The use of mobile phones, mobile devices and computers while traveling

If you use your mobile phone, mobile device or computer abroad - and even if you do not, a smartphone running intermittently even when you're not actively using it - you may have the wrong phone surprise to receive on your return trip an exorbitant invoice from your service provider. 

These are the exceptionally high fees charged by Canadian providers for data roaming so you can connect to wireless networks outside the country.

Data Roaming Abroad

International roaming is a service that allows the customer of a wireless network in a given country to receive multimedia messages and e-mails, and to browse the Internet by connecting to a wireless network in another country.

When you access the Internet with your wireless device abroad, the connection is made via a local wireless network that then transmits your data to your Canadian network using an international transit service.

The high rate for international roaming is set by your Canadian service provider, who adds the profit margin to the cost price.

Here are some tips to avoid roaming charges when traveling abroad.

Traveling with your mobile device

cybersecurity

If you take your cell phone, mobile device, or laptop while traveling, be aware that the risk of cyber attacks increases significantly and your devices can easily be stolen or attacked. Protect yourself by using presence.

Visit your service provider's website

Roaming charges apply when you use your Canadian cellular phone outside the area covered by your plan, even in Canada. Take the time to read your contract carefully on your supplier's website or contact a customer service representative.

Make sure the toll-free number on your Canadian network will work from the country you're traveling to. If so, write it down so you can get free customer service wherever you are, with no long distance charges.

Before you go, compare options for data transfer, in Canada and abroad

Ask your service provider about roaming charges for calls and data usage. Some providers offer travel packages for destinations in the US and abroad with a given number of minutes or megabytes for a fixed price.

If your cell is locked, that is, you can not replace your SIM card with another network, the best is to leave it at home and buy, in Canada or abroad, a cell phone using the GSM digital phone platform, which is the most popular international standard. You will be able to buy a SIM card from a local network once at your destination and a prepaid plan for a nominal fee. Since telecom services are local businesses, check out the Internet or travel forums such as TravelForum.com or the Lonely Planet forums to find the name of a reliable network provider in the country where you plan to go.

Turn on airplane mode

It is advisable to activate the airplane mode on your cell before boarding and deactivate it once you return to Canada. In this way, voice and data services will be disabled, as well as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS connections as well as any other location service.

You can manually reactivate the Wi-Fi connection to access it in places where it is secure, many hotels and public places offering Wi-Fi service for free or at low cost. The Bluetooth option can also be activated even in airplane mode to exchange files with other devices.

Remove or change your SIM card

Make sure to store your SIM card in a safe place if you decide to remove it from your cell phone to avoid losing the information it contains - contacts, photos, and text messages. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth options can be enabled without the SIM card.

If your mobile phone is or can be unlocked to allow you to use a SIM card from another country, you can buy this card once at your destination. This will allow you to use a 3G or GSM network at a reasonable cost. Your provider may charge you for unlocking fees, but you can do this yourself with free and paid software and websites, or by bringing your device to a local independent cell phone retailer.

Wi-Fi and various applications

You can save a lot of money by disabling the Data roaming feature of your mobile phone and connecting to the Internet at wireless access points. If you purchase a Skype, Google Talk or iChat subscription, you can make calls to landline or mobile phone lines over the Internet at minimal cost. 

Rather than using an Internet navigation system to find out how to get somewhere, use a GPS application such as CoPilot, Sygic or Navigon, which does not require the use of data.

There are also applications, such as Onavo, that compress data, allowing you to do up to five times more with your data plan at no additional cost. These applications provide a lighter version of the Internet, which reduces your roaming charges. You will also be able to see the details of your data consumption for each application and make more informed use of your data.

Use mobile-friendly websites

More and more websites offer specific sites whose pages have been optimized for mobile phones to use fewer megabytes. The address of these sites is mostly similar to that of the main website. It is usually sufficient to replace the prefix "www" with "m" or "mobile", or the suffix ".co.ca" or ".com" with ".mobi".

Have a MiFi

If your cell phone can not be unlocked and you're traveling with your family or a group of people, you can create your own secure wireless access point with the MiFi, a wireless modem that emits a Wi-Fi signal. allowing you to connect up to five wireless devices.

Check your bill back

Because it's hard to control how you use real-time data and compare it to your plan settings, your monthly bill is your best bet. Report any charges that seem suspicious to your service provider. Often, providers cancel or reduce roaming charges when it is the customer's first mistake.

The dual SIM smartphone: useful or gadget?

 If dual-SIM smartphones are happy days in China, Europe has for several years passed the multiplier to expand its offer, in view of a demand ever stronger. So, the dual SIM mobile phone, actual evolution or simple gadget?

