When I was still in college, I did quite a bit of travelling, thanks to the fierce competition among the budget airlines offering unbelievably low fares. During those times, having a travelling companion in the form of software was really handy because all the vital information you needed were within reach. Information such as currency exchange, flight delays and even weather were information that you would want to have while travelling (among other things). And now, with the latest update to Fizz Traveller, you can do all this and more, taking you one step closer to that perfect trip.

First Glance

Well it has been a while since I last used Fizz Traveller so I can’t really compare it to version 2. Now at version 3, it has some really nice features, some more useful than others, that you would want to check out. Support for this product is one of the better ones, thanks to the inclusion of a manual (PDF)for users who like to read up or refer to. For those who like to try a product hands-on, they have a 3 day trial (one of the shortest) and licenses cost $29.95. If that is too pricey for you, read on and I’ll show you how to get 15% off

Installation

Well I don’t usually cover installation because they are usually straightforward. This one is too. But be warned that if you do decide to install via CAB file (like I did), that file is going to take up 6MB so best to install it to your storage card. Unless you are using the X800 and have 256MB of ROM, then it would be a different case. I did not face any problems during set up and I don’t think you would too.

Startup Wizard

When I said support for this product was pretty good, I was not kidding. This is one of the few software out there that actually has a startup wizard that guides you through the initial set up. This is a good feature of Fizz Traveller as it helps you get the basic settings like city and themes set up easily. No more having to go through options and deciding which ones you have to change.

Beautiful Interface

Now screen	Choose your function

When you are all done with that, you’ll be greeted by what is called the Now screen. It’s a simple screen that looks beautiful (in my opinion) nonetheless. You’ll come to notice that Fizz Traveller has changed the way you navigate the application. They are now grouped according to function and from there, they have sub tabs of specific functions. And they do it all from a nice and smooth interface, even without any custom skins applied. Whoever said that informational applications had to look boring?

Co-ordinate International Meetings

Do you have need to call a friend in another country but are not sure of the best time to call? Or were you told that you have an appointment in Pacific Time but are current in Eastern Time zone? No matter what, Fizz Traveller can help you. Firstly, it has this simple list that shows you your local time and the local time in another city of your choice. So you could easily find out what time it is in Singapore when it’s 3pm in New York.

And for those having trouble keying in appointment in another time zone, Fizz Traveler takes the pain away. Just tap on the time of your meeting and enter the details. It couldn’t be easier. So next time when you are in that timezone and switch in your device, your appointments adjust accordingly and you have the right time.

Need The Weather?

Get the forecasts	Or the maps!

Knowing the weather before you leave the house is something I do to ensure I don’t get surprised. While weather reports from the news the night before may be useful, I like to get updated information just before I leave and Fizz Travller lets you do that. It seems like Fizz Weather is integrated because you get all the forecasts (7 days, 2 days and current) and maps (satellite, forecast, radar) as well as airport (which I will discuss later). It might not be as fully featured as its Weather counterpart but I think for a travelling program, Fizz Traveller does pretty well.

Check Flight Status

Departure information	Arrival information

Besides knowing the weather, you would want to keep track of the flight status. Is it on time or delayed? Or even worse, canceled? Such information can really help you optimize your trip itinerary. With Fizz Traveller, you can query your flight status right from your palm and find out information such flight departure and arrival as well as terminals.

In the trial, you only get to use the service 10 times and for those with licenses, you need to pay a quarterly charge of $4.95. Not too much if you are a frequent flier but I guess a bit over the top for those who seldom are.

Skin It Till You Like It

Grass theme	Fire theme

One of the features of Fizz Traveller is the ability to skin it with different themes. I am not sure why a travel application would need such a feature but I guess for users who enjoy doing so would find it useful. At the moment, I don’t think you can add additional skins though you can add additional clock faces (scroll to the bottom) by heading over to Fizz’s website to download them.

Need To Convert?

This is something that I do quite a lot when I am overseas. It used to be done with a calculator and I had to find out the exchange rate. But Fizz Traveller simplifies it for you by downloading the rates and does the conversion for you. And if you need to convert other units, it covers too. These include weight, clothes sizes, speed, length and temperature. Granted, some of these conversions are more useful than others.

List, List List

Don’t miss anything out with the lists options provided by Fizz Traveller. Not only does it have a packing list, it also has an itinerary list as well so you will never miss your flight or meeting.

