search results on the browser on your phones small screen. Go to Google Maps app, and then search for your location. Then tap the Places button in the upper right corner. Next you will be shown seven easy to understand icons: ATMs, attractions, bars, coffee, gas stations, hotels and restaurants. By clicking on the appropriate icon you will only view relevant options on the first page of results.
If you are tech savvy, consider augmented reality where you hold up your camera to show a live image of the streets nearby, and then use the Layer download (which is free) to see results from Google and other sources for nearby attractions graphically overlaid on the screen. www.cheapfares.com