DOUBLE LIFE

Separate your professional life from your personal life: this is undoubtedly one of the major advantages of a dual SIM smartphone. No more need to bustle permanently with its 2 mobile phones. Equipped with its two SIM cards, it allows you to go from one life to another at the touch of a button. Some models can offer you to separate your directories, history not to get tangled brushes ... finally, the lines.

 More generally, the dual SIM smartphone can be a practical solution to preserve your privacy, by offering you the possibility of having a secondary line permanently (or "temporarily", by means of a prepaid card). What you avoid to distribute everything to the first comer your main phone number.

FROM ONE NETWORK TO ANOTHER

Nothing is easier with a dual SIM model. It's up to you to have fun combining the performances of two different networks. The goal is, you guessed it, to find the ideal complementarity between two operators in order to maximize the ability of your mobile to "hang" the best signal possible. Here again, the prepaid card may initially be an option to test this or that operator and help you make the optimum choice.

DIVIDE AND RULE

On the one hand, SMS / MMS and telephone communications, on the other, Internet surfing. On one side a SIM card with a "standard" subscription to make your calls and "text" galore, and the other a 4G SIM card with a data only subscription of 3, 4 or 5 GB to surf at will. Using a dual-SIM smartphone, you will have the possibility to organize your phone by "use".

WITHOUT LIMITS

Finally, having two different operators on one and the same phone obviously makes sense when one is always (or often) up and down the world. Or, simply, when you live near a border. A dual SIM terminal will avoid you the surprises of overcharging (if you do not have the option of roaming or "roaming"): you just need to give your mobile a SIM card of the country in which you reside, that whether for a holiday resort or for recurring round trips for professional reasons, for example. What stays reachable internationally as "local" on a single phone.

10 tips to properly maintain the battery of your smartphone

You bought your new iPhone six months ago, and the battery is already showing signs of weakness? By adopting good habits, you will probably be able to extend your life cycle by several months and avoid having to take a backup battery with you everywhere ... To help you see things more clearly, we have drawn up a list of 10 practical tips to maintain the battery of your smartphone.

Tip # 1: Do not charge your smartphone overnight

This is the bad habit we have all taken over time. The autonomy of most smartphones reaching about a day, users tend to recharge their device during the night, regardless of the risks that this represents for the battery of the smartphone. Because you probably did not know it, but recharging its battery 100% considerably reduces the life expectancy of your smartphone. Ideally, it is better to only charge the battery of your smartphone at 75%, and recharge it throughout the day for short periods of time. Charging your smartphone every day during the night reduces its life expectancy by several months or even years, and above all quickly affects the autonomy of the smartphone.

Tip # 2: Do not let your smartphone fully discharge!

It's always tempting to wait until the last minute to charge your smartphone. However, waiting until your smartphone is fully discharged to connect to the mains will also have a devastating effect on its life expectancy since once isolated from the electric current, some cells of the battery will no longer be able to hold a charge. In practice, therefore, it is better to cut your smartphone once you reach 10% of remaining battery, otherwise, you can not use it after only a few months ...

Tip # 3: Do not charge your smartphone when it remains 40% of battery

You may have wondered why every electronic device you buy is already partially loaded. The fact that their battery displays 40% at first start is not due to the fruits of chance. In fact, a smartphone battery works best when it is 40% charged. In practice, this means that it is better to wait until you have dropped to 20 or 30% of the remaining battery to charge your smartphone.

Tip # 4: Charge your battery before storing an electronic device in a closet!

Have you recently bought a battery backup for a trip to the West? When you come home, do not put it in the drawer without first loading it. Leaving an electronic device fully discharged for a long period of time usually has a detrimental effect on its life expectancy. Better to think about reloading between 40 and 50% before sliding it to the bottom of a drawer ...

Tip # 5: Avoid buying multiple replacement smartphones

Do you really like HTC One M8 and are convinced that you will never find such a successful smartphone? While it may be tempting to keep a replacement device, avoid imitating Kim Kardashian by storing half a dozen BlackBerrys in a drawer to replace the smartphone that accompanies you on a daily basis. Lithium batteries do not support prolonged storage and deteriorate over the weeks. After a year, it is very likely that your "new smartphone", carefully stored in its original packaging, is unable to start once unpacked.

Tip # 6:

Avoid fast-charging!

More and more manufacturers are opting for fast-charging options or offering cables that can charge their smartphone twice as fast as with a traditional cable. If the offer is appealing, keep in mind that fast charging also has a negative impact on the life expectancy of a battery. If most batteries charge slowly, there is a good reason for that.

