New Timbuk2 Bag Juices Your Gadgets While You’re On The Move

If you’re an iDevice power-user and need a classically robust bag to haul all your junk, take note: Timbuk2 has just released the Power Series, two alternate versions of their best-selling Commute Laptop Messenger and Q Laptop Backpack, equipped with Joey batteries and special a pass-through for the charging cable.

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Patagonia MiniMass Courier: Could be the Most Versatile Bag I’ve Ever Had [Review]

The Patagonia MiniMass commuter bag ($69) is my first taste of Patagonia’s gear, and I’ve always wondered if their stuff was worth the hype. The company has a bit of a reputation — perhaps fair, perhas not — as the outdoor industry’s bourgeois player, probably due to generally higher prices than the competition, an innovative design ethic and the use of green materials throughout their line.

But Patagonia has also spawned a fanatical following. I once worked with someone who literally camped outside the company’s Southern California headquarters (it sits literally right aross the road from the beach) in the hopes she’d be hired. She wasn’t, but toting around my tablet in the the fantastic little MiniMass let me grasp why she tried.

The MiniMass is the smallest sibling in Patagonia’s family of courier bags (all of which end in “Mass” — a nod to the Critical Mass bicycle movement). This makes the MiniMass a perfect tablet carrier. And even though it isn’t explicitly to ferry tablets, it excels in the task.

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A Squad of Bad-Ass Backpacks to Keep Your iPad or MacBook Safe Through The Coming Mayan Apocalypse

Pelican’s S140 Elite Tablet Backpack with its waterproof/crushproof/apocalypse-proof compartment

Pelican made a name for itself making tough cases for the military, firemen and other hazardous sorts who generally place their delicate gadgets in harm’s way. Now they’ve taken their extreme-environment case technology and built four new backpacks around it — two of which have crushproof/waterproof compartments.

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Rugged Flight Case Transports And Charges 16 iPads Simultaneously

Who said you couldn't multitask with the iPad?

Hey! do you have 16 iPad’s and a 13-inch MacBook that you travel with regularly? Are you sick of plugging and unplugging them, and having to roll them in newspaper every time you take a plane?

Well, if you’re happy to put all your iEggs in one tough, roll-along basket and entrust it to the notoriously light-fingers of the airport baggage handlers, then Parat Solutions has just the, uh, solution for you.

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Check Out Kayak Pro For iOS, Apple’s Free App Of The Week [Deals]

Kayak makes sure you get the best deal for flights and hotels by comparing prices on the web.

Each week Apple selects a paid App Store app and makes it totally free. CultCast listeners may know this already, but I’m a huge fan of Kayak for creating trip itineraries and ordering plane tickets, hotel rooms, etc.

There’s a free version of Kayak in the App Store that runs on the iPhone and iPad, but there’s also a pro version with additional features that normally sells for $1.

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FlightTrack App Now Comes in Free Version for Android and iOS [Daily Freebie]

Like we said, Passbook in iOS 6 is going to steal a few tricks from flight apps like Mobiata’s $5 FlightTrack (and $10 FlightTrack Pro), making the apps seem somewhat less valuable.

Whether or not Passbook replaces these types of apps remains to be seen; in any case, Mobiata isn’t going down without a fight, and has just released an all-new, free version of their FlightTrack app for both iOS — and Android.

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The Best Travel Gadgets [Best Of]

It’s August, which means two things. One, there’s no news to report on, which means that most of a gadget blogger’s workday is taken up with siestas and refreshing beverages. And two, it’s vacation time! That’s right: The whole northern hemisphere likes to take a break at exactly the same time, all the better to enjoy congested roads, overpriced plane tickets and overcrowded hotels.

To ease your pain, we’ve put together a list of the best travel gadgets. You may not enjoy spending a hot and stuffy month with your in-laws, but at least your tech won’t let you down.

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Seven Reasons Business Travelers Need An iPhone Expense App

Traveling for business? Don’t forget to pack an expense tracker app.

Traveling for business is a lot different from taking a vacation. While you may get to experience far off cities, meet new people, and have some genuine fun on a business trip, you’ll also need to work, worry about delays that could make you miss critical meetings, ensure you leave your hotel room looking your most presentable, and keep track of every expense related to the trip.

Of those stress factors, tracking expenses so that you can submit them for reimbursement or explain charges you make to a company credit card may not seem the most stressful. The majority of the time it isn’t (unless you lose some big-ticket receipts or have unusual charges to justify). It is, however, often tedious drudgery that is prone to human error and mistakes.

There are many iOS expense tracking apps out there and there are some very good reasons to invest in one of them.

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Qantas Doubles Down iOS, Launches iPad-Based In-Flight Entertainment System

iPads will soon replace the current entertainment options aboard Qantas B767 aircraft.

Earlier this week, we reported on the move by Australian airline Qantas to swap out the 1,300 BlackBerries used by its staff (and the related infrastructure) in favor of iPhones. It looks like Qantas is doubling down on Apple and iOS. The airline also announced this week that it will begin offering streaming entertainment on iPads across all the planes in its fleet of Boeing 767 aircraft.

Qantas is launching the new service, which it has dubbed QStreaming, following a successful trial of the service earlier this year.

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Hotel Trades Landlines For iPhones – A Transition That Could Be Easier Than You’d Expect

Vancouver hotel ditches traditional phones for iPhones – a process that may be easier than you’d think.

The Opus hotel in Vancouver made a somewhat shocking announcement last week. The hotel was ripping the landline phones out of its rooms and replacing them with iPhones. While that seems extravagant, it’s actually a rather brilliant plan.

The hotel, which already offers guests an iPad that can act as a concierge service, points out that offering guests, particularly international guests, an iPhone adds a lot of value. In addition to the value for customers, Apple’s free iOS management tools could make implementing such a program simple and relatively inexpensive – beyond the cost of the iPhones themselves anyway.

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