As mobile technology continues to advance, many people begin to rely more and more on their phone – for different reasons. For some, it may be strictly business related, while for others it’s to stay in touch with family and friends, or for entertainment value.

Shaimus at Hotel Utah

I am, as many of you know, a big fan of the rock band Shaimus. I went to high school with Cam, the drummer, and have had the privilege of getting to know the rest of the guys over the last few years. They’re super talented and have been featured in things like Rock Band, Guitar Hero, and the upcoming movie ‘The Roommate.’ They’re currently on tour, and after their last show, I began wondering how they use mobile technology (and technology in general) in their lives as on the go musicians. The band graciously agreed to answer a few of my questions (from their cell phone, on their way from SF to Portland, in between shows)! Check out what they had to say:

Stephanie: How does technology help drive your lives as musicians?

Shaimus: Technology has become incorporated into everything we do. For starters, it’s allowing us to answer these questions. We use a lot of online Google products for organization like Gmail, Docs, Calendar, etc. It keeps everyone on the same page and allows us to access our accounts from the road. We also do a lot of file sharing to get work done remotely.

Technology also allows us to be closer to fans with weekly online chats. It closes the gap between being a ‘rock band with mystique’ and just being people. Because that’s really who we are: we’re just people who like to spend time with other people.

Stephanie: What are some examples of how you use your mobile phone to stay in touch with your fans, friends and family while on tour?

Phil: Apps like Facebook and Twitter allow us to keep in touch with fans and friends in real time. If we couldn’t do that, we’d have to do everything from memory when we get home. It lets them in on the process. It allows us to share details of the trip in ways we couldn’t before. We can send reminders from the road, post pictures from the shows and to answer email questions for thelggirl.com!

Stephanie: Do you use your phone as an MP3 player, or do you keep the two separate? Why?

Johannes: I do. It’s a lot easier than carrying two devices around. However, it can get annoying if a call comes in while I’m listening to some tunes. The rest of the guys don’t because the mp3 players on their phones aren’t necessarily as easy to use as my phone’s mp3 player, but it seems that things are definitely improving on that front!

Stephanie and Evan (Guitarist)

Stephanie: What is your favorite on the road snack? Random question, I know. But I love snacks.

Shaimus: Beef jerky, bananas and apples.

Stephanie: That’s very healthy of you! I usually go Cheez-Its and Red Vines. Okay, has your cell phone ever gotten any of you in trouble? (such as getting in an accident while driving, or accidentally texting the wrong person)

Johannes: Nothing too serious. A couple near accidents from looking at emails or the GPS.

Phil: I have everything on my phone from emails to IMs and texts. It canbecome a distraction from the people I’m hanging out with, which can get me into a bit of trouble.

Stephanie: How do you pass the time while on long road trips?

Shaimus: We have a TV screen in our van so we’ve been watching a lot of DVDs like ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.’ That makes the time go by pretty fast. Yesterday we discovered that the drive from San Francisco to Portland is exactly the same length as season 2 of Arrested Development.

Stephanie: When you meet someone new, what are you guidelines for if/when they get your cell phone number?

Shaimus: Usually it starts with email addresses. When people come to multiple shows fans start turning into friends. Luckily, we have really awesome fans that we want to hang out with so we do end up giving cell numbers out.

Stephanie: ‘Fess up…who is on their phone the most?

Shaimus: Cam is on his LG Rumor Touch the most, because he’s the most popular. He texts a lot, and sends emails and updates our Facebook and Twitter from the road.

Find out more about Shaimus at Shaimus.com, where you can check out their blog, listen to their songs (like one of my favorites, Turn the Other Way), and read more about the band and other band members Evan and Lou!

Abduction description from Android.com:

Your fellow cows have been abducted by aliens! Follow the UFO into space, picking up power-ups as you go, but watch you don’t fall…play across multiple difficulty levels, including infinite modes. See your personal best scores on your phone, and show them off to everyone on the global leaderboards.

Abduction uses the accelerometer in your phone to navigate your cow character back and forth onto little trampolines, depending on how you tilt your phone. You can collect little gifts on the way, like High Jumps (get that extra boost!), but be careful of things like Crumbles (the platform crumbles when you first touch it). Try to catch up to the UFO to save your cow friends!