Tip # 7: Flee the cold as hot

If you are traveling to Antarctica or the Death Valley, consider leaving your smartphone in an air-conditioned area. Too much cold or scorching heat will affect the cells in your battery and will shorten the life expectancy of your smartphone. Ideally, it's best to keep your smartphone at a pretty cool temperature. If you're traveling to a tropical region, consider regularly replacing your battery. In the hottest regions of the world, the capacity of a lithium battery can decrease by 80% in a single year!

Tip # 8: Completely unload your smartphone once a month

If lithium batteries are not to be fully discharged every day to maintain their maximum capacity, it is necessary to recalibrate the battery regularly, discharging it almost completely (up to 5%) at least once a month. Once fully discharged, recharge it to 100% to recalibrate and avoid "bugs" loading.

Tip # 9: NEVER use counterfeit chargers

Do you regularly use Chinese online sales sites to make purchases? Avoid counterfeit chargers at all costs! If their prices are rather attractive, they mostly do not comply with European standards and can be very dangerous to use on a daily basis. In the best case, the battery of your smartphone will have a reduced life of several months. In the worst case, your home will end up in flames.

Tip # 10: Unpack your new smartphone and use it without first charging it!

If it was necessary to charge its electronic devices before first use a few years ago, the new lithium batteries no longer force the user to wait calmly until the battery is fully charged to start using his smartphone. Upon unpacking, you can customize your device. Be careful, however, this rule is not applicable for tablets and laptops that sometimes use significantly different batteries requiring a first full load!

Best way to use your cell phone (Internet) while traveling

These days, we don’t go anywhere without our smartphones. As much as you may try to persuade by hand that you’ll limit phone usage while traveling, we all know that’s easier said than done. You will most possible want to post that perfect Eiffel Tower pic immediately to Instagram or start a live video from the Excessive Wall of Porcelain, and you’ll be wishing you had been better prepared.

Bringing Your Cell Phone when Traveling Abroad 

Below are some tips on how to get the most out of your cell phone while traveling internationally, from battery life hacks and how much extra it may cost you to use your cell phone while away.

International Texting and Data

You may be traveling somewhere that does not have Wi-Fi widely available, or maybe you just don’t want to wait to post to your social media accounts. Don’t concern, there are sufficient choices out there for you. Global phone plans will vary by facility provider.

Unlimited Plans

Sprint and T-Mobile are the best phone plan for the international traveler, with unlimited texting and data included in their monthly plans. The data is slower at 2G, but you can upgrade to faster speeds for an extra $5/month, which might be worth it during the time you will be traveling.

Add on Plans

Verizon offers a Travel Pass, which is $5/day in Mexico and Canada, and $10/day in over 130 countries. This will give you infinite text and data while overseas, as well as noises to the US. They too have a once-a-month plan that twitches at extra $15/month with a lower price per edition, a data payment, and talk notes, all which vary by a republic. You will find an alike plan with AT&T, with $10/day for international texting and data. If you choose not to add on an international plan before you travel, pay-per-use rates start at $2.05/mb, with 0.50 per text on AT&T, and $.99/mb (in Canada and Mexico), with 0.50 per text on Verizon. If you think you are going to be tempted to be on your phone, and you don’t already have T-Mobile or Sprint, your best bet is tacking on one of the international plans while you are away, to avoid any sticker shock on your next cell phone bill.

Wi-Fi

The best and most obvious way to use your phone is with Wi-Fi. A lot of museums, cafes, restaurants, and even stores will offer it for free. Your hotel will also most likely have it (but be sure to check before booking). You might have until you’re back at your hotel before uploading that amazing photo of you and an elephant, but this option is going to be you’re cheapest. If you are successful to a remote place you know will not have Wi-Fi, or you’re afraid the Wi-Fi won’t be up to your values, you can stab one of the newer portable Wi-Fi services like Tap Wireless. You can rent a portable hub, bring it on your trip, and return it when you get home!  Don’t forget, you most likely will be charged for texting even if you have Wi-Fi unless you have a plan that includes international texting, which we will get to next.

Power Up

Before we get into the choices you have for cell phone facility while abroad, there is one main, yet basic thing you need to do to make sure you can charge your phone: find out what kind of plug the country you are traveling to uses. Plugs fluctuate from country to country, so you need to check and see what connectors you will essential to bring. The International Electrotechnical Commission has a handy guide to chargers, which includes voltage.  Most chargers will automatically switch voltage, but you must check before itinerant to make unquestionable you don’t need a power converter as well. Your mobile should have its voltage written somewhere on the phone, or, if you be situated sure, you can continuously check with the builder. I travel with at least 4 adapters so I can charge my phone, tablet, e-reader, electric toothbrush, and anything else I may need to power up. You can buy a worldwide power connector, which can be converted to different masses from several republics, and has USB ports to charge all of your devices. This one from Huanuoav has 4 USB ports. Your strength also want to transport a portable mount, so during your long days of tourism and captivating movies, you can have your phone motorized up.

