FAB: TECH: Italian Vogue, curvy women and iPhone apps

 That's truly fabulous to see that some of the most influential fashion publications, like  Italian Vogue, - and at least in other countries - are slow, but surely, starting to promote a healthier woman's body.

Despite the fact that 'they' (editors and writers of a fashion magazine) call the healthy body type - curvy, it's still very refreshing - and welcoming to USA - to see that beauty is not in the "skinniest", but in the "healthiest" body type.

Italian Vogue already hit NYC, and hopefully will soon come to the other corners of the country. If you like it, show your support - buy it, or at least browse thru it at a book store (I do so myself!). So does Scott Schuman, who credits his fame, popularity and success of the street fashion photography to the photographers @ItalianVogue

However, if you can't do know Italian language, I should  mention that Apple Inc. has Apps to learn Italian - and for traveling in Italy.

But please note, while some of these iPhone Apps are helpful in learning a bit of the language before your trip, others are not as much.

MemoryLifter English/Italian Basic Vocabulary, $14.99
This is an electronic version of flash cards. It’s a well-designed and well-executed app, but there’s no free version you can test.

WordReference Italian-English Dictionary, FREE
The WordReference site is probably a favorite online dictionary of many – and it’s free.

AccelaStudy Italian, $7.99
It’s a flash card learning system, and a few different ways to use the app for Italian language learning. There’s a free introductory version you can download to try it out.

Lonely Planet Italian Phrasebook, $2.99
This is essentially an iPhone version of the Lonely Planet phrase books that are actual books, so if you like your paper version you’ll probably like this one, too. It has more than 600 phrases that are spelled, written phonetically, and pronounced for you.

CoolGorilla’s Talking Italian Phrasebook, $0.99
If you have no aspiration to become fluent in Italian, then with this phrasebook you’d go by just fine. The CoolGorilla talking phrasebook has 500 words and phrases.

Odyssey Translators: Italian Book, Italian Business, Italian Pro, and Italian Travel Pro, $4.99 each
All of these are - audio phrasebooks, which create a fun experience learning the language and putting together a phrase by allowing you to choose parts of a sentence and string them together with a touch of the touch screen to create full sentences.

Italian Verbs, $3.99
It’s a list of verbs that, when you click on one, gives you every possible conjugation you could ever want. There’s a free version with a limited list of verbs, too.

Italian Gestures, $0.99
If you thought that you’d go without making a total “Italian” out of yourself while in Italy, you were wrong. Although this App doesn’t cover all the gestures you might see in Italy, it still has quite a few of them, along with their uses and meanings.



Here is the list of iPhone apps for specific cities in Italy:

• Venice Travel iPhone Apps
• Rome Travel iPhone Apps
• Florence & Tuscany Travel iPhone Apps
• Milan Travel iPhone Apps

And for the ones who’d actually decide to expand your experience of the Italian culture and explore the country and specific cities like a local, you might want to invest in guide Apps.

Lonely Planet City Guides, $5.99 each
Although Lonely Planet’s guide to Italy is still only available in book format if you want the whole country, you can get city guides for your iPhone – there’s Lonely Planet Rome, Lonely Planet Florence, and Lonely Planet Venice. These apps can give you “location-based navigation” if you have your phone connected, but there are also offline maps you can use along with the usual Lonely Planet travel guide.

100 Best Places to Go – Italy, $0.99
The App includes a description and photos of each specific place. Don’t expect the quality of information to be the same as an app from a guidebook producer, however. You sometimes do get what you pay for.

GiraCittà Audioguides for Venice, Rome, Bologna, Milan, Lucca, Verona, Bolzano, and Pisa, $5.99 each
For those who like the idea of a guided walking tour of a city but who want to take the tour at their own pace, there are the GiraCittà audioguides. They’re offered for lots of cities in Italy, include video elements as well. There is a GPS function with these guides, which you can use if you get lost (Please note: there might be roaming charges).

TomTom Italy, $64.99
This App isn’t a cheap app, so you if you are planning to rather walk around by foot, do not get it. But if you are planning on driving, it could save your life (and time in getting lost in Italy). And it might be less expensive than renting a GPS unit for your rental car.

CoPilot Live: Italia, $24.99
It is also a GPS turn-by-turn navigation App, and it’s less expensive than TomTom Italy. With CoPilot Live the street maps are saved onto your iPhone, not downloaded each time you open the app.