Gizmodo gets our award for the most succinct and comprehensive coverage of Apple’s newly announced iPod Touch 4G. The device is available now for pre-order and begins shipping four weeks from today.

It has the iPhone’s Retina Display, a 3.5-inch IPS-based that has a razor-sharp 326ppi resolution. That’s 960 x 640 pixels.

It can record 720p high definition video and take photos with its back camera.

It can FaceTime with other iPod touches and iPhone 4s, using its front camera.

It runs at the same speed of the iPhone 4, using the same Apple A4 chip.

It incorporates the same 3-axis gyroscope of the iPhone 4, which makes motion tracking more precise than just the accelerometer.

It will have iOS 4.1 built-in.

It has a built-in speaker and microphone.

Essentially, the iPod Touch 4G is like an iPhone 4 without the phone.

According to Apple’s website, three models are available with the following pricing:

• 8GB for $229
• 32GB for $299
• 64GB for $399

Read the rest of the Gizmodo guide to the iPod Touch 4 here.

Need Boingo Wi-Fi for your iPod Touch? You can get a monthly Boingo Mobile subscription for $7.95/month or buy hourly Wi-Fi  for $1.99/hour with Boingo Wi-Fi Credits. Click on the hyperlinks to connect directly to the iTunes App store, or simply search for “boingo.”

Traveling with someone for the first time can be a trying experience. But with proper planning and communication, you can avoid potential blowups and breakups. So sit down and talk about these five topics before you embark on the trip:

1. Accommodations: what type of place do you each prefer to stay at, a hostel with a shared bathroom or a five-star hotel? Determine how much you want to spend per night and find a middle ground.

2. Meals: how many meals should be fulfilled at quick, cheap places versus dine-in establishments? Figure out your daily meal allowance and whether you’ll be splitting the check fifty/fifty.

3. Activities: what is the ratio of relaxation (e.g., lounging on the beach) versus exploration (e.g., touring museums) time do you want out of the trip? If you have different priorities for activities, consider splitting up for periods of time.

4. People: are you open to meeting and hanging out with new people you meet on the road? If you both feel differently about this, decide that when you’re together, you’ll remain as a one-on-one unit. If one person is keen on hobnobbing with new travel friends, that person could always set aside some solo exploration time.

5. Scheduling: what’s the ideal time to set off each day and how important is it to stick to the day’s plan? If one of you is an earlier riser, split up during those morning hours and meet up for lunch.  Sticklers for strict schedules should be open to the occasional curve ball — traveling, like life, is unpredictable! If you tend to travel in disorganized fashion, take some learning cues from your well-planned companion. And if you’re both chaotic travelers, have a sense of humor!

Do you have additional tips for traveling with another person? In the name of grace and peace, let’s hear it!

Taylor Michie is fifteen years-old and the youngest Boingo user we’ve met. He’s been connecting to Boingo since age ten, when he took his first solo flight across the country to a sailing regatta. Since then, he’s jetted all over the U.S., leaving a wake of witty blog posts and tweets. We are, quite frankly, astounded by this whiz kid. And our affection for Taylor has only deepened since he reached out to us with this video about his love for Boingo.

To learn more about Taylor, check out his blog and website.

Those traveling gurus over at Gadling are giving away the summer’s sweetest travel package: an “All You Can Jet” JetBlue pass for thirty days of unlimited travel anywhere JetBlue flies, a $250 gift card from SCOTTEVEST, a 4GB wireless Eye-Fi memory card, a three-month Boingo Wi-Fi subscription, and a free book and CD or Movie from Swap.com.

To enter the contest, all you have to do is post a comment on Gadling’s site about what you would do/where you would go if you had thirty days of unlimited travel. Not one but TWO lucky ducks will win Gadling’s travel package.

As one of the contest sponsors, we aren’t eligible to enter the contest. Boo hoo. But if you win, will you grant us one wish? We’d like to feature your thirty-day adventure here on our blog. Grazi!

Shelby Rogers might very well win the lifetime award for the friendliest and most capable flight attendant in the stratosphere. With her exuberance and vim, she can usually transform the most unruly passenger into a lamb. But, she admits, there is always a percentage of passengers who are incorrigible. While Shelby doesn’t necessarily applaud the JetBlue flight attendant — who, earlier this week, had an altercation with a passenger, went on a verbal tirade over the intercom and then fled via the plane’s emergency slide — she can easily relate to the frustrations of unbelievably bad passenger behavior. Below, she shares three firsthand accounts of passengers gone bonkers. Got an egregious tale of your own? Share them with us in the comments section.