I figured this game would get old, fast. But this game has provided me hours of entertainment. It’s simple, but fun and challenging – but not challenging enough that it’s ever frustrating. Definitely a recommended download. Okay, time to go try and save more cows from the aliens. Bai!

Until recently, I was aware that mobile boarding passes existed – but hadn’t yet tried them out for myself. Given that my cell phone is already pretty much permanently attached to my hand, it only seems logical that someone like me who loves her phone and travels relatively often may find something like this beneficial (and…uh, awesome). So, on a recent United flight, I decided to try it out.

In many airports, the security lines and boarding areas are now equipped with scanners that read a QR code, scanned right from your mobile phone, that contains all of your boarding information. This code is emailed to you (or texted to you, on some airlines) after you check in online, and all you’ve gotta do is open the code image on your device (I tried it on my Ally, running Android, but there are many other devices and operating systems that are supported). From there, simply use it as you would a normal boarding pass, scanning it once at security and again when boarding.

The more that I travel, the more I try to make the travel process as stress free as possible – and I’d absolutely recommend trying the mobile boarding pass on for size. Realize that you forgot to check in, as you’re in a cab on the way to the airport? No problem. Printer out of ink at home? Don’t worry. Just check in from your computer or mobile device, have your boarding pass emailed to you, and you’re good to go.

I found it to be really easy, and totally convenient. I didn’t have to print anything, or remember which pocket I’d put my boarding pass in. On top of that, it’s environmentally friendly…can you imagine the impact it could have if every person who traveled had their boarding pass delivered electronically, instead of printed on paper?! According to TechCrunch, Jupiter research estimates that by 2014, 15 billion mobile boarding passes will be sent to mobile devices. That’s a lot of saved paper.

Some people close to me may say that at one point in my life, I was terrible with directions. Okay, so maybe I was…but then along came GPS, and I’m now a legitimate pro at getting around. GPS has trained me well.

I’ve used Google Maps Navigation in a few different crucial situations so far, including the time I needed to get from the Dulles airport in DC to Baltimore, MD. I’ve used it when I needed a reliable GPS to get me around in an area I was unfamiliar with – and every time I have used it, it has gotten me to my destination without a hitch. Keep in mind that it’s still in Beta, but I was more than happy with my experiences. I was also a little concerned about the navigation’s impact on my battery life, but after using it on my Ally for the drive from DC to Baltimore (about an hour), I was shocked at how much battery life I had left.

Some things I especially like about this app:

1. It’s free, and replaces my existing GPS device. I’m all for combining devices when I don’t have to sacrifice functionality, and if you travel a lot, it’s also great to not have to carry around another GPS device (or pay extra for one with your rental car).
2. Clear, easy to follow directions. I appreciate that the application can receive OTA updates so that my maps are as up to date as possible, and also that it can give me turn by turn directions including the names of streets (for example, ‘in 500 feet, turn right onto Pacific Street’ instead of just ‘in 500 feet, turn right’).
3. It’s easy. To get the address I needed to go to (which was sent to me via email) into the maps application, all I had to do was hold my finger down on the address within the Gmail message. Android recognized that what I was pressing on was an address, asked me if I wanted to navigate, and just like that, I was on my way. No more trying to memorize the address, switching apps, trying to type it in, etc…
4. Traffic updates. I love being able to check traffic before I go, and being aware of what’s ahead of me while en route. As you can see in the screenshot, there is a little indicator in the bottom left corner during navigation that tells you what you’re in for – either slow/stopped traffic (red circle), moderate traffic (yellow circle) or no traffic (green). Touch it and these colors will cover the streets on the map, so you can get an idea of where traffic starts and stops.

There are many more features of Google Maps Navigation, including voice search and Street View. Check them out at the link above, or on your Android device – and let me know what you think!

The LG US National Texting Championships are coming up – are you up to date on your text message shorthand?

Abbreviations are everywhere: in text messages, in chat conversations and even IRL. It used to only be the ‘Valley Girls’ who threw around the OMGs…now, even my mom (who I love dearly, but didn’t start texting until maybe 2 years ago) sends me texts in full abbreviation mode. I love it.

There are giant lists of abbreviations out there, and if you’re not sure of what someone just texted you, even doing a simple Google search can inform you of an existing definition. Here are some that I use the most:

omg (probably my #1 used)
omw – on my way
brb
ttys
nbd – no big deal
LOL
yt? – you there?
gtg

Srsly though, I gtg. Ttys!