Changes in Apple attitudes force changes in Google Latitude

Filed under: Internet Tools, iPhone, App Store

We didn't want to let the week slip into the weekend without mention of the long-awaited release, on Thursday afternoon, of Google's Latitude client for iPhone, allowing users to update their locations to the social service and keep track of friends and family on the move (otherwise known as "iStalkU" -- no, sorry, that was Loopt, my mistake). You can access the service by browsing to http://google.com/latitude on Mobile Safari on your iPhone or iPod touch.

Yes, that's right, browsing. Latitude, believe it or not, is a web app -- which means that you can't get push notifications about your contact's movements, or keep constant tabs on folks without leaving Safari running. Intriguing. As Google's Mat Velez notes in his blog post announcing the Latitude release, Google actually developed a native app for Latitude... only to have Apple, uh, suggest that the big G redo the concept as a web app to avoid user confusion with the Maps app. Really? Must have been an interesting phone call.

David Coursey at PC World is frustrated with the limitation, and it's hard to fault him. Meanwhile, location-centric apps like Brightkite are already on the store -- of course, they are also kneecapped by the lack of a backgrounding mode to send updated position fixes.

If you're a Latitude fan, give us your feedback on the new web app below.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in.

Changes in Apple attitudes force changes in Google Latitude originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 25 Jul 2009 01:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Changes in Apple attitudes force changes in Google Latitude originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 25 Jul 2009 01:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Navigon scores with MobileNavigator

Filed under: iPhone, App Store, App Review

While many have been waiting for the TomTom hardware/software combo for the iPhone, Navigon has delivered a very appealing app for the iPhone running version 3.0 of the OS.

MobileNavigator [App Store] has a striking on-screen display, with many features lacking in some of the other products that are out there. Unlike the AT&T Navigator and the G-Map apps, MobileNavigator allows you to access your address book for destinations. It works in landscape or portrait mode, and can warn you if you are speeding. It does not have any traffic info, and you can't call any phone numbers that are in the POI (points of interest) data base. A take me home function is done with a single click.

All the maps are loaded on your device (1.29 GB) so going out of range of an AT&T cell site is not a worry. If you get a call, the guidance stops, but resumes automatically when you conclude the call.

Maps can be 3D or 2D, and the 3D maps look great and closely mimic what is on the road in front of you. The voice directions are quite clear, in contrast with the AT&T app, which is garbled and pretty much a waste.

So how is it on the road? Pretty nice. I got a quick GPS lock. If for any reason you lose GPS, in a tunnel for example, you get a red bar across the top of the screen.

You can display POIs along your route, and many of the icons have company logos like Best Buy, most of the gas station logos, even Quiznos.

If you are navigating the next street to turn on is at the bottom of the screen. If you are not navigating, you see the street you are on. At the top of the screen you get the arrival time if you are navigating. Touching that part of the display will give you your speed, and another touch gives you the distance. Many streets alert you to the speed limit, and if you go go over, you can set a warning.

Intersections on highways are handled very well, with nice big road signs and clear directions of where to go. The voice directions come at the opportune times, and do not nag, the way the AT&T app does.

At my location, southern Arizona, the maps were complete and there were far more POIs than provided on the G-Map application.

Continue reading Navigon scores with MobileNavigator

Navigon scores with MobileNavigator originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 24 Jul 2009 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Navigon scores with MobileNavigator originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 24 Jul 2009 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

iTablet Rumor du Jour: Steve’s Finally Happy With the Giant iPod touch

Where there’s this many iTablet rumors, there just has to be an actual product Steve Jobs is finally happy with and will be unveiling to the world at a special Apple event in early 2010, right?

That’s what Apple Insider is reporting. The gist is as follows:

• 10″, 3G networked device similar to “a jumbo iPod touch”
• Guided by Steve Jobs from hospital, home, and work
• Culmination of at least 6 previous prototypes Jobs vetoed
• Will launch in first quarter of 2010
• Verizon may be the carrier
• Delays caused by lack of satisfaction over Intel Atom power consumption
• Hence Apple bought PA Semi to build in-house, custom chipset based on ARM

Check out the full article, linked above, for more.

Still and all, even if this is real, Bill Gates has been trying to push the tablet concept for almost a decade with little or no mass market acceptance. Can Apple work another product category miracle, doing for the tablet and e-book form factor what they’ve done for the MP3 player and smartphone?

Can Apple take the tablet from geek niche to consumer necessity? Or is this doomed to Apple TV “hobby” status from the get go?

Check out our fancy new blog poll, below, and let us know!

Can Apple Succeed with an iTablet?(polls)

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

iTablet Rumor du Jour: Steve’s Finally Happy With the Giant iPod touch

iPhone’s augmented reality apps coming with September OS 3.1 launch?

Looking to enjoy all those fancy augmented reality apps on your iPhone, like for finding nearby stores or subway stops? Apparently what's standing in your way from enjoying a life more akin to "gargoyles" from Snow Crash is Apple's next update to its touchscreen devices, OS 3.1, and according to Nearest Tube developer Acrossair, that'll be arriving sometime in September. We wouldn't be surprised to see that release window fluctuate, but if that's our estimate, there's still plenty of time for someone to prep an AR zombie shooter.