Warning: Water Can Be Hazardous to Your Sanity

During boarding, a passenger informed me that her doctor required her to drink one quart of water per hour. I asked her if she brought any water of her own, to which she replied “no.” So I told her “no problem” and informed the galley flight attendant, who graciously offered the passenger a pitcher of water. The passenger asked whether it was “plane water.” The galley flight attendant responded, “yes, Ma’am.” The passenger screamed, “are you trying to poison me?” and then dumped the pitcher of water on the poor attendant.

Where’s the Chicken?

I asked a passenger whether she wanted the chicken, beef or pasta meal. She replied she wanted pasta. I handed her the food. She immediately unwrapped it, stuck her finger in it, and started smooshing it around.

“I don’t see the chicken, where is it?” she asked.

“You requested pasta — there is no chicken in the pasta,” I said.

“For what I paid for my ticket, I should have anything I want,” she said.

“Ma’am,” I said. “You paid for transportation from point A to point B. This is not a restaurant. Enjoy your pasta!”

Frequent Flier No First-Class Act

I was halfway through boarding a flight when a man ran over huffing and puffing.

“My wife and I just missed our flight. Can we get on this one?” he asked.

I put the man and his wife on a waiting list. Lucky for them, we ended up having a couple seats available. The only caveat was that the seats were not next to each other. So the couple again approached me to complain that they wanted to sit together.

“I’m sorry, ” I said, “but we don’t have two open seats next to each other.”

The man slammed his briefcase on the counter and yelled: “I fly a million miles a year with you people and you can’t get me two seats together?!”

“No, Sir,” I replied. “I cannot. First, this is not the  flight  you were booked on — you missed  your original flight. Second, you showed up twenty minutes to departure, so this is the best we can do for you.”

The man interrupted me. “Listen to me. I pay your salary and you will get me two seats together.”

In a calm voice, I said: “Sir,  I will not help you while you are standing here cussing at me. If you continue like this, I will call the police.”

“You go ahead and call Barney Fife!!!” he replied, his face pinched and red.

So I dialed 911. Then I finished up the boarding process. All the while the man continued to berate me. Finally, a police officer arrived — a tall, buffed, muscular guy — and tapped the man on the shoulder.

“I heard you wanted to see me?” said the police officer.

The man continued to yell and started to get physical, so in one swift move, the police officer handcuffed the man and off to airport jail they went.

His wife, who had asked him to calm down several times, boarded the plane without him.

* * *

Got any stories of your own of passengers gone wild?  Share them with us!

Business travel can be a drag, even if it’s an opportunity to see and experience new places. So how can a frequent jetsetter bring some  joy back into traveling? For answers, we went to travel connoisseur Cynthia Drescher, editor of Jaunted and contributing editor of HotelChatter. Drescher — who works, breathes, and lives almost exclusively on the road — says it’s about finding pleasure in the small things. Below are her three simple business travel tips. Got a tip of your own? Please share them with us in the comments section.

1. Love your luggage: Every single time I finish re-packing my rolling carry-on at the end of a trip, when everything fits just so and I can shove last-minute purchases in without endangering the safety of my gadgets, I step back and look down at my bag and say, “I love this bag.”

There is no excuse for traveling with bad or mediocre luggage. This is of one of my little missions, to educate travelers on the importance of having the right travel accessories.

You need to get to a point with your luggage (preferably always carry-on), where you’re in awe of its pure awesomeness. It should be  a bag that says “you,” like a well-worn leather Tumi pilot bag or a piece that can stand up to the worst punishment, and still be stylish enough to complement your personality. One of my favorite luggage brands is Rimowa. I’ve been traveling hardcore with a silver polycarbonate 20″ 2-wheeler from their Salsa collection for the last four years, and it has never let me down. It also helps that it looks super slick.

2. Stretch It: I’m so far from being a yoga person, but it’s true: yoga really does aid in your flexibility and general health. Most importantly, yoga jump starts relaxation and those lovely happy endorphins you get from exercising.

I’ve never done any more advanced yoga than what you can find on a Wii Fit, but enough repetition of those basic positions and I’ve memorized them enough to have a quick 20-minute hotel room routine.

For business travelers, the freedom to take a few minutes to focus on just your balance or just your breathing can make all the difference, not to mention that it leaves you feeling limber and more confident. I don’t even take workout clothes or study up on hotel gyms anymore — I just strike a pose in the comfort of my hotel room. I do some downwards dogs and sun salutations in my pajamas while the coffee machine is percolating, and I’m more than good.

