by Kent German, senior editor
First off, your family member will need a GSM phone. GSM is the cellular technology in Europe; in the United States, Cingular and T-Mobile use GSM, but Sprint and Verizon Wireless transmit via another technology called CDMA. My usual advice to readers who are traveling overseas and plan to use their cell phone frequently is to get an unlocked GSM phone--in other words, a GSM phone that isn't tied to a particular carrier. That way, they can buy a prepaid SIM card in each country and operate the phone with a local telephone number and carrier. In your case, however, that may not be the best option, as it would require some tinkering with the phone when on the go.

An easier but pricier method is to go with a Cingular or a T-Mobile cell phone. The plus side is that in most cases, the phone will automatically detect the local network when it is turned on. Both Cingular and T-Mobile have carrier partners in those countries, so you should get reliable coverage. The downside here is that because you have a U.S. phone number, you'll need to keep track of how often you use the phone. International roaming can be pricey, so do your best to brace yourself for sticker shock from your bill. Another point to consider is that the phone should support 900 and 1800 GSM bands, as that will give you the most ideal coverage. Alternatively, if your relative is a Sprint or a Verizon customer, he or she can rent GSM phones from the carrier for the length of the trip. For more information on taking your cell phone abroad, see CNET's quick guide to world phones.

by James Kim, senior editor
Your best bet for raw audio playback time would be to wait for the flash-based MobiBlu DAH-1900, which will be hitting the States soon. It has a rated battery life of 150 hours--unheard of, especially for a rechargeable player. In general, many of iRiver's and Sony's flash players, such as the T10 and the NW-E400 series, respectively, have more than 40 hours of battery life, while Cowon's iAudio X5L is one of the longer-lasting hard drive players we've used, at 27 hours on a single charge. But the best thing to do if you'll be out in the middle of nowhere is to get a player with removable batteries, such as the iRiver T10 for alkalines or an old Sony NW-HD5 (27 hours) with a spare cell, then bring along a bunch of batteries. If you like iPods, you could get a snap-on backup battery accessory. And finally, you could get a solar-powered MP3 player. Whatever MP3 player you choose, make sure you know the truth about battery life before you buy.

by Lori Grunin, senior editor
Anytime flash is a different beast from rear-sync flash.

Anytime flash is Nikon market-speak for fill flash, the photographic technique of using low-power flash to illuminate areas of the subject that are in shadow (as in a backlit portrait). It usually requires a special setting--in digital cameras, it's represented by the lightning bolt icon--to force the flash on because there's enough overall light to keep the flash from activating in auto mode. Almost all digital cameras have this capability.

Rear-sync flash (a.k.a. rear-curtain flash), on the other hand, is when the flash fires toward the end of the shutter interval, just before the shutter closes. This lets the photographer use long shutter speeds, in order to properly expose the background without blowing out a foreground subject. Many digital cameras these days support rear-sync flash; even inexpensive snapshot cameras come with a Night or Night Portrait scene mode that triggers the flash to perform this way.