Family on Beach with cell
By Michele Lewis
If you have used your mobile device outside of Canada, then you’ve experienced roaming. When you "roam" you're accessing services through a foreign cellular carrier and will be charged an additional amount for your usage.
Whether you’re sharing pictures of the beautiful sunny beach in Florida on Facebook or calling to update the family, these are just some of the many ways that travellers are using smartphones to stay connected while they’re away from home, says Stephanie Lancaster, data girl at Rogers.
Before you roam with a device, Stephanie recommends finding out what the roaming costs will be. Many carriers will send you a free text message when you turn on your device in another country that tells you the standard talk, text and data roaming rates for that particular country.
Your carrier may also offer the option to purchase a roaming travel pack or data pass to save you money off the standard rates for calling, texting or using data. It is best to make your purchase before you leave based on your expected usage and monitor this throughout your trip. Rogers, for example, makes monitoring easy with worry-free data passes that update you via text message on how much data you’ve used and then hard stop you once your pass expires so you’ll never incur overage fees.
If you decide not to buy a roaming data offer, and want to minimize your data costs, ensure to change settings on your device to reduce data usage. Close apps that you’re not using, so they won’t use data while you’re not aware of it. Set your email to download manually, not on a regular basis or when email is received.
Some of the popular devices upcoming for travellers include the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 and LG Optimus G, both of which operate on the Android platform.Travellers seeking a smartphone to double as a music player should look for a model like the HTC One X, which comes with Beats Audio Music hardware integration or the Sony Xperia ion that provides access to Sony Music Unlimited, she adds.
Smartphone applications can also help you on your trip to find the perfect restaurant, manage exchange rates and give you translation pocket dictionaries in the palm of your hands. TripIt, available on all operating systems, helps you organize all your flight, hotel and rental information in one place so you don’t have to cart around a pile of confirmations. Foursquare, available on all operating systems, allows you to track where you’ve been and where your friends have visited, and gives you recommended stops all around the world.
Whether you choose to take a tablet or smartphone with you this year on your trip, load up your device with great resourceful applications and roaming travel packs to ensure you’re staying connected to family at home.