3. Find the Freebies: Encountering hotels with unexpected freebies makes me almost irrationally happy. Look for hotels that offer little bonuses. Omni Hotels will press your shirt and give you breakfast beverage service for free if you join their loyalty program. Kimpton’s InTouch rewards program gives you two free items from the minibar, a “welcome gift” (which was a whole bottle of red wine once for me) and an evening wine hour. Or, without joining a free loyalty program at all, the Park Hyatt Chicago will drive you around town in one of their black Mercedes and all you have to do is tell them when and where.

It’s the allure of the word “free” combined with the above and beyond service that puts the cherry on top of my sundae. In other words, freebies bring the fun.

About Cynthia Drescher, In Her Own Words

I’m that girl who, even before hitting puberty, was hitting the stack of pamphlets at the travel agency. After getting a degree in International Studies with a focus on the Anthropology of Tourism, I traded the asphalt freeways of the Midwest for the cobblestones of Rome and southern Germany, where I interned with the International Organization for Migration and hit the Eurostar ticket counter as often as possible.

I’m now headquartered in New York for the benefit of having the big three airports within easy reach–JFK, LGA and EWR. While it’s very possible that I’m out gathering fodder for stories most of the time, you may also run into me 100′ underwater on a scuba dive, 33,000′ above the arctic on a direct to Hong Kong or doing a crossword in a greasy spoon at sea level. And, even though I’m technically a travel writer, you may be shocked to hear that I spend almost all of the money not taken by NYC rent on my own travels. Each day is a struggle between sitting down to work (I am the Editor of Jaunted.com, and also Contributing Editor at HotelChatter.com, Racked New York and Racked National) or heading out on an impromptu journey.

We’re pleased to announce the results of the Boingo Hotspots and Snaphots Photo Contest. Our judges — professional photographers Leah and Deb — had a very difficult time selecting the winning entries. There were so many good ones! Thanks to everyone who participated.

Winner for the Boingo Hotspots category: “Fabulous Fourth of July at the Home Depot” by Andrew Preikschat
Commentary from our (professional photographer) judges:  “This is compositionally a really great image, with the rows of people at the bottom and the inclusion of the “La Galaxy Soccer” sign. And of course, this is a great place for a Wi-Fi hotspot.”

Winner for the Travel category: “Myanmar Light,” by David Lazarus
Commentary from our (professional photographer) judges:  “This photograph is just breathtaking – the light, the composition, the processing, and the content (perfect for travel).  We love that the photographer chose to light the cattle versus the man.  This really is an incredible photograph.”

Winner for the Happiness category: “On the Lap of Grandpa,” by Abhijit Dey

Commentary from our (professional photographer) judges:  “This category was really hard to narrow down to just one image, and we went back and forth many times.  In the end, we felt this photograph just screams happiness.  We also love the composition and the photographer’s choice to convert the image to black and white.“

Winner for the Technology category: “Outles in Seville, Spain,” by Libby Zay

Commentary from our (professional photographer) judges:  “We selected this image  not only because of the outlets, but more so because of the juxtaposition of the radiator and the outlets (great composition).  We really enjoyed the processing of this image.”

About the Judges:

Leah Zawadzki has loved photography as far back as she can remember. After her twins were born in 2005, she became passionate about learning the art of photography. In 2006, Leah launched lilyblue photography. She is and always has been committed to doing things her own way and creating images that truly move her and the people who experience them. Leah studied interior design at Cal Poly and worked in the architecture industry for over ten years. She currently works as a portrait photographer in southern California and is happily married and the mama to three beautiful, crazy children.

Deb Schwedhelm spent ten years as a registered nurse in the U.S. air force before she pursued her dream to be a professional photographer. In 2006, she purchased a DSLR camera and began teaching herself photography, eventually launching Deb Schwedhelm Photography. Whether commissioned portrait sessions, commercial assignments or her ongoing personal projects, Deb always remains true to herself and her artistic vision. Deb is married to a U.S. naval officer and is the mother to three incredible children, who are often the subjects of her photographic work. She is currently based in Tampa, Florida.

A few years ago, when I was just a little grasshopper, I went overseas with my smartphone. While I didn’t make any calls, I did continue to receive push email. Imagine my shock when the phone bill arrived a few weeks later with a $700+ balance.

Smartphones are now a pervasive part of our everyday lives — so much so that we get separation anxiety when we leave our devices at home. The unhealthy implications of this aside, there are very practical reasons to bring along a smartphone when traveling: navigation, eatery recommendations, phone calls, etc. So what’s a traveler married to his/her smartphone to do?

The New York Times provides a helpful guide for reaping the benefits of smartphone travel without incurring hefty bills:

• Get a GSM phone
• Check with your carrier for special deals on international roaming
• Buy a local SIM card
• Subscribe to Boingo Mobile Wi-Fi for $7.95 for online connectivity and to make VoIP calls
• Buy an old-fashioned calling card

I’ve employed all the above tips and am happy to say I’ve not since been faced with an exorbitant communications bill. (That means extra money for fun stuff, e.g., clothes and shoes, while I’m in a foreign city!)

