Filed under: iPhone, App Store
First Look: NMobile for iPhone
If you find yourself running into police speed traps often, then you might want to give a new iPhone app a try. NMobile [iTunes link] allows you to locate speed traps, red light cameras, and radar locations. All of these speed detection devices are mapped out on a Microsoft Live map -- this is one of the first native uses of Microsoft Live Maps on the iPhone.
If you are using this application with the iPhone 3G, then you will have the ability to use your GPS location in conjunction with the tracking service from Njection. In "Browse Mode," you can check your area for speed traps, red light cameras, and radar devices. The speed trap locations are submitted by users, and can be submitted through the application (or on Njection's website). Red light cameras and radar locations are also submitted by users, and verified for accuracy by the developers. Speed trap locations are only verified by users.
In addition to browsing for speed traps, you can also be alerted audibly of upcoming traps -- you can find this under "Alert Mode." In this mode, NMobile will tell you when you are approaching a trap, you will also see how many miles ahead the trap is.
Bottom line: this application is solid, but I would like to see a couple features added. For one, you can't get directions in this application like you can in the default Maps app on the iPhone. It would be nice if you could plan a route, and see the speed traps along the way. If you're using this application on a first generation iPhone, you might not get the best experience; however, this can't really be blamed on NMobile; the location data on the GPS-less phones isn't specific enough. You should exercise care and caution while using this application on the road. This application is just a little pricey at $9.99, and is now available on the iTunes App Store.
Gallery: First Look: NMobile
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Beau said 7:17AM on 11-17-2008
No support for other countries, like Australia?
Reply
Njection.com said 7:22AM on 11-17-2008
Support is worldwide
Stu J said 7:53AM on 11-17-2008
"If you find yourself running into police speed traps often, then you might want to..."
slow down?
stop speeding in the first place?
obey the posted limits?
lol ... this way you can save not only points & a fine, but also $10 by not having to buy this software!
Reply
iomatic said 1:48PM on 11-17-2008
Exactly. It serves as a reminder to slow down, but with the added bonus of avoiding fines.
Some are true pigs that have a tendency to pull people over for going over 2 MPH (have seen it often). (And at times, you are in a netherworld of crossing into intersections when they are yellow-- guess what, a speeding ticket through an intersection is a lot cheaper than avoiding said red-light ticket.)
Some are true public servants who doing very tough jobs.
May as well avoid the former, eh?
The Rude Bellman said 7:14PM on 11-22-2008
A speed TRAP is just that. A trap set to catch an unsuspecting driver doing what is a normal and safe speed. There are many types of these traps but the usual one is setting the speed limit well below what the majority of travel drives on a given road and setting up an automated photo radar device to watch the $$$$ roll in. These are found in many cities in which unethical law enforcement conspire with an unethical local government to rip off the public. Speed traps are never about public safety, they are always about revenue enhancement.
In California, radar speed traps are illegal but that doesn't stop cities from using them. If you are caught in one, you have to prove your innocence and most people don't know the law so they just pay the fine.
Any tool to help the public overcome the evil of unethical government oppression is OK with me.
Christian said 8:21AM on 11-17-2008
the only comment i have is about the last line in the articel "... This application is just a little pricey at $9.99...".
I think one should read:
http://www.losingfight.com/blog/2008/11/15/how-to-price-your-iphone-app-out-of-existence/
Which is just settings things right IMHO!
No one will be able to maintain an app for $0.99 a download, so V1.x is probably the last version you'll see of many many apps priced at .99 cents.
(And yes i develop too, even for the iPhone - but none of the apps i intend to sell eventually in the future will be had for .99 because of obvious reasons).
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akatsuki said 10:39AM on 11-17-2008
Well, a lot of the apps aren't even worth 99¢, and don't seem to have a full time developer working on them... So increased app prices won't necessarily work out well either.
