A handheld travel device helping millions to connect through language

Having recently completed a round-the-world-trip, I can tell you first hand that the translation functionality of your smartphone is a godsend. And I can also tell you firsthand that the associated app-jumping and the strain it puts on your poor phone’s battery life is anything but.
                                   

A personal voice translator device, Travis is capable of instantly translating between 80 of the world’s most common languages with the click of a button.

Travis (the device) was designed and created by Travis (the company), a small firm founded by Lennart van der Ziel and Nick NM Yap, which started with just those two and has since grown to now have teams working across three continents — North America, Europe and Asia.

The device is nicely pocket-sized, and uses advanced AI to recognise what language is being spoken, analyse and translate it, and then relay that translation in your chosen preferred language — all within the system itself, with no need to bounce between apps!

Travis is able to be used with headphones with a built in mic; so if you want to go on a tour, or attend a show, or even if you’re simply riding public transport, Travis will listen to the information being presented, and deliver it directly to your ear, without giving away your secret.

Even though the campaign has now long since finished, Travis was so popular he is now available InDemand, so patrons can still head over to Indiegogo and secure themselves a travel buddy, and with an estimated shipping date of September, he could make the perfect Christmas present.

SAS could one day travel through space to get to war zones in an hour

Special Forces troops could travel through space to get to war zones in future, the head of the American air force suggested yesterday.
Chief of Staff General David Goldfein raised the prospect of elite troops travelling on a mothership to anywhere in the planet within an hour.
                                                 

Speaking at an air power conference in London, he said the military needed to 'jump on' industry plans when it came to innovative technology.
He referred to Sir Richard Branson's company Virgin Galactic, which plans to make intercontinental space travel a reality.

The entrepreneur has announced plans to launch people into space in 2018, with the first test flights beginning this year.
He is convinced that eventually the costs of space flights will come down and the fuel savings on intercontinental flights using a low Earth orbit will make travel from one place to another commercially viable.

He said: 'The question for us is what does that mean if I take seven special operators, put them on this and then can get to any place on the planet in less than an hour?
'What does that do to us and what does that do for us in terms of all of the scenarios that we think our way through?
'This is the technology that commercial industry is now going for. With all of the challenges that we have talked about there is such opportunity for us if we can just jump on it and grab it.'
Also speaking at the conference, Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon said young people needed to be reminded of the stories of Britain's 'great inventors and imagineers'.

Slump in travel to and from Qatar as thousands of airline bookings are cancelled

Airlines are cancelling a large number of passenger bookings to and from Qatar after four Arab countries severed diplomatic and economic links, endangering Doha’s hub status for international travel.
                                               

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt cut ties with Qatar on June 5, imposed a travel ban and imposed a no-fly zone over their air space for Qatar-registered airlines and aircraft.

The cancellations are for all dates, including forward bookings.

Arabian Gulf airlines, including Saudia, flydubai, Emirates, Air Arabia and Etihad, flew frequently to and from Doha before the ban. Rival Qatar Airways also had a number of flights heading to and from the four countries.

The travel ban has had a widespread impact on passenger demand, especially for Qatar Airways, and the longer it carries on, the worse it is expected to become for Gulf carriers, according to some analysts.

"For passengers, the ban has resulted in restricted travel choices and in many cases, people are cancelling travel plans altogether," said Saj Ahmad, the chief analyst at London-based StrategicAero Research. "The impact of cancellations would be far greater for Qatar Airways than any other Arabian Gulf carrier because the Doha-based airline is banned from flying to several countries."

Qatar Airways, which is part of the 15-member oneworld alliance, had built Doha into an international hub, competing with Dubai and Abu Dhabi for long-haul travel. The Doha-based carrier has amassed stakes in companies such as IAG, owner of British Airways, and Latam Airlines, Latin America’s largest carrier, to expand its global reach.

Young family with two kids sell everything they own to travel the world

A young family is selling everything they own so they can travel the world - because "life's too short".
                                           

Clare Fisher and husband Ian, from Wales, are taking their two children out of school and have warned their family they might never come back.

The couple, from Porthcawl, are saving every penny they can and have started getting rid of everything from the family car to handbags, Wales Online reports.

“There’s no limit on how long we go for. We have planned the first eight months location wise and then we will come back to see family and friends and then, potentially, we will be going on the second part of our trip.”

She added: “I would like to do the whole world and there is no definite plan on when we come back. The chances are we will settle in the place we love the most.”

Clare, 31, who is a business coach, and Ian, 28, who works for a media company, are saving every penny they can and have started selling belongings, everything from a car to handbags, to generate as much money as possible.

But if the money runs out during the trip, they might have to find work.

However the pair are investing in video and camera equipment so they can chronicle their adventure and share the stories via their own YouTube channel and Instagram and Facebook accounts.

Clare said they will also have to spend time schooling the children every day and hope to continue to follow the curriculum as well as potentially accessing a virtual school online.

After they have sold off all of their furniture they will leave their flat at Christmas and, after staying with family for the festive period, they will be off.