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iPhones, Droids, Blackberrys and all other smartphones can offer much more than communications, entertainment and gaming fun during a road trip.
Planning ahead by obtaining the right gadgets to support the phones, downloading some valuable apps, and turning on your GPS and Wifi locators before you hit the road, can help your travel go more smoothly, and possibly even save your life.
Before You Shop the Apps:
- Make sure you have a working car charger available for your phone to keep the phone enabled at all times.
- Because handheld phone use and texting while driving have proven to be as dangerous as drunk driving, many states now ban handheld phones and texting in vehicles. Best practice is to plan ahead with your fellow travelers to allow passengers only to take calls and text.
If you are travelling alone, a voice activated Bluetooth set or dashboard dock for the phone can also assist you if you need to call or answer a call while driving.
Alert: If you need to handle the phone while driving alone, safely pull over and park.
- One important feature of smartphones is that when GPS and wireless GPS locaters are activated in your settings, you can easily be found by emergency services if you need help. If you need to call 911 for any reason, for example, the emergency service provider will be able to find you based on your phone’s location. If you get lost, your chances of being found, or finding your way out of the maze, increase if the smartphone locators are on.
Best practice before hitting the road is to fully activiate the GPS systems in the phone “Settings” before you take off. That way, the systems will be automatically synched to GPS satellites wherever you need them. You can limit activation to 911 only, if you prefer, but that will require extra actions later if you want to use any of the apps listed below.
Recommended Top Five 5-Star Branded Apps:
Some of the most useful apps tied to GPS on the smartphone highway are popular, user driven programs that provide listings of stores and services, as well as user generated reviews and updates.
Though it lands at the end of the alphabetic list, Yelp is one of the top A-List apps in the universe, truly, because it allows users to seek and find just about every business that exists, including hotels and motels, restaurants, grocery stores, gas stations and medical centers.
One of the greatest features of Yelp is that the app locates YOU on the map via GPS, then provides lists of the services you request that are closest to your location, along with a map that shows you how to get there.
For example, if you are on an interstate highway in the middle of Kansas, and have your smartphone GPS activated, you can enter a search for “hotels” in Yelp and the app will deliver a rated list of every hotel and motel within your immediate vicinity.
Another great feature of Yelp are user reviews. Though many businesses receive both good and bad reviews, a heavy balance in either direction will give you a pretty clear idea of the best places to go, and the places to avoid.
GasBuddy provides user-updated information about gas station locations and pricing in the US and Canada.
If price shopping fuel is important to you, then GasBuddy is ideal.
You will need to enter a city, state or zip, however, to get results, so if you are in the middle of nowhere, and don’t have that info, Yelp can come to the rescue.
ReCargo is especially designed for the rapidly growing community of electric car drivers on the road, providing comprehensive, user supported location information for charging stations across the country.
Like Yelp, Recargo uses GPS to find YOU, then shows you a list of charging stations nearby, along with maps, onsite location information, charger specific information, and whether or not the charger is free or pay-per-mile.
One of the best features of ReCargo is that it generates a localized charging-station list upon launch, rather than requiring users to select a service or location first.
Waze is a driver-driven traffic and navigation app that provides users with up to date traffic information nationwide.
One of the best features is that Waze info is often provided in real time by drivers who are actually on the road, alerting other drivers to rush-hour jams, construction zones, accidents and closures, and providing info on alternative routes.
***** The Weather Channel *****
The Weather Channel app allows you to create multiple locations for weather reports, enabling you to track weather across several cities and states as you travel.
Ideal for checking on driving conditions and recreation planning, the Weather Channel app provides hour by hour temperature and storm information, and advance weather forecasts for up to ten days.
Other Useful Apps:
- ATM Locators - ATM branch finder apps are offered by most major banks, as well as by Allpoint and Mastercard. There is also a universal Branchfinder app available for most Credit Unions. Before downloading, check to make sure the ATM app is specific to your country, and read the reviews.
Travel tip: Be sure to tell your bank ahead of time that you are travelling to prevent account freezes tied to unusual activity.
- Email access - Most smartphone users already have email set up on their phones, but if you do not, Apple mail, GMail, Yahoo mail, Live mail and many other top providers offer apps that allow accountholders to access email on the road.
Travel tip: If your email service does not offer an app, consider setting up a free account at one of the universal providers above (GMail, Yahoo, Apple, Live). From there, creating a forward of mail from your provider to your universal account is pretty simple.
- Maps or Navigation Apps - Map services and navigation apps, one or both, are often built into smartphones, and can be extremely useful when working one’s way around unfamiliar areas. Most top mapping sites, include Google and MapQuest, provide downloadable apps as well.
Travel tip: Avoid announcing your travel plans and locations ahead of time on your favorite social networking sites. Though letting everyone know what you are doing sounds like a great idea, criminals have been known to use such info to plan burglaries. So, wait until you are safe at home before uploading those great photos and bragging on all your road trip adventures.