[Thanks, Peter S]

Filed under: Cellphones

iPhone's augmented reality apps coming with September OS 3.1 launch? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Jul 2009 21:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Augmented Reality Apps to Arrive with iPhone 3.1 Update

The L.A. Times reports that Apple will begin allowing developers access to the tools they need to produce augmented reality applications starting with upcoming iPhone OS 3.1. While there have been many impressive demos floating around showing the p...

Snow Leopard Build 10A421 Seeded to Developers

Apple today seeded a new version of OS X Snow Leopard, termed Build 10A421, to registered developers. The update reportedly weighs in at just over 740 MB, roughly the same size as the previous version, Build 10A411, pushed to developers ten days ago...

Hacker Claims iPhone 3GS Encryption Feature is Useless

Review: Movie showtime finders for iPhone

Flixster has made a number of improvements, large and small, to Movies since we last reviewed it. As for Movies & Theaters, it suffers from several drawbacks.

Opinion: Ditch iTunes, Palm, and create a media sync

Instead of trying to get the Pre to sync directly with iTunes, Palm should focus on developing its own software that offers the same functionality.

ACU’s iPhone initiative: a year later

Filed under: Education, Interviews, iPhone

In February of last year I did a two-paragraph writeup on an interesting development in higher education, noting that Abilene Christian University was doling out iPhones and iPod touches to incoming first-year students. I didn't, at the time, have many details on the goals of the program or its implementation, I just gathered that there was a good deal of planning and thought behind the initiative. Little did I know that, over a year later, I'd be talking to the minds behind the program and finding out exactly how it went.

I recently got a chance to follow up with George Saltsman (Faculty Development), Scott Perkins (Director of Research) and William (Bill) Rankin (Director of Educational Innovation), meeting up for a multiparty video chat which revealed the excitement these guys have for what they are seeing become the platform for education: the iPhone. We talked for well over an hour, and their intensity and enthusiasm never dwindled. I got a great look at what they planned, how they did it, and how it turned out after the first year. Read on to see how the iPhone (and the iPod touch) has played a role in creating a new model for higher education at ACU.

Continue reading ACU's iPhone initiative: a year later

ACU's iPhone initiative: a year later originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 24 Jul 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

ACU's iPhone initiative: a year later originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 24 Jul 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

iPhone security: Not beefy enough for businesses?

The iPhone has evolved from a casual smart phone into one with the potential to serve businesses across the globe. Its latest iteration, the iPhone 3GS, comes...

Palm Reports Apple to USB Compliance Organization Over iTunes Syncing Issues

In a statement made to Digital Daily yesterday, Palm acknowledges firing yet another salvo in the ongoing dispute between Apple and Palm over the Palm Pre's ability to sync iTunes media by emulating an iPod, claiming that it has reported Apple to the...

CEOh-Snap! AT&T Says iPhone Exclusivity Will End… Eventually

Speaking at Fortune’s Brainstorm tech conference, AT&T CEO, Randall Stephenson, discussed the iPhone and it’s exclusivity with AT&T.

“There will be a day when you are not exclusive with the iPhone.”

Nothing was discussed regarding any negotiations that may be taking place at this time between the two companies but be assured that AT&T will do everything and anything in it’s power to keep Apple’s device under lock and key for as long as it possibly can.

All good things must come to an end, however. With that being said, AT&T’s exclusitivity deal with Apple’s iPhone is no different. It will eventually end. Sure there are those of you out there that can’t wait until Apple breaks free of it’s chains from AT&T, just don’t count on that happening anytime in the near future.

[Via Engadget Mobile]

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

CEOh-Snap! AT&T Says iPhone Exclusivity Will End… Eventually

Yeahbuwhy?! - Palm Spoofs Apple USB Vendor ID, Files Complaint Against Apple for Misuse of USB Vendor ID

Dieter did some digging over at PreCentral.net and goes through how Palm re-hacked the iTunes sync. It looks pretty much like what we figured. Palm is spoofing the Apple USB Vendor ID so as to present as an iPod. This is one step deeper than last time, where they still ID’d themselves as a Pre. In a further display of chutzpah, while violating the prohibition against misuse of USB vendor IDs themselves, Palm has filed a complaint against “another company” (we’re guessing Apple) for improper use of same.

So let’s follow the logic here. Palm is seemingly objecting to Apple using the USB vendor ID to filter out non-Apple devices. Palm doesn’t feel that filtering is in keeping with the openness of the USB standard.

What’s the alternative, however? For Apple to maintain control over their own software by putting an authentication chip in every iPod/iPhone that handshakes with iTunes before syncing? Or to agree to freely license iTunes interoperability to every device maker on the planet?

That iTunes has achieved a high enough market penetration to be considered a platform, and that scripts for iTunes could be considered “software” on that platform is certainly a legitimate point of view. However, Apple historically takes advantage of only writing software for their own hardware, which means they can change things whenever they want without worrying about breaking third party hardware. Opening up iTunes brings headaches for Apple.

