Genius Pack Intelligent Travel Backpack Review

Genius Pack Intelligent Travel Backpack Review

I like to be organized when I travel on business but I also like to be organized when I travel within the city and one problem that I was always trying to find some sort of solution for was a backpack. It had to be lightweight and allow me to be organized and quickly find anything I needed.

I came across across a company called Genius Pack (www.genius pack.com) and what they make is a whole range of different products for the traveller.  The product design team is very clever in what they created for being organized when traveling.

What caught my eye was the Intelligent Travel Backpack and this is for very extreme organization as it has lots of pockets and some innovative features.

One feature I found really interesting about the Intelligent Travel Backpack is there's lots of dedicated pockets. Most of the other backpacks I have don’t seem to have many pockets beyond the usual pen flap pocket.

Pockets, Pockets and more Pockets

On the outside we have great features with padded shoulder straps, outer mesh side pocket for a water bottle, and outside zippered pocket with a clip that you can put your keys on that gives you quick access.

There is another pocket in the front perfect for putting in your wallet or a Kindle e-reader in. Another front zippered pocket there is a pen pocket, one for your business cards,  a pocket for the Genius Pack Portable Mobile Charger and a pocket for your smartphone device. There is still room for some other things in there.

The Portable Mobile Charger has 12 hours of battery life and comes with 6 micro clips to fit different devices for charging.

Inside the bag in the main compartment, you have a padded laptop sleeve (with a safety strap) which can also fit my iPad in at the same time, mesh pockets for the laptop accessories and  cables and  a dedicated pocket for the micro umbrella. The micro travel umbrella from Genius Pack is a compact six-inch umbrella that slips into a dedicated pocket. It is the ideal size for a traveler that may encounter rain while they are out and about. I cannot say how often this was handy for me when it rained without having to carry a large umbrella around. There is dedicated eye glass pocket that is lined with fuzzy fabric preventing scratches. There is still ample room for books or file folders. Another device they make is a Loud Sound mini speaker that connects to your device to play back music. Yes, there is a dedicated pocket for that as well and it has a bass expander feature that provides a fuller rich sound.

The Intelligent Travel Backpack is extremely functional and is an ideal backpack for those that seem to travel with more than just a laptop and want to be organized.

Pricing is around $70 without the accessories

Dimensions: 12" x 4" x 16.5" (in.)

Road Warriors use VOIP and Internet Telephony for Cost Savings and Productivity

Road Warriors use VOIP and Internet Telephony for Cost Savings and Productivity

“Road Warriors” are those professionals who spend more time on the road than in the office, and they need a cost-effective, convenient way to stay in touch with customers and co-workers while they are traveling.

Hotels often charge for each call made and many don’t support basic telephony features like conference calling or even speakerphone. Mobile phones, are also a useful too but one can encounter dead zones and costly roaming and long distance charges. How can road warriors use readily available technology to communicate better?

Road Warriors today can leverage Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)—a process that converts voice into digital data packets and transmits it over the Internet—to cost-effectively bring the quality and functionality of their copper landline on the road. Internet telephony is a VoIP application that enables mobile professionals to use their laptop, a broadband connection, a softphone and a communications headset or other audio input device to place local and long-distance phone calls over the Internet.

Using VoIP or Internet Telephony, road warriors can simply and cost-effectively enjoy telephony service with features that significantly increase productivity on the road. Travelers can take advantage of flat fee Internet access or Wi-Fi that is offered in most hotel rooms, airports and even coffee shops—and make nearly unlimited calls from their laptop without incurring long-distance charges. Softphone and other software applications give travelers virtual desktop phone functionality, including the ability to conduct conference calls, transfer calls within the corporate PBX system, and receive calls forwarded from the corporate PBX system. Users can enjoy even greater mobility by pairing wireless headsets with Bluetooth-enabled laptops, tablets and other devices for wireless conversations.

In the past 6 months I have made more calls off my iPad than using my corporate desk telephone. My iPad has become my corporate cordless telephone and using Wi-Fi I can be in the basement or on the back deck in my home, at a hotel, at a customer site, Starbucks, a bank and even on a BC Ferry enjoying the simple convenience of the application loaded on my iPhone and iPad and laptop.

