A scene in Canada as shown on the 'Tab With a View' Google Chrome extension. Tab With a View
A scene in Canada as shown on the 'Tab With a View' Google Chrome extension. Tab With a View
A scene in Canada as shown on the 'Tab With a View' Google Chrome extension. Tab With a View
A scene in Canada as shown on the 'Tab With a View' Google Chrome extension. Tab With a View

'Tab With a View': how to virtually enjoy some of the world's most wintry walks this Christmas


Razmig Bedirian
  • English
  • Arabic

For obvious coronavirus-related reasons, Christmas this year is going to look noticeably different. But that doesn’t have to dampen your holiday spirit or wilt your winter wanderlust. In keeping with the 2020 custom of taking your experiences online, a new browser extension is letting people experience Christmas walks from around the world, albeit through a screen.

Tab With a View, a Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge extension, offers users the chance to take a walk down a snow-carpeted street in Germany, pass by festively-decorated houses, or down a boulevard with leafless cobalt-lit trees in Japan. All you have to do is open a new tab.

The extension, which will feature its Christmas edition until Saturday, December 26, currently offers more than 2,000 videos and photos from 83 countries around the world. The visual media has all been taken by users of Tab With a View. Flight information, as well as real-time Covid-19 statistics and visa requirements are shown with each respective photo or video. So, when the time comes to travel freely again, the project can offer more than a virtual vacation.

When Rahul Sharma, the project’s founder, first came up with the idea for Tab With a View in 2017, he of course didn’t expect a pandemic would bring the world to a standstill, leaving many around the world grounded for much of the year.

Eventually 'Tab With a View' aims to act as a resource for travellers looking for the most scenic places to visit around the world. Tab With a View
Eventually 'Tab With a View' aims to act as a resource for travellers looking for the most scenic places to visit around the world. Tab With a View

The project, instead, was meant to be a sort of inventory of places from around the world with a nice view, including hotels, restaurants and nightspots.

“My basic problem is that whenever I go on holiday, I like to have a room with a view or a go to a restaurant with a view,” the product manager, who lives in Germany, says. So, he decided to start a platform himself to help him quickly find the places with the best views, and in June 2019, Tab With a View was born.

“At first it was just a small circle of friends using it,” Sharma says. “It was really just for fun. But this year, after getting a lot of encouragement from friends and users, I decided to put more effort into it. And then the pandemic happened.”

The pandemic threw a wrench in Sharma’s plans, and he found himself trying to think of a way to reshape the project to better fit the times. It turned out he didn’t need to. Finding the extension offered them an escape from these claustrophobic times, people began downloading the extensions en masse. Soon thousands were using Tab With a View, and Sharma began receiving hundreds of videos from around the world to add to the project.

Flight information, as well as real-time Covid-19 statistics and visa requirements are shown with each respective photo or video. Tab With a View
Flight information, as well as real-time Covid-19 statistics and visa requirements are shown with each respective photo or video. Tab With a View

“It was really crazy. I wasn’t expecting it. Photos and videos were coming in from every corner of the world. Some were shot by handheld cameras, others by phones and even drones. There were videos from Africa to America, Asia to Europe. Sometimes I look at the analytics that we have and I get touched and overwhelmed,” he says.

Anyone can send a video or photo to be used on the extension, which will then go through a screening process to determine it meets the extension’s quality criteria.

“First of all it should be visually appealing, of course,” Sharma says. “That is they key criteria. We also require people share the exact location of the photo or video, otherwise it doesn’t work very well. We want users to be able to visit these places once we can travel again.”

The user-submitted videos are shot by handheld cameras, phones and even drones. Tab With a View
The user-submitted videos are shot by handheld cameras, phones and even drones. Tab With a View

The idea to feature a Christmas edition on the extension, Sharma says, came from users themselves. “Germany is under lockdown right now,” he says. “So there aren’t any marketplaces being held. A lot of people are missing that atmosphere. These videos help them get back in the spirit of things and remember how it was last year.”

At the end of the week, once the Christmas edition elapses, Tab With a View will return to showing regular videos and photos from around the world.

“I really want this to be a new way for people to plan their travels, once we can travel again, of course,” he says. “Those sending in their videos know their countries better than any tourist, so these videos are like suggestions of where to go and what to see. Places that we wouldn’t have known about otherwise.”

Tab With a View is available to download on the Google Chrome web store and the Microsoft Edge add-ons site.

ESSENTIALS

The flights

Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.

The hotels

Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.

The tours

A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages. 

The biog

Prefers vegetables and fish to meat and would choose salad over pizza

Walks daily as part of regular exercise routine 

France is her favourite country to visit

Has written books and manuals on women’s education, first aid and health for the family

Family: Husband, three sons and a daughter

Fathiya Nadhari's instructions to her children was to give back to the country

The children worked as young volunteers in social, education and health campaigns

Her motto is to never stop working for the country

MATCH INFO

Uefa Champions League, semi-final result:

Liverpool 4-0 Barcelona

Liverpool win 4-3 on aggregate

Champions Legaue final: June 1, Madrid

Roll%20of%20Honour%2C%20men%E2%80%99s%20domestic%20rugby%20season
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EWest%20Asia%20Premiership%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EChampions%3A%20Dubai%20Tigers%0D%3Cbr%3ERunners%20up%3A%20Bahrain%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EUAE%20Premiership%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EChampions%3A%20Jebel%20Ali%20Dragons%0D%3Cbr%3ERunners%20up%3A%20Dubai%20Hurricanes%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EUAE%20Division%201%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EChampions%3A%20Dubai%20Sharks%0D%3Cbr%3ERunners%20up%3A%20Abu%20Dhabi%20Harlequins%20II%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EUAE%20Division%202%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EChampions%3A%20Dubai%20Tigers%20III%0D%3Cbr%3ERunners%20up%3A%20Dubai%20Sharks%20II%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDubai%20Sevens%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EChampions%3A%20Dubai%20Tigers%0D%3Cbr%3ERunners%20up%3A%20Dubai%20Hurricanes%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Skewed figures

In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458. 

Results

Stage 7:

1. Caleb Ewan (AUS) Lotto Soudal - 3:18:29

2. Sam Bennett (IRL) Deceuninck-QuickStep - same time

3. Phil Bauhaus (GER) Bahrain Victorious

4. Michael Morkov (DEN) Deceuninck-QuickStep

5. Cees Bol (NED) Team DSM

General Classification:

1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates - 24:00:28

2. Adam Yates (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers - 0:00:35

3. Joao Almeida (POR) Deceuninck-QuickStep - 0:01:02

4. Chris Harper (AUS) Jumbo-Visma - 0:01:42

5. Neilson Powless (USA) EF Education-Nippo - 0:01:45

THE DETAILS

Kaala

Dir: Pa. Ranjith

Starring: Rajinikanth, Huma Qureshi, Easwari Rao, Nana Patekar  

Rating: 1.5/5 

MATCH INFO

Manchester United v Everton
Where:
Old Trafford, Manchester
When: Sunday, kick-off 7pm (UAE)
How to watch: Live on BeIN Sports 11HD

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs

AT4 Ultimate, as tested

Engine: 6.2-litre V8

Power: 420hp

Torque: 623Nm

Transmission: 10-speed automatic

Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)

On sale: Now