How to Find the Apps:
Smartphones generally offer an app in the phone that allows you to find other apps.
You can also go online via your home computer to do advance research on what’s available on your phone, and how to find it.
- For the iPhone, visit the The App Store.
- For the Droid, visit Google Play.
- For the Blackberry, visit App World.
Happy Memorial Day, and enjoy the ride!
- by Laura M Mauney for www.PriceQuotes.com
If you enjoy visiting America’s beautiful national parks and recreation areas, consider buying an annual pass.
The $80 pass lets the you and your accompanying passengers (or up to four adults at sites where per-person fees are charged) enter more than 2,000 federal recreation areas.
The National…
From the “Horned Toad Derby” in California to “Moose Mainea” in Maine, “this land is your land, this land is my land…”
Read the AAA article - Things to Do for Memorial Day 2012 - to find out which fun and genuinely Americana events are happening in your area over Memorial Day Weekend.
Ever thought of living in a car? Check out Kent Marris’ Car Art: elegant furnishings and decor made from vintage auto parts. Video courtesy of JEM Motor Sports on Youtube.com
Whether you’re driving locally or taking a road trip this summer, you can use these resources to help plan your trip, save money and avoid detours.
- Gas Mileage Tips — Find out how driving efficiently, keeping your car in good condition, and combining trips can help you save money.
- Traffic…
Read the full article by Jim Gorzelany @ Forbes.com/Yahoo Autos: Hottest New-Car Features For 2013
re-posted by www.pricequotes.com
According to new data from J.D.Power and AARP, a full 62 percent of cars registered thus far in 2012 have been by people that are at least 50 years old.
Furthermore, buyers in that age group account for 66 percent of all hybrids sold.
"Read the full press release from the US DOE: Energy Department Announces up to $5 Million to Spur Adoption of Alternative Fuel Vehicles in Communities Nationwide
re-posted by www.pricequotes.com
Read the full article by James R. Healy @ USA Today: Auto legend Carroll Shelby, father of Cobra, dies
re-posted by www.pricequotes.com
Why Buy a New Car When Used Cars Appear to Be Cheaper?
- For budget-minded car buyers with fair to excellent credit scores, brand new cars are usually more cost-effective to finance than pre-owned cars, for the simple reason that un-used vehicles offer more value to the lender, and thus loans for new autos qualify for lower interest rates.
- Combine low interest financing with a lower priced car that obtains great gas mileage, and anyone shopping on a budget, and who does not need a Colossus to meet his/her transportation needs, may come out of the deal without breaking the bank, spending less on the car over the long haul and winding up with a better credit score than he/she started with when the car is paid off.
- Though recycling used cars may seem like the EC (environmentally correct) thing to do, many new cars - even non-hybrids - introduced during the past year are more fuel efficient and emit less pollution than any predecessor.
- Additionally, even the lowest priced new cars offer standard features and safety innovations that would have been considered luxury items a decade ago.
- Finally, one of the greatest advantages of a new car is that it’s hardly been driven at all. Wear and tear can cost used car buyers plenty, even if the vehicle has an excellent history. New cars, by contrast, and especially if routine maintenance schedules are observed, won’t need serious repairs for many years, if ever.
With all these advantages to shopping for new, economic cars in mind, PriceQuotes.com has pulled together the top five cheapest, most fuel efficient, and safest all-gasoline four-seater compacts on the market today. Click any link below to find out more about the vehicles.
2012 Nissan Versa
The 2012 Nissan Versa starts at about $10,990 MSRP, can obtain maximum fuel economy of 30/38 city/highway, and boasts a four star safety rating.
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2012 Ford Fiesta
The 2012 Ford Fiesta starts at about $13,200 MSRP, can obtain maximum fuel economy of 29/39 city/highway, and boasts a four star safety rating.
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2012 Kia Rio
The 2012 Kia Rio starts at about $13,400 MSRP, can obtain maximum fuel economy of 30/40 city/highway, and boasts a four star safety rating.
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2012 Chevrolet Sonic
The 2012 Chevrolet Sonic starts at about $13,735 MSRP, can obtain maximum fuel economy of 29/40 city/highway, and boasts a five star safety rating.
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2012 Hyundai Accent
The 2012 Hyundai Accent starts at about $14,195 MSRP, can obtain maximum fuel economy of 30/40 city/highway, and boasts a four star safety rating.
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Find out more about these and other vehicles at PriceQuotes.com - New Cars
- from Laura Mauney @ www.PriceQuotes.com
Images licensed from and copyright 2012 by nctd.com
(Source: pricequotes.com)
“Car Maintenance and Repair Tips : How to Remove a Car Battery” - by William Myers
via YouTube.com
Did all the jump-starts stop working for you? You can replace your own car battery with a new one easy as pie. In this video, expert William Myers shows you how.
re-posted by www.pricequotes.com
(Source: youtube.com)