Keeping your phone charged is just a tiny piece of the traveling-with-your-phone puzzle. Once it’s on, there are a few options to consider for texting and data.

  

Prepaid Plans

As far as prepaid phones go, Project and Metro PCS both offer worldwide texting, calling and data. The project I’s is included with your base plan and Metro PCS offers a World Calling add-on for $10/ month on top of their base plan.

Unplug

You may decisively want to avoid posting to social media or examination in with friends and private back home while you are itinerant. Maybe you are one of the few people left who actually wants to soak in every moment in real life, not through the screen of your smartphone. If you are one of these people, there are still things you need to do to ensure you don’t rack up extra charges on your cell phone bill. Usually, as soon as you land in a foreign country, your phone will know that you are not in the US anymore, and a message will most likely pop up telling you that you are abroad along with rates in that country. In order to not incur wandering or statistics fees (which can happen even if you are not vigorously using the internet or apps that need the internet/data), you consume to turn off the cellular data and roaming on your phone, which you should also do even if you plan on using Wi-Fi. You may want to do this before you even land to avoid any surprises on your next bill. You could even just turn your phone off or, dare I say it, leave it at home.

The 5 harmful effects of the mobile phone on health

Do you remember the days when mobile phones were not taped to our hands yet? This time seems surreal, so much the comfort of these small devices has become indispensable. And the trend should not falter in the coming years: a third of the world's population should be equipped with a smartphone by next year, according to the latest estimates. But spending hours every day on a small screen, fingers stuck on the keyboard, necessarily affect our health.

The eyes

Excessive use of mobile phones and screens in general impacts the lens of the eye and promotes myopia. Even worse, two British women between the ages of 22 and 40 would have suffered a temporary blindness for a few months because of this bad habit. Both were constantly checking their smartphone at night in their bed with one eye, the other being covered by the pillow, as they were on one side. This difference in light caused asymmetry and loss of vision, reports the British daily The Independent. To avoid this problem, be sure to look at the screen with both eyes.

The sleep

One of the effects that have been repeatedly shown is the detrimental effect of blue light on sleep. Because our biological clock is based on light, exposure to screens at night can cause insomnia or difficulty falling asleep. To make sure you sleep well, turn off the electronic devices about an hour and a half before going to bed.

The brain

This is a debate that has been shaking the scientific community for years. The harmfulness of electromagnetic waves and more particularly their possible link with brain cancers has been analyzed by several teams of researchers. The latest study is the National Toxicology Program, an American research program. In the results published at the end of May, scientists say they have observed a significant increase in brain and heart cancers in rats that have been intensely exposed to waves of different powers.

The neck

This problem concerns especially adolescents. Staying curved forward is very bad in times of full growth and can cause neck pain associated with tension or contractures in the neck. Doctors who have noticed an increase in this problem related to poor posture have called it "text-neck".

Fingers

Text addicts may be suspicious of this: the movement of the fingers on the phone keypad can cause tendonitis, especially with the thumb. Just as in the case of the gamepad console, always repeat the same gesture for hours is not good for our fingers.

How to choose your smartphone?

There are many smartphone references available on the market? It becomes difficult to choose the one that best suits its use, depending on whether you are a seasoned user or beginner, frenetic or occasional user, young or old, familiar with new technologies or not? This little guide will try to guide you in the middle of this jungle.

A SMARTPHONE FOR WHAT PURPOSE?

This is the first question to ask. If you are looking for a smartphone mainly to the phone, check your email or surf the internet, do you really need the latest style Samsung Galaxy S9 or iPhone X? You will be able to access all these functions - with more or less fluidity - on all smartphones including more affordable models (less than 200 €). Rather than invest in high-end, keep the money saved to care for accessories (protections, headphones, media, etc. ...). Some brands have specialized in models with a good price/quality ratio, foremost among which shines French Wikio. New players are trying to gain a foothold in this market, such as Logical or Honor, Huawei's second most affordable brand.

If you have more use with the use of functions such as photo or multimedia, a mid-range smartphone will be more suitable (between 200 and 400 €). With better sensors and more powerful, they are a good balance between reasoned budget and performance. This category of product is very crowded and there are very good products at Samsung, HTC or Nokia. A good plan: take a look at the high-end models of the previous year, there are often good deals to make and the products concerned are of excellent quality.