Read the entire article here.

Here at Boingo, we’re all very passionate about protecting the environment and contributing to the community– both of which are everyday efforts for us. Recently, CEA (Consumer Electronics Association) showcased our environmental and community initiatives in this blog article.

Highlights:

• “For Hagan [our CEO] and Boingo, going green is really all about incrementally doing the right things.”
• “The [Green Boingo Employee] committee started by implementing a few simple wins – quick changes that yielded real results. Among the first was removing old lighting and replacing it with light emitting diode (LED) light bulbs which both consume less energy and last longer than traditional light bulbs. Another was the elimination of plastic water bottles in favor of the office water cooler and the substitution of coffee mugs for paper cups.”
• “[Boingo] was equally committed to showing the community and its customers what it means to be green. The company teamed up with California Recycles in 2009 and was able to recycle hundreds of pounds of electronic waste including items like batteries, cell phones, keyboards and mice, old computers and computer monitors.”
• “On the customer side, Boingo created a unique promotion for Earth Day 2009 where they offered to donate 10 percent of a customer’s purchase of a Boingo Unlimited pass to Earth Day Network – a non-profit devoted to a healthy and sustainable environment…the company did a similar campaign in 2010 with Global Green USA and achieved similar success.”
• “Hagan (through his Vice Chairmanship on CEA’s Wireless Division Board and involvement in CEA’s green initiatives) came armed with a tool to help the Green Boingo team take a deeper dive into environmentally sustainable business practices. CEA worked with renowned consulting firm Booz & Co. to develop a set of assessment tools that companies in the consumer electronics industry could use to determine how green their current business practices are and how to drive improvements at every point in the value chain to create a more sustainable company.”
• “Boingo plans to not only include certain green criteria in ongoing negotiations with prospective suppliers, but also to include environmental sustainability as a core part of its annual planning process.”
• “Hagan and Boingo have laid the groundwork among employees and suppliers to continue to drive improvements in its commitment to environmental sustainability. A skillful combination of both intrinsic and extrinsic incentives among employees and customers alike has helped the company find ways to move the needle.”

Read the entire article here.

Please let us know if you have questions about our green efforts. We’re happy to share our best practices and as always, we invite tips on how to improve.

Whether you’re a geek, super hero or Jedi knight, there’s no getting around the crowds and the chaos that is Comic-Con — the world’s largest comic book and popular arts convention, held annually in San Diego. Luckily, the LA Times consulted an elite group of Comic-Con veterans, who offer the following tips on surviving and enjoying the event:

• “Bring water and snacks:” Summertime in California is hot, and the foodstuff at the conference is expensive (save your money for action figures and light sabers).
• “Plan ahead:” Prioritize who and what you want to see. Otherwise, you might find yourself in an infinite loop.
• “Don’t wear wear your cute shoes:” Four days of walking around is essentially equal to walking a marathon. So don the most comfortable shoes you have (or that money can buy).
• “Ditch your wheels:” Don’t count on parking spaces for your car – parking is almost nonexistent. Your options are taxis (be sure to bargain) and trolleys.
• “Gadgets, chargers and backpack:” Bring two sets of gadgets and chargers. Also, tote around a big purse or backpack to store your equipment and swag.
• “The celebs will be excited to see you too:” Prepare your questions (and backup ones), speak up, and keep it real.
• “Check your balance:” Put yourself on a budget because it’s way too easy to overspend.
• “Dreams come true in Hall H:” Enjoy the sneak peeks and surprises but expect intensely long wait times and lines.
• “Bring your school supplies:” Pack your pens, pencils, pens, paper and sketchbook.
• “Swag:” Comic-Con wouldn’t be the same without the swag — and there’s tons of it. For pins, go straight to the big booths.
• “Sunday:” It’s one of the easier days to get around the convention center. Plus, this year, Sunday is the day to see panels from “Smallville” and “Glee,” to name a few.
• “Booths and Signing:” If one of your aims is to get an autograph from your favorite comics artist or writer, then be sure to head to the relevant booth and consult the signing schedule.
• “After-hours:” There are a plethora of activities to choose from in the after-hours including: parties, bars, treasure hunts and screenings. Do your research and check the schedules!
• “Become a ninja:” If you don’t get in line early enough for a panel,  then it’s time to get into stealth mode: attend preceding panels and edge your way to the front seats when the room clears out.

May the Force be with you. Short of that, pray to a super hero.

Read the entire article here.