If you’ve opened up Apple’s new Maps app in iOS 6, you probably have a good idea of the faults everyone’s been complaining about. But it does have one feature that works well: turn-by-turn navigation. In fact, when compared to Google’s turn-by-turn feature on Android, Apple’s service is actually much better in many ways.
Did you ever find yourself walking down a neighborhood street and coming across a heretofore unknown (to you at least) restaurant? Did you promise yourself that you’d check it out next time you were in the mood for pizza/Indian/sushi/brunch?
And did you totally forget where it was when the time came? Then Snag My Spot is for you.
We’re all excited to see what the iPhone 5 has in store for us later today, but it may not be the only new iOS device worth celebrating. One analyst believes the iPod touch will also get its “biggest upgrade ever,” one that adds a 5-megapixel camera, a GPS, a 4-inch display to match that of the new iPhone, and much more.
Apple’s decision to ditch Google Maps in favor of its own mapping technology in iOS 6 wasn’t much a surprise. However, Amazon’s decision to reject Google Maps in its second generation Kindle Fire tablet is a bit of surprise – particularly since the Kindle Fire is an Android device.
Unlike Apple, Amazon isn’t developing its own mapping systems. Instead, the new Kindle Fire will rely on mapping functionality from Nokia. Unlike the original Kindle Fire, which had no innate location services or maps app, the new version will sport location-based services, though whether they will be based integrated GPS or solely on Wi-Fi triangulation (like the Wi-Fi only iPad models and the iPod touch) is still an unanswered question.
There are a ton of ways to get fit and lose weight. And there are even more stupid books and fad diets that may or may not help you to slim down and get healthier. But there are really only two things you need to do: eat less and do more.
Of course, it isn’t easy. Luckily, those of a certain nerdy bent will find all the motivation they need in gadgets and apps. I have been doing just that for the past few months, and I thought I’d write a little about how to get thinner and fitter by using your iPhone.
An Australian man who used the Find My iPad feature to locate his tablet after it was stolen is being accused of trespassing “via radio wave.” A court is now trying to decide whether he acted unlawfully when he used Apple’s service to track his iPad — and the thief who stole it — via GPS.
Nikon’s rumored Android-powered compact camera is here. It’s called the S800c, and along with a smartphone OS, it packs GPS and Wi-Fi, making it a possibly the greatest Instagram shooter out there.
This, apparently, is a new Android-powered phone from Nikon. As budget compact cameras become lass and less relevant thanks to camera-packing smartphones, manufacturers are essentially turning their cameras into phones.
When it comes to using mapping APIs on mobile, it’s hard to think about any name other than Google Maps. However, the truth is that Google Maps doesn’t fit the needs of every developer and/or company. Thankfully we live in a country that allows competition and choice (even though large companies continually try to squash it). There is, in fact, a broad number of mapping solutions available to developers, and with Apple and others recently abandoning Google Maps, we’ve seen a spark of interest in these alternatives. One that’s been working hard to provide a viable option to its customers is deCarta.
As usual, Lonelysandwich (aka. Adam Lisagor)’s video is hilarious and makes you want to buy the product right away (remember the Jambox?). Checkmark is a soon-to-be-released iPhone app which makes setting (and forgetting – for now) location-based reminders easy, and effective.
Sick of forgetting to pick up that [insert household item here] every damn time you visit the grocery store? You need Checkmark.
Following Apple’s Google’s leap into 3D mapping technologies, Amazon has acquired a 3D mapping startup of its own. The online retail giant today sealed a deal to purchase UpNext in a move that could signal the company’s intentions to bring 3D maps to its Kindle Fire slate without any assistance from Google.
Remember the bad old days of the iPod? Apple would release a new model with a bunch of new features, and the old model – while capable of running the new software – would be left out in the cold. It was obviously a cynical scheme to make you upgrade your perfectly good music player early, but it worked.
So it is with cameras. Firmware upgrade are almost always limited to small bug fixes. The latest 7D update, though, is huge, and almost gives owners a brand new camera.
