Apple launches ultra-thin laptop
Apple has already made waves with its iPod, iPhone and trendy desktop computers, but today the company threw out a new challenge to its competitors, unveiling the world’s thinnest laptop and a new movie download system that it hopes will…
The 10 best alternative news apps for iPhone, iPad and Android
We’re not in Fleet Street any more, Toto. Changing news habits haven’t killed off traditional newspapers just yet, but they have sparked new ways of finding and consuming news. Smartphones and tablets are central to this, with a glut of…
Smart TV is the future
Almost in the blink of an eye (or the time it takes to type 140 characters) it seems that we’re very close to reaching a tipping point in the convergence of media and technology with the growing global adoption of…
Apple Pay: what businesses need to consider before diving in
Apple Pay launched to mixed fanfare in the UK last week and both sides have, as expected, been debated to death. It’s easy to see why people are excited when the average US Apple Pay user has already shown themselves…
Drive like Bond, James Bond: Express tests the Land Rover smartphone car remote control
You can now take your Range Rover Sport for a spin, without opening the car door. Land Rover’s smart motor can be started, dropped into gear – and driven down the road using only a smartphone app. The technology spookily…
Audi’s 50 mph e-bike pops wheelies, boasts WiFi
Audi, the company that brought you hybrid-diesel racecars, has an intriguing two-wheel concept vehicle: an ultra-light carbon fiber electric bicycle that has WiFi built in, can hit 50 mph, and even has a Segway-like mode that lets it run on…
GoPro releases its smallest, lightest waterproof camera yet
GoPro – a brand synonymous with staggering footage of people plummeting through cliffsand close encounters with Great Whites – has added a new camera to its Hero range. The HERO4 Session is some 50 per cent smaller and 40 per…
Nine reasons only a tool would buy the Apple Watch
It’s difficult to know what the defining news moment of 2015 has been so far: the consecration of the first female bishop in the UK? The explosive Westminster cash-for-access scandal? Patricia Arquette’s inspiring call for equality in her Oscars speech?…
Mountain conquered by teenager
Calum Macintyre is the youngest person to have climbed Ama Dablam, which at 22,525ft (6812m) is five times the height of Ben Nevis. The young mountaineer was raising money for the Teenager Cancer Trust. Calum’s father and sister have both…
The mother of all climbs
Every time I stepped outside my hotel in Zermatt there would be a gaggle of tourists holding up their phones to take a photo. Not of me, annoyingly, but of the big pointy peak rearing up into the heavens. The…
The Faces of Fishtail
I think I was already in love with Machapuchare before I ever visited Nepal. My parents went to Pokhara in 2002, and at the time I was most put out. Since I was a teenager I had had a fascination…
A Guide to Trekking Mount Fitz Roy
With glaciers wrapped around tall dark mountain peaks, and continual wind blowing through fields and forests, Patagonia’s wild landscape may seem daunting and unconquerable. However, trekking Mount Fitz Roy proves to be an exhilarating and perfectly achievable experience for any…
Central Andes Alpine Climbs
One of our favorite trips is our Central Andes Alpine Climbs, a fun, shorter duration 10-day trip on which we climb three classic high altitude peaks in the heart of the Chilean Central Andes. This trip is perfect for those…
Exploring the Cadini di Misurina
After such an epic, wildly-successful first day, we were a little adrift as to what to do for a follow-up. Michele had suggested the Cadini di Misurina — a dense maze of improbably-pointy mountain peaks looming east of town —…
Trekking in the Himalayas: how to do it
Since Nepal’s civil war ended in 2006, the number of trekkers visiting the Everest region has more than doubled to 35,000 a year. At the height of the season, around 60 flights land at Lukla airport each day. The Sherpa…
Snow Climbing Mount Fuji
Climbing Mount Fuji (3776 meters), Japan’s highest and most prominent mountain, can make for lifelong memories. The mountain itself may look more attractive from afar than from close up, but the views on clear days and the experience of climbing…
The Dolomites – Via Ferrata
Located in northern Italy and with a unique mix of Italian and Austrian culture the Dolomites has the highest concentration of via ferrata in the world, boasting some 170 historic routes. The metal wires intespersed with ladders and unlikely suspension…
Climbing in Greece
Once the island of Kalymnos in Greece’s Dodecanese cursed the hand nature had dealt it. Huge rock escarpments line its western coast, overlooking the Aegean. The slopes below, covered in wild oregano, thyme and mint, were good only for goats…
