My employer is “piloting” iPads in the workspace, and I was chosen as one of 25 people who will test iPads in our work environment. Our iPads are of the Verizon 3G variety, so I have interweb access at all times. After 2 weeks, I’m really beginning to like carrying an iPad. In addition to the obvious things like email and FINALLY having my work calendar and personal Google calendar on one integrated display, I’m really loving the app Noteability Notability.

My work involves a lot of meetings and interviews which means taking lots of notes. I’ve enjoyed not carrying a spiral bound notebook and instead relying solely on the iPad. My employer has yet to solve the issue of full network connectivity so I can access certain things like our internal intranet, payroll, and labor distribution websites. When they do, I think I can safely say that the iPad will be an even more powerful tool for business. In the meantime, it’s simply a great tool for business. On my recent trip to New York, I left the laptop in the office, and traveled only with my iPad. I didn’t miss the boat-anchor Dell at all!

Anyone else have experience with iPads in the office environment?

I was excited to learn that the iPhone 4S would be equipped with a much improved 8 megapixel camera. MrsMJonTravel and I dutifully presented ourselves at the Apple Store just a few days after the new iPhone debuted. I called before going to the store just to ensure that phones were available, and they were. We showed up and bought our new iPhone 4S’ to replace our aging iPhone 3GS’.

After hearing how much better the iPhone 4S camera was, I was anxious to try it out. Our recent back to back cruises on Allure of the Seas offered the ideal opportunity to do so. In truth, every photo I snapped during the 14 days aboard Allure was taken with my iPhone 4S. Here are just a few shots. Tell me what you think.

These are just a few pictures I took during our recent cruise aboard Allure of the Seas. The verdict? The iPhone 4S is a reasonably suitable point and shoot camera. It is not perfect, but I found that if I had more than a second or two to focus, the iPhone 4S took decent pictures…..and video. Have you had any experience with the iPhone 4S. What do you think of its performance as a camera?

I’ve tried just about every mileage program “aggregator” known to man, and a few more than that. Most of them offered one or two things I liked and several things I would have done differently. However, I’ve finally found one I really love, Award Wallet. Award Wallet offers a clean and simple presentation of your points balances, and elite status levels for your program and alliance. Award Wallet is free for the basic level, but I gladly donate money to get the expanded service which includes tracking of your expiration dates. Award Wallet is capable of tracking your travel plans, but I use TripIt Pro for that and focus solely on points tracking for myself and MrsMJonTravel. I added her programs to the account after we mistakenly let 10,000 US Dividend Miles evaporate from her account.

Award Wallet now offers a handy little service called OneCard. OneCard is the size of a credit card, and lists each of your program account numbers (up to 30) and contact phone numbers. I think that’s a pretty nifty thing to have in your travel wallet and will be ordering mine soon. Historically, I’ve maintained my program account numbers in my Outlook notepad, and will continue to keep that list. But having a OneCard in my travel wallet makes sense to me.

With so many good things to say about Award Wallet, I have to admit I was a little bothered when I read in The Wall Street Journal recently that American Airlines and Southwest Airlines are making an effort to disallow Award Wallet and other aggregator sites from displaying their content. I speak from experience when I say airlines can be control freaks, so I’m not surprised that they are a little touchy on this subject. That said, I hope they peek through the trees and the forest on this and see the light. Frequent fliers value the services that the folks at Award Wallet provide, and airlines could be stepping on it if they overdo it with their control issues on this subject.

I’m comfortably ensconced into seat 2A aboard Delta flight 5285 from DTW to EVV. The flight is operated with an ASA CRJ-700, and much to my surprise, as I boarded I saw the “Wi-Fi On Board” decal. Hot damn! Now, this flight isn’t really long enough to accomplish much of anything, but the $4.95 price point was certainly workable for me just for the sake of saying I’d surfed the net from an RJ. So here I am. Blogging from an RJ. Who woulda thunk?

Delta announced the first install of Wi-Fi a little over a month ago. It’s good to see it in action.

Yes, you read that headline correctly. It’s true. There are times when I really do love Delta Air Lines, and Hurricane Irene has led me to blog about just one of those. You’ve heard me mention Delta’s out front social media team from time to time and their really forward thinking (for a big old legacy airline) approach to emerging media. There is no better testament to that than the @DeltaAssist Twitter feed. DeltaAssist is one whole helluva lot more than another marketing mouthpiece that may or may not be outsourced, it’s direct access to customer service agents that know how to actually fix things.

Things like getting you rebooked off canceled flights, rerouted through alternative airports, or in my most recent case, canceling your trip and processing your refund when a hurricane interrupts your flights. As it became clear that flying from DC to North Carolina was a no-win proposition during a hurricane affecting both places over the course of a weekend, I turned to @DeltaAssist to help me out. Delta had posted their storm policy allowing for penalty free changes or refunds (in the case of cancellations or significant delays). It was obvious I wasn’t getting to where I needed to go and back on the same calendar days as planned. There are times when that’s actually OK, but when faced with business flights on Monday after the weekend personal trip, I just could tolerate the delay.

Mere mortals might call Delta’s 800 number during a hurricane and wait 3 hours to speak to someone. Travelers in the know will reach out to Delta’s wonderful @DeltaAssist folks who helped me fix things in minutes, processed my refund, and even apologized for the flight problems that neither of us could do anything about. @DeltaAssist rocks! Frankly, I’m a little surprised that other airlines haven’t found the wherewithal to peruse something similar. But then again, other “legacy” airlines are way behind Delta in this regard. Here’s to hoping they catch up.