Alex said 9:47AM on 11-20-2008
Christian, you are an idiot. Most apps sell thousands of copies and many hundreds of thousands. There are MILLIONS of iPhone users out there spending dollars a piece. With a year of sales, you can easily make 100,000-250,000 which some apps made in 1 to 2 months of sales. I call shenanigans. Of course you're going to sell less copies at 9.99 than at .99 cents. Where most people would easily put down a buck to compare apps, they wouldn't for ten. I don't see your logic at all and I'm a developer also. You just sound greedy trying to make other believe your lies.
Christian said 11:22AM on 11-20-2008
@Alex
I'm no native speaker in english but i fo consider your id... word as offensive! Rarely do i allow people to speak to me with such a vocabular.
Maybe you should work as hard on your expressions as i am trying?
Have you read the article i referenced to or did you just shout out what came to your mind in a millisecond?
Do you really think every program being good or bad is going to have 250.000 downloads like Trism (one of the first games to be in store ever) did have?
Would you like to devote you your life and fate to a program that sells for .99ct? Will you be able to supply updates, support ongoing development, adaption to new firmware and features with an app selling in some thousands (and your customers are as valuable as Trim's 250k )
Think
Andrew said 8:56AM on 11-17-2008
Your point about not being able to find directions is valid, but what's the betting it would have been rejected for duplicating functionality had the publishers tried that? Without that, though, the app seems a little crippled - assuming you know the area, which would be a prerequisite for using the app, you'll probably know where the speed cameras are!
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Njection.com said 9:04AM on 11-17-2008
You are right. There are a lot of thing we could have done. We were limited to the SDK agreement.
Pat said 9:15AM on 11-17-2008
Copycat of Trapster (pretty much feature by feature) which has been free on the App Store for a month. Trapster has 100,000 iPhone users and growing fast, 200,000 world wide users, world's largest trap database of over 100,000 red light camera, speed camera, and speed trap locations, and has been available on many other platforms like BlackBerry, Symbian, Windows Mobile etc. for over a year.
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Njection.com said 10:32AM on 11-17-2008
http://www.trapster.com/privacy-policy.php
Additionally we may sell, license, transfer, and/or share your personal information with third parties who want to contact you regarding products and/or services that we believe you would find interesting.
Interesting you don't mention that Pete.
anonymous said 11:53AM on 11-17-2008
LOL. when you live in a glass house...
http://njection.com/content/PrivacyStatement.aspx
Njection.com collects personally identifiable information, such as your e-mail address, name, home or work address or telephone number. Njection.com also collects anonymous demographic information, which is not unique to you, such as your ZIP code, age, gender, preferences, interests and favorites.
Njection.com also uses your personally identifiable information to inform you of other products or services available from Njection.com and its affiliates.
In addition, Njection.com may share data with trusted partners to help us perform statistical analysis, send you email or postal mail...
FearlessFreep said 12:03PM on 11-17-2008
PWN3D
Njection.com said 12:10PM on 11-17-2008
Sorry.. Not pwn3d. We do not resell it. This info is being use by statcounter, google analytics and the like. No glass house.
Chris Pratt said 11:18AM on 11-18-2008
I agree. This is just stupid. Let's create an app that does the same *exact* thing as another *free* app, and charge $10 for it. Brilliant. Oh and instead of using the best maps application available (Google Maps), let's use MSN's instead. Brilliant^2.
TUAW: Do your users a favor and update the article to mention Trapster. Some unknowing stumbler is going to end up paying for this piece of junk.
Mel said 9:33AM on 11-17-2008
You stated this was one of the first native apps with Microsoft Live Maps. Actually, Loopt uses Microsoft Live Maps too, and that was out a long time ago.
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Njection.com said 10:46AM on 11-17-2008
You are correct but we are the first software package outside of Microsoft to use Microsoft Virtual Earth Web Services (VEWS) that uses SOAP and mobile tiles for faster downloads and lower bandwidth utilization.
Fritz Laurel said 5:51PM on 11-17-2008
Hmmm, all this smoke and mirrors doesn't make me feel comfortable about doing business w/ NJection. They get pwned in the above thread, try to deny it with an explanation that still doesn't sound good, and now this. STRIIIIIIKE TTWWWOOOOOOO!
(And they use MS for their mapping instead of Google. Is that strike 3?)
Just my 2 cents...