For Palm, we still find it an odd fight to pick. Is it really what Palm wants to spend their time — and Elevation Partner’s — money on.

webOS was supposed to be a next-generation platform in its own right, something not tied down with a desktop heritage like Apple. Palm, arguably more than even Google in the mobile space at the time, made a point to talk about the cloud, not the desktop — Synergy, not some USB tether, is how it manages personal information.

And yet they’re fixated on iTunes desktop, something even Apple has left entirely behind on iPhone 3.0 except for firmware updates and third-party media transfer.

We’ll say it again — iTunes. Desktop. From a cloud-focused company?

We’ve already given our theory — Palm’s Apple heritage, Jon Rubinstein’s desire to stretch beyond Steve Jobs’ shadow, and the press fallout are more important to Palm than webOS or its users. Still, we can’t help thinking of the end of Batman Begins…

Palm broke into iTunes. Apple dressed up in the Batsuit and shut them down. Now Palm’s got the white warpaint and crazy-wide smile on, and have just flipped over the Joker card.

Escalation.

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Yeahbuwhy?! - Palm Spoofs Apple USB Vendor ID, Files Complaint Against Apple for Misuse of USB Vendor ID

Apple Tablet to Launch in Early 2010 Using Chip Platform From P.A. Semi?

Artist's rendition of Apple tablet computer
AppleInsider reports that Apple is putting the finishing touches on its much-rumored tablet computer and is looking to launch the device, depicted in an artist's rendition, in early 2010. Th...

Review: Ant Hill for iPhone

This simulation game lets you rule over ants. Despite updates granting new powers over your six-legged subjects, there's just not enough in Ant Hill to hold your attention for very long.

Quick App: UniWar Turn-Based Strategy Game

UniWar [$4.99 - iTunes link] is a turn-based strategy game for the iPhone and iPod touch that provides a great challenge and three races to choose from.

UniWar is quite the little gem of a strategy game. You have four modes of play: Online, Campaign, Solo and Vs. and three species to choose from: Sapiens, Titans and Khraleans. The variety of  units is very diverse. You have units that can bury them selves underground and move a space at a time to units that can teleport across the screen. One of the great things I enjoy about this game is the plethora of maps you have to play; 50+!!! That is plenty to keep me busy. As of this writing, I have only played about 10 maps, so I have a long way to go!

This game is very polished and I have lost many hours playing it. If you like StarCraft, this is an excellent diversion to keep you busy. The developers are quite active in delivering updates (they are up to 1.0.4 already). They have also added the little extra touches that can make a difference such as the ability to play in portrait or landscape in real-time; just rotate your iPhone. Nice.

When you play online you register on the UniWar website and it keeps track of your stats and even has a ladder to see your ranking. You also have the ability to save multiple active games and resume them at your leisure.

If I were to mention some areas of improvement it would be the AI’s time to play; it can be lengthy at times (I once waited 20 seconds). Though trivial, I think with the modern hardware of the iPhone, that the AI can be sped up a bit for mobile gaming. Also, though the graphics are good, the animation appeared to be a bit jerky. Perhaps this could be improved with more animations per unit. If i had to guess, there are only a few frames of animation each. The fluidity of movements would make the play that much more immersive.

Overall, if you like Sci-Fi turn-based stragatey games, this is a steal at $4.99! Check it out now! Sreenshots after the break!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Quick App: UniWar Turn-Based Strategy Game

Announcing the Chilli X giveaway winners!

Filed under: Multimedia, iPhone

We started taking entries for a giveaway last week, with 10 copies of Chilli X's Playlist Alarm Clock up for grabs. If you missed the initial coverage, Playlist Alarm Clock is the iPhone app that lets you build custom playlists for falling asleep and waking up. We asked for your custom playlists and heard from a lot of people with musical tastes ranging from Beethoven to System of a Down. Here are the 10 randomly-selected winners!

1. iGO (comment #46)
2. jack bauer (comment #37)
3. ddelgmac (comment #69)
4. Ian (comment #22)
5. jsemtp2005 (comment #35)
6. Dorv (comment #49)
7. psn (comment #39)
8. Samer (comment #71)
9. +. (comment #67)
10. Tinez (comment #38)

Chilli X will be contacting the winners directly with the promo codes. Congratulations!

Announcing the Chilli X giveaway winners! originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 24 Jul 2009 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Announcing the Chilli X giveaway winners! originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 24 Jul 2009 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

U.S. carrying most of the load in terms of market presence, report says

More than half of all iPhone and iPod touch users worldwide are from the U.S., though international popularity of both devices is currently outpacing growth in America, a study released Thursday shows. Though the U.S. currently has an estimated 54 percent of the iPhone and iPod touch users, the Mobile Metrics Report from AdMob for June [...]

Google steers around inherent iPhone limits to create new version of Latitude

Google has released a web app version of Latitude for the iPhone, enabling users to both share their location with friends and view a live map showing their friends’ location. In announcing the new app on its mobile blog, Google made it clear that the iPhone version was limited by Apple’s restrictions for third party apps [...]