Mount Everest: the view from the top
It feels like the apex of an immense white roof – the point at which three ridges to the top of the world finally meet and you can’t go any higher. Unlike some summits, where mountaineers have to take it…
The Kronplatz – plan de corones holiday region in winter
On arrival, every guest will receive a travel ticket from their host (where the host is a member of the local Tourist Association). The HOLIDAY PASS entitles guests to use all public transport throughout the whole of South Tyrol. This…
Best slopes are above 2,000m in Méribel
There has been a lack of significant new snow in the Alps but existing snow has held well in the relatively cold conditions. Last night 5cm of new snow was fairly widespread, however, up to 45cm of new snow is…
Skiing in Obergurgl, including the best runs, hotels, restaurants and bars
Obergurgl, one of the highest ski villages in Europe, set at 1,930m at the end of the Ötztal valley near the city of Innsbruck, used to trade on its reputation as Austria’s most snowsure non-glacial resort. These days its image…
Val Thorens – the highest resort in Europe
Purpose-built Val Thorens is not only the highest resort in the giant Trois Vallées ski area that includes Courchevel and Méribel, but the highest in Europe. Its lofty altitude means that doorstep skiing with guaranteed snow cover is possible from…
Whistler: too much snow to ski? No such thing
‘It’s puking snow up here again today,” said Anton Horvath, Whistler’s avalanche forecaster, peering out of his office window on Wednesday last week. “If you took off your skis outside, you would literally sink up to your armpits. I’ve been…
Val d’Isère – skiing in best freestyle ski areas
Joe Harkess, freestyle coach, All Mountain Academy Tricksters inspired by Jenny Jones’s Olympic bronze medal should ride the snowpark at Bellevarde (under the Mont Blanc chairlift). It has jumps of varying sizes, as well as boxes and rails – so…
Snow wonder
While your friends head to Spanish beaches and Italian hills, Chile – with its numerous ski resorts – is an adventurous alternative to the typical summer holiday. Andean skiing offers an unforgettable combination of beach-style weather, great snow and exotic…
Skiing in the French Pyrenees: who needs the Alps?
It wasn’t the usual airport transfer. We bumped along in the back of a friendly stranger’s battered old jeep, the resident cocker spaniel having obligingly moved to sit on his owner’s lap in the front seat. But our shuttle driver…
Puy-Saint-Vincent, great little ski resorts
Pretty Puy-Saint-Vincent sits on the edge of the Ecrins national park in the southern French Alps, not far from the Italian border. The closest airport is Turin, less than two hours away, or add another hour to drive from Grenoble…
Oz-en-Oisans – a family-friendly ski resort with amazing slopes
Before I had kids, my dream winter break was all about mixing great snowboarding with a good après scene involving live music and big jugs of beer, while a powder-tastic snow movie played in the background. Post-children, I still want…
Head for the hills, the snow’s finally here
This season, Europe’s slopes have been so barren there were practically tumbleweeds blowing across them, until thankfully a deep covering of snow finally dropped over the Alps last weekend. But those who’ve been holding out for thigh-deep powder before bagging…
Beautiful pictures as thousands of Thai monks put on incredible visual display for sacred full moon festival
These beautiful images show thousands of Thai Buddhist monks gathering to carry lanterns and venerate a statue of Buddha to mark one of the holiest days of the religious calender. Makha Bucha commemorates the full moon day which falls on…
Athens holidays
If the thought of exploring Greece’s ancient world makes your skin tingle with anticipation, you’ll struggle to contain your excitement on a holiday to Athens. The historical capital of Europe, Athens’ landmarks and old ruins are known the world over,…
Insider secrets of Rome
Heaping plates of light-as-air pasta. Art by Michelangelo, Raphael, and Bernini. Some of the most entertaining people-watching on the planet. Rome is a city like no other. But as welcoming as it can be, to the first-time visitor Rome can…
Autumn in Venice
Although there are days when tourists outnumber locals by two to one, Venice never loses its capacity to enchant. Summer brings some of the most daunting crowds, but there’s a reason why they come: the sheer loveliness of an exquisite…
Walking in Moscow’s winter wonderland
The best way to discover Moscow is on foot. It may seem unrelentingly urban, dominated by cars and towering skyscrapers, but to find the flowering courtyards, icon-filled churches and house-museums, you need to walk through the back streets and pathways….