Click below to
find interesting
information from our
January 2011
newsletter
relating to:
Roaming
Travel
Mobile phones
Roaming
Free
data
roaming
- it is
(just)
possible
Need to do a bit
of minor
web-browsing
when travelling
overseas, or
checking
occasionally on
your web e-mail?
Believe it or
not, there is
(at least for
now) a way to do
it for free.
We're
not talking
about using WiFi,
hotel or cafe
internet etc,
but real,
anywhere-you-can-get-a-signal
mobile internet.
There is a catch
- you need to be
using a Kindle
3G. Made by
Amazon, this
tablet device is
primarily an
e-book reader,
but also has a
modest
web-browsing
capability using
its 3G data
connection. The
Kindle 3G has a
built-in SIM
(not even
removable or
accessible)
supplied by the
large US carrier
AT&T, so has
roaming
capability in
most countries.
The experience
is not perfect
(black-and-white
images and text,
don't expect
movies or audio
to work), and
may at some
point be
discontinued
(the web browser
lives in the
"experimental"
menu of the
Kindle so
presumably could
be killed at
some future
date), but it
has worked well
for us so far.
We're guessing
that Amazon
negotiated
reasonable
roaming rates
with AT&T and
cross-subsidises
free browsing
from the
(considerable)
revenue it
generates from
e-book
purchases.
Travel
Airport
blues
To most
international
travellers,
airports aren't
particularly fun
places. Heavy
security,
delays, long
walks and glitzy
shops selling
unwanted goods
are often the
complaints.
To
an airline
though, airports
are often a
source of
financial pain.
Airports make
revenue from
passengers
(parking fees,
airport retail
purchases etc),
but also from
fees charged to
airlines
(landing fees,
fuel markups,
passenger-handling
charges etc),
which end up in
ticket prices.
There's a lot of
variation in
airport fees.
Melbourne
Tullamarine
charges the
lowest
capital-city
fees to airlines
in Australia
(about $8 per
passenger),
compared to
Sydney (the most
expensive at
$14). The main
reason is that
Melbourne has
competition, in
the form of
Avalon Airport
just 55 km away.
Avalon has very
low fees for
airlines (in the
case of Tiger,
zero), and it
now seems that
Avalon will have
a railway
connection well
before
Tullamarine,
making Avalon
much more
accessible as an
alternative.
Brisbane has
the next-lowest
fees of major
airports,
perhaps not
coincidentally
Gold Coast
Airport is a
feasible
alternative at
80kms away.
Sydney
passengers face
a bleak future,
with no
alternative
airport likely,
and high-priced
airport rail
links (the
10-minute
airport-CBD
journey costs
$15, compared to
the $3.20 it
costs from
adjacent
stations).
Perhaps the
days of airport
price-gouging
are nearly over
(with the
exception of
Sydney)?
Mobile phones
iPhones get
really locked
It's now
possible to get
Apple iPhones
unlocked mostly
free-of-charge
by Australian
networks. But a
practice in the
USA has emerged
which involves
really locking
iPhones -
literally.
American
iPhone users
sending in their
handsets for
repair (often
for battery
replacement)
have found that
the normal
(Phillips,
cross-shaped)
screws holding
them together
have been
replaced by
tamper-proof "pentalobe"
screws, making
it very
difficult to
open by
non-Apple
repairers. Apple
makes money out
of battery
replacements
(the iPhone
battery is rated
to only 400
power cycles
before degrading
to 80% capacity
- roughly a
year's usage).
Although
opening up an
iPhone voids the
Apple (1-year)
warranty, iPhone
users may wish
to avoid the
(Apple USA) $70
charge for
battery
replacement by
purchasing a
suitable battery
for around $25 -
the pentalobe
screws make this
less feasible
and may
discourage some
DIY battery
replacement.
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