Although iOS 6 looks a lot like iOS 5 on the surface, a number of Apple’s built-in apps and services have received some big changes. The biggest overhaul comes to the Maps app, which has done away with Google Maps in favor of Apple’s own 3D mapping service. Another feature you can look forward to in Maps, according to an Apple document sent out to developers, is Yelp check-ins.
Don’t Panic is one of the better names I’ve seen for a GPS navigation app. It’s not a cheap app, but neither is it any more expensive than some of the other premium on-road satnav apps. The UI is a little quirky, but generally speaking it does the job well.
An update to the GPS photo-tagging app PlaceTagger brings support for the iPad, and also shows us exactly what iCloud was meant for. The v2.0 version not only lets you import photos via camera connection kit and then tag them right there on the iPad — it also syncs the GPS data seamlessly to the Mac version so you can tag photos right there. No tedious exporting of GPX files (unless you want to), nor even having to fix time discrepancies with the iPad and the camera’s clocks.
Marine authorities estimate that there are only 350 to 550 whales left in the world, making the mammal an endangered species. Those that are left are at risk of being killed by deadly collisions with ships, but conservationists are hoping Apple’s iOS devices can help save the species from extinction.
Take a look at your cellphone. Now take a look at your camera. Pretty sad, huh? It’s a big chunky old thing, with knobs and dials for navigating menus. It’s also dumb, and disconnected. To edit and share your photos, you need a computer. To get those photos onto your computer, you have to plug the camera in with a cable. Did anybody tell Nikon or Canon that this is 2012 already?
Your cellphone, on the other hand, will let you snap, edit and share your photos in seconds, and even place them on a map so you can find them later. Camera manufacturers are understandably terrified by this, but what can they do? The answer might be Android.
Before our full review next week, here’s a great little how-to guide on using geotagging in Lightroom 4. Adobe’s photo-editing and cataloging app has caught up with iPhoto and Aperture in its latest version, and you can now view any photos with embedded GPS co-ordinates on an in-app map. This means any of your iPhone photos can be browsed by location, which is a surprisingly useful tool.
But what if you want to reverse tag your photos? Say your camera doesn’t have GPS, but you have a track log recorded on a GPS device or with an iPhone app. How do you put this data together in a useful way? Below, Adobe’s Terry White shows us how.
Yesterday we told you that the newly-released iPhoto for iOS wasn’t using Google Maps data to provide map tiles for geotagged pics. The news was particularly shocking because Apple has always used Google Maps in the past to provide mapping data in its apps.
As it turns out, the Cupertino company is actually using open-source technology from OpenStreetMap to provide custom map tiles in iPhoto for iOS.
Have you ever wished you could use Siri to control Spotify instead of Apple’s Music app on your iPhone? How about using Siri to get directions with your favorite GPS app?
A really cool jailbreak tweak called AssistantLove was released today in Cydia that lets you do those things and more.
ZOMG! Never lose your iPhone again with the ZOMM Wireless Leash Plus, a hardware/software combo that wirelessly ties your iPhone to a needy dongle that cries whenever the two are separated. It can help you to remember your phone, your keys, or even where you parked Grandma.
The Pentax WG-1 GPS ($350) is a waterproof, shockproof location-aware camera.
If you’ve never tried a waterproof camera before, it can be quite a jarring experience. Every fibre of your soul tells you that you shouldn’t put electronic gadgets in water, so immersing this beast feels decidedly like the wrong thing to do.
As soon as you’ve done it, though, there’s a rush of delight as you press the on button and the screen lights up, and everything just works as if it were out on dry land.
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – We’ve seen countless solutions to finding lost car keys over the past few decades, but this latest solution from Treehouse Labs makes the attempt to be practical and fun while solving one of mankind’s greatest problems through an iPhone app. Bikn is a location tracking solution to help you find anything that has a tendency to get lost: dogs, purses, cameras, your grandparents at Wal-Mart, you name it. By attaching a small location tracker to any item you tend to lose, Bikn makes finding things easier than ever.
This is it, people — this is the year your New Year’s resolution to get fit really takes hold. This year, you’re going to stick it, and we’re going to show you how.