The problem with sales@stupidcompany.com in a internet world

The problem with sales@stupidcompany.com in a internet world

Retailers in this day and age still just don't get it when it comes to providing awesome customer service.

I am in search of buying something and the web site has no stock levels indicated and its outside of business hours so one hits the contact button and sends a quick email. It is a normal expectation to get an auto-sender saying that they have have acknowledged your email but its not a normal expectation to have to wait days. I have rarely gotten a response in the stated time-frame and 80% of the time I get no response.

The response is:

Thank you for your inquiry and interest in our company. 

We will process  your inquiry and will respond within two business days.

Kind regards,

The Stupid Company Team

Here is another one after 5 days waiting from another bricks and online retailer:

Hello John,

Your fastest solution will be to head in to our Toronto shop.  They have over 100 units available.  I can certainly request a transfer for you, but I have been waiting almost 20 days now for the last 3 I requested.

Thank You

Mr. Retail Sales Consultant

 

 

Dr Martin Cooper - Inventor of the Cellphone

Dr Martin Cooper, a former general manager for the systems division at Motorola, is considered the inventor of the first portable handset and the first person to make a call on a portable cell phone in April 1973. The first call he made was to his rival, Joel Engel, Bell Labs head of research.

AT&T's research arm, Bell Laboratories, introduced the idea of cellular communications in 1947. But Motorola and Bell Labs in the sixties and early seventies were in a race to incorporate the technology into portable devices.
Cooper, now 70, wanted people to be able to carry their phones with them anywhere.
While he was a project manager at Motorola in 1973, Cooper set up a base station in New York with the first working prototype of a cellular telephone, the Motorola Dyna-Tac. After some initial testing in Washington for the F.C.C., Mr. Cooper and Motorola took the phone technology to New York to show the public.

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The First Cellphone (1973) Name: Motorola Dyna-Tac Size: 9 x 5 x 1.75 inches Weight: 2.5 pounds Display: None Number of Circuit Boards: 30 Talk time: 35 minutes Recharge Time: 10 hours Features: Talk, listen, dial

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In 1973, when the company installed the base station to handle the first public demonstration of a phone call over the cellular network, Motorola was trying to persuade the Federal Communications Commission to allocate frequency space to private companies for use in the emerging technology of cellular communications. After some initial testing in Washington for the F.C.C., Mr. Cooper and Motorola took the phone technology to New York to show the public.
On April 3, 1973, standing on a street near the Manhattan Hilton, Mr. Cooper decided to attempt a private call before going to a press conference upstairs in the hotel. He picked up the 2-pound Motorola handset called the Dyna-Tac and pushed the "off hook" button.
The phone came alive, connecting Mr. Cooper with the base station on the roof of the Burlington Consolidated Tower (now the Alliance Capital Building) and into the land-line system. To the bewilderment of some passers-by, he dialed the number and held the phone to his ear.

Who is he?
Cooper grew up in Chicago and earned a degree in electrical engineering at the Illinois Institute of Technology. After four years in the navy serving on destroyers and a submarine, he worked for a year at a telecommunications company.
Hired by Motorola in 1954, Mr. Cooper worked on developing portable products, including the first portable handheld police radios, made for the Chicago police department in 1967. He then led Motorola's cellular research.

Mobile Technology 1G to 5G

Mobile Technology 1G to 5G

1G - First Generation

Analog mobile communication networks deployed in the late 1980s, based on closed circuit connections between two voice callers. AMPS was one technology. Remember the Radio Shack killer telephone?

2G – Second Generation

Allowed multiple parties to use the same frequency at once. The popular standards deployed in the 1990s was GSM and CDMA. This was the start of mobile data transmission. Rember the Motorola Bag Phone? I still have mine

3G – Third Generation

Increased speed and capacity of networks made data transmissions easier and smartphone use more common. CDMA and GSM added new variants to the technology but it also was the start of EDGe and HSPA. I guess Jobs created the WOW! unboxing moment with this one

4G- Fourth Generation

Much greater speeds and increased data throughputs. WiMax and LTE technologies being the popular standards. Samsung steals the show and Motorola becomes Google.

5G – Fifth Generation

It looks like it is shaping to be a hybrid of technologies and support for any device, anywhere and any protocol. By the time it becomes installed the world of the tablet, wristwatch and smartphone device could be very different. Google has a head start!

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_mobile_phones