Packing list categories	Items in the money category

What I like about their packing list is that it was really well thought out. You can pack according to pre-set categories like Money, Family Vacation and Business Travel (among others) or even set your own. Each category has items related to it that you would need to pack. For example, you will find cash, credit cards and pictured ID in Money. Add or remove them according to your preference. With this list, you’ll never have to worry about forgetting something on your next trip.

Do the same with itinerary. However, unlike the packing list, this one is not as robust. You can only add a few items like Flight and Car Rental. What is great about this is that each item is customized for the option chose. So when you choose Flight, it will ask for your flight details like Airline and Flight Number. Choose Car Rental and it will ask you for the Renter’s Name and Telephone Number.

See It All On Your Today Screen

Choose simple	Or choose detailed

And when launching the application is a hassle, you’ll be pleased to know that you can access it all from your Today screen. Time, forecast, current (weather) and alarms seems to be the only option available at this moment. If this is too much, it does have an alternative, simpler version. I think Fizz missed the mark here on their plug-in. It has the potential to be much better with added customization options which I hope they would consider adding in the next version.

With such great features, Fizz does seem to have a winner with Fizz Traveller. However, some issues bugged me while I was trying it out.

How They Calculate Airport Delays?

I am not sure how they calculate airport delays especially since they seem to have the uncanny ability to see 36 hours into the future and tell you whether or not there will be airport delays. My guess is that they use weather data and estimate it. If this is the case, then I would not really recommend using this feature to find out if your flight is delayed. Instead, use their flight status tool to query it and get a more accurate picture.

Some Useless Features

It seems that Fizz Traveller tries to be an all-in-one application, and then some more. It sure has a lot of useful features, I have to give it that. But it also has some features that I do not understand why were included in the application. Features like moon phase (do travellers need that) and a stopwatch and timer (let’s see how much faster this line clears this time around) in a traveller program just makes me go. ‘Huh?’

List Could Be Improved

The list is really awesome in Fizz Traveller but it can be further improved. One way to do this is to add sightseeing and custom item to the Itinerary. When I go travelling, I would love to visit some of the sights of the place and if I could have those information as part of my itinerary, all the better right? An added bonus would be for the sightseeing item to have the option to add co-ordinates and it links up to Google Maps where I can be guided with my built-in GPS. Ok I think I might be going overboard here.

Also, the list of airport where it shows you the airports’ name and code as well as the city it is located in is is a bit weakly implemented. I was hoping for more information like maybe a website or address or something. It is a good start Fizz, but I think more information here would be much appreciated.

Currency Converter Improvements

Here’s another suggestion for Fizz to consider. Have the ability to sort currencies according to user preference. At the moment, it seems that currencies are sorted alphabetically. I would much prefer if I could sort it according to how I want to. You know, it’s the little things that go a long way

Also, it would be great if we could key in the rates ourselves. Sometimes, we do not have internet access to get updated rates. Other times, we want to use the rates given by the bank. Either way, entering our custom rates should be something that I hope they would support in upcoming versions.

Summary

What I Like

• Feature-rich application
• Beautiful interface with customizable themes
• Co-ordinate agenda across different timezones
• Great weather information
• Ability to query flight status
• Wide conversion selection

What Could Be Improved

• Removing some features (mentioned above)
• Improve airport delay calculation (or remove it completely)
• Improved lists (itinerary and airport)
• More powerful currency conversion tool
• Auto-update via WiFi only
• More customizable Today plug-in

Conclusion
Fizz Traveller has its work cut out for it if it wants to be the application of choice for frequent travellers. That’s because WorldMate has recently offered a free version of it’s travelling companion program. I am not sure what Fizz’s plan are but hopefully they have something up their sleeves to counter that.

On its own, Fizz Traveller is a well thought out program that would serve frequent travellers well. It’s got some really useful features that would make your next trip a lot more manageable. And considering that you can manage most (if not all) of your trip from one application, that is a real bonus. Is Fizz Traveller for you? Well only you can answer that yourself. Give it a go with their 3 day trial or purchase a license for $29.95. Clicking on this link will give you a 15% discount and you can get it for $25.46. Don’t forget to add their flight status updated for an additional $4.95 every 3 months. It would really serve those who take flights, really well.

Tags: commercial software