Let's end with the most demanding category, one of the users looking for the best of the moment. They are the ones who snapped the last power monsters out of Samsung, Apple, Sony or LG. They are uncompromising on the quality of the photos, the fluidity, the power (especially for the game), the finish and the quality of the display. And they are ready to put the price. This category includes an iPhone X, LG G7, Samsung Galaxy S9 +, Xiaomi MI Mix 2S  or the latest Huawei P20 Pro and even the Honor 10.

WHAT ARE THE CRITERIA OF CHOICE?

THE SIZE

Between a 6.3-inch phablet and a 4 -inch smartphone, it's the big gap. If you often watch videos, if you are a big fan of video games or if you use your smartphone for office automation or, generally, in a professional setting, a large screen brings more comfort for both consultation and the input. A smaller screen will, however, easier to fit in a pocket and easier to handle. 

The current trend is too large screens, which is a distraction for fans of small format smartphones. When to reconcile small format and a high-end configuration, there is little more than Sony to risk it with its XZ2 Compact and the iPhone SE.

THE SCREEN RESOLUTION

Here again, we find everything on the market, from entry-level smartphones with an anemic resolution to high-end models offering high resolution and even now 4K. In addition to the fact that ultra-high definition is not always justified on a screen that remains small, the inflation of pixels induces screens more and more energy-intensive, and from there real autonomies that tend to cap.

CONNECTIVITY

The 4G LTE is now available as standard on almost all ranges of smartphones, including now on the entry level. As for the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, they are also found on all models, just like the GPS. Concerning the Wi-Fi, prefer when it is possible a smartphone compatible Wi-Fi ac, more stable and faster.

 

 THE OPERATING SYSTEM

This is a matter of taste. Without going into details, Android is arch dominant today (more than 80% of the market) and offers great freedom to the user. The direct consequence is also the least secure since it concentrates the vast majority of viruses and other malware on mobile. In contrast, Apple's iOS is known for its security and ease of use but remains a closed system, with the constraints that imply.

In this regard, it may be consistent to stay on the same ecosystem and to opt for an iPhone if you are already on Mac, even if it is not mandatory. Synchronization will be greatly facilitated. Another aspect to take into account, the number of applications available in different stores. IOS and Android still lead the way with hundreds of thousands of free or paid apps.

 

CONNECTIVITY

Apart from the particular case of Apple, it is advisable to prefer models with memory card reader to expand the storage capacity, and with video output (HDMI or MHL) to broadcast the image of your smartphone on a large screen. Regarding this last point, many smartphones are now ignoring this type of connectivity and favor wireless screen duplication (mirroring). A USB OTG (or Host) port will allow you to connect peripherals - especially USB flash drives or external hard drives - to your smartphone. Note that the USB-C begins to spread everywhere.

PHOTO FUNCTION

Having become an essential use on a smartphone, the photo function has seen great progress since the first sensors. Beware of the fabulous figures of manufacturers, the millions of pixels are not everything. Other important criteria must be taken into account, such as zoom, HDR (shooting optimization method), Flash LED, Panorama mode, stabilization or burst mode. The editing and sharing options should not be neglected either. Lumia and Sony are renowned for the quality of the sensors on their smartphones. The latter even offers goals dedicated to Android or iOS smartphones. - THE TECHNICAL

CHARACTERISTICS

The more powerful the processor and the more RAM, the smoother and more comfortable your smartphone will be on 3D video games. Although this is not always the case, a quad-core processor (4 cores) will generally be more suitable for demanding uses. More and more high-end models now offer an Octo Core processor (8 cores). 2 GB of RAM is now the minimum union on most smartphones, but there are high-end products with 4 or 8 GB installed. The graphics chip also comes into play.

 

THE AUTONOMY

This is the subject that makes you angry. Many smartphones, very good indeed, fish by their reduced autonomy. An indicator is the power of the battery (measured in mAh). The higher the figure, the more autonomy is supposed to be consequent. Except that other criteria intervene, like the interface, the overlay builder, the type of use, etc. Also remember that the notifications, the selected screen brightness or the Bluetooth significantly impact the consumption of your smartphone. Beware of builder announcements, they are often very optimistic. In this respect, user feedback can be a real gold mine.

THE ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONALITIES

Some features may be a criterion of choice. For example, the presence of an NFC chip allows a simplified connection by simple contact with compatible devices. The dual SIM card slot will be useful for travelers who can integrate a prepaid SIM card without removing their main card when traveling. The Mira cast feature allows wireless streaming of your content on a compatible screen. Finally, high-end models are most often equipped with a fingerprint reader, for better security.