I’m one week in with my new 4G Mi-Fi device, and I couldn’t be happier with it. My only complaint so far seems to be with the Verizon Wireless website and their insistence on handling the setup of your online account via text message. No biggie if you have one of their phones, but not so helpful if you’re setting up an account for a device that doesn’t receive text messages. After their system failed to send a text message (go figure) I received an email that I’d be getting my temporary password through the US mail. Ugh. I hate waiting, and I want to see how much data I’m using which as far as I know can only be done with access to their website.

Oh well! I’m sure it will happen soon enough, and other than that, things are going fine. Speed is really good on 4G, and noticeably slower, but still ok with 3G. I’ve yet to try the device outside of DC proper yet, but that will change next week when I’m in Atlanta where I’ll give it a whirl and report back on my experience.

On a side note, do any readers have tips for extending the range of a wireless router? I have a Netgear wireless N router that works great, but I’m having issues with intermittent coverage on my front porch, which is admittedly, the farthest point around the house that I’d want to use my home network. Relocating the router is unfortunately, not an option, and I am loathe to burn data with my 4G wi-fi plan while I’m sitting at home…..on my porch. All comments appreciated.

I’ve been thinking about something for a while now. That being should I purchase a USB internet “stick” for my travels. I’ve been reasonably fortunate, but certainly not 100 percent successful in near total internet access. I carry an AT&T iPhone 3GS for my personal use, a Verizon BlackBerry Curve from work, and I travel with the world’s biggest Dell computer for work in addition to my MacBook Air. I’ve been thinking lately that I’d like one more thing, a “Mi-Fi” device.

I stopped off at the local Best Buy today, and somehow walked out with just that. The Verizon 4G LTE version no less. I’m using it right now on my front porch as I type this post. It was a snap to set up, and so far, has worked just fine. Speed’s not terrible at 13.09 mbps down. I’d tell you the upload speed but the test doesn’t seem to want to work right now. That said, I wonder if this is the best option. I have 14 days to think about it, so I’m going to try it out and see what happens. I know the later iPhones (and I’ll certainly be upgrading when iPhone 5 arrives) can be used as a hotspot, but I don’t have any experiences with that option, though I will do some more research.

What’s your answer to internet on the road? Do any readers have experiences with Mi-Fi or cell phone “hot spots” they’d like to share?

(@MJonTravel apologies for the corny post title)

I synced my iPhone this morning and found that Delta had an update waiting for me on the iTunes store.  This update moves their iPhone app forward by miles.  You now have the ability to view the upgrade and standby list and change your seat assignment using the app, BIG steps forward in functionality.  I’d test the upgrade list function tonight and report back, but my upgrade cleared at the window!  :)  I did check in using the app and my electronic boarding pass worked just fine.

Stay tuned, I’ll test the new features of the latest version of the app on a future Delta flight and report on my experience.  I’ve always thought Delta’s iPhone app was nicely done, and they didn’t bite off more than they could chew out of the gate with it.  Each update has brought sensible functionality that worked, and I use the app every time I fly Delta.  I wonder if the latest update fixes the issue of the app reminding me to check in for flights that I’ve long since canceled?  We’ll know soon.

As corny as this probably sounds, I can’t imagine traveling without my new 11.1″ MacBook Air.  It is the perfect combination of weight, size, and functionality for travel.  So far, I’ve passed through 5 TSA checkpoints with it, and not once have I had to remove it from my bag.  Add a rapid startup, and superior construction to its many other attributes, and I just can’t think of any reason to part with it…..ever.  Frankly, I’m beginning to think that I may not purchase an iPad afterall.  I’ll stop gushing now.

I just can’t say enough good things about this little laptop.  Incredibly thin, very light, and surprisingly good performance for such a small machine.  Among the many things I like about this computer are the speed of boot up due to the flash drive, it’s great screen clarity, and incredibly good speakers given its size.  If I could change one thing about it, I would love to have a backlit keyboard.  But given its size and performance, I think the lack of that is an acceptable tradeoff.  I’ve only cleared security twice with it, but so far, I’ve been successful in leaving it in my bag.  I have a pretty healthy chunk of trips coming up, so I’ll report my experiences traveling with the MacBook Air.

The bottom line…..I love the MacBook Air!  Wish I’d bought one sooner!

I thought it would be a harder decision.  Really, I did.  I dutifully waded through the onslaught of wannabe iPad2 owners to find an unoccupied device to toy with at the Apple Store.  The iPad2 is everything I thought it would be.  Elegant, lightweight (but not exactly featherweight), and just about awesome in every way.  I could’ve had one of the last in the store.  But then…out of the corner of my eye….  looking unloved in all the iPad2 hysteria, I caught a glimpse of something even more beautiful.

We’ve only been together for a day or so, but to say that I really do love the 11.1″ MacBook Air would be a mass understatement!  It’s thinner and lighter than I would’ve imagined.  Frankly, with the lid closed, it doesn’t “look” all that much thicker than an iPad.  In many ways, it’s the ideal solution.  I wanted the iPad to carry with me when traveling for work with my boat-anchor Dell.  It would easily slip into a folder pocket in my briefcase.  Guess what, so will the 11″ MacBook Air!  Better yet, it has a keyboard which will allow me to do some heavier-duty blogging from the road.  Frankly, I’m pretty pleased with the choice, and can’t wait to travel with it.  Reportedly, TSA doesn’t even require the 11″ version of the MacBook Air to be removed from your bag.  Although, as Fish reports, your mileage may vary on that.  I’ll let you know how my foray into Macworld goes.  And oh yeah…never fear….I’ll own an iPad one of these days too!