Filed under: Freeware, Reviews, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch
HearPlanet is one clever travel app
My colleague Robert Palmer has reported that HearPlanet [app store link] is free for this week, so I downloaded and gave it a try. It is a nice surprise. HearPlanet for the iPhone and iPod touch is a pretty cool mash-up of detailed local information so you can search for a city, for example, and HearPlanet will tell you about all the things that are around you. There is detailed text, or better yet it will read the information to you.
Those with a 3G iPhone can use location services. HearPlanet will figure out where you are, and what things of interest are around you. The app finds items like museums, stadiums, zoos, and other landmarks or popular attractions. You click on one of the destinations, and the app starts reading about it. Some of the entries are short, others are quite detailed.
When you tap the play button HearPlanet switches you to speaker mode so you can share the information you're getting. It also makes it nice for car travel.
I wondered where all the information was coming from, and quickly found that most of the entries match the information in Wikipedia. In fact, if you scroll to the bottom of each text entry, the source of the information is identified. This has apparently confused some users of the app who thought the information from Wikipedia was stolen, but it is all properly identified and sourced.
Happily, HearPlanet is not U.S. only. There is plenty of information on destinations all over the world.
HearPlanet is not a complete travel app. There are no phone numbers and no links to Google Maps for directions to destinations. But it has lots of details on things around you that are worth visiting, and you'll certainly learn something in the process.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Tony said 5:09PM on 1-09-2009
I gave it a whirl, and it does seem like it'd be helpful when traveling to an unknown city. And I really didn't understand the complaints about "ripping off Wikipedia" on the earlier post. Wikipedia is cited on every article, clear as day.
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Somebody said 5:11PM on 1-09-2009
Location services aren't only for 3G iphones, edge iphones use cell-phone tower triangulation.
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zyzzyva said 5:36PM on 1-09-2009
One BIG bug here: I clicked on the first spot and hit play, and it started reading the HTML! This is what I heard:
"Overview. Border one color FFFFFF cell pattern 5 align right width 305 style margin left..."
Took about 15 seconds to get to actual info.
It's possible that the wiki page was badly formatted, but they really ought to fix this pronto.
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Tony said 6:59PM on 1-09-2009
Interesting bug. I haven't encountered that in the pages I tried. (I sampled 4 or 5 different pages.)
Craig said 11:12PM on 1-09-2009
Yeah I got that on my first and only try. If it was new info then I might have stuck with it, but there are plenty of other location based Wikipedia searches that don't bother reading and html to me. Locly and Around Me are both pretty good, free, and don't waste time reading things to me. It'd take ages to get down to the good info in the middle of the page if you have to wait for all the pre-amble to be read.
Stephen said 6:17PM on 1-09-2009
"Those with a 3G iPhone can use location services."
Those of us with first-gens can use locations services as well. It isn't quite as accurate, but still works within a 1/2 mile or so, which is pretty good for nearby locations if you ask me.
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glad said 8:38PM on 1-09-2009
hey it works a treat no bugs at all mm I might put something about my street on wikipedia so I can listen to it. It's a great little app and will use it in London next week.
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Rylin said 9:16PM on 1-09-2009
Is it using a text-to-speech engine, or have they recorded audio snippets?
Personally, I hate text-to-speech, and would gladly pay a monthly cost to have high quality recordings telling me about my surroundings and whatever tourist trap I'm nearby.
Even better would be keeping a log of snippets played, with a license to use the audio tracks for personal use.
Don't have a videocamera, but took thousands of photos during your vacation?
Make one of the nifty new iPhoto '09 slideshows, combined with the audio overlay from a service like this as well as your own (travel-log like) recordings, and you have a simplified version of a travel movie.
Bonus points for autogenerating movie "chapters" based on the places-aware photos ;)
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Unregistered said 11:03PM on 1-09-2009
It's a great app - it even told me that there's a historic site nearby, which I did not know of despite living here for 20 years. The trouble with using it as a travel app overseas may mean roaming high data costs. It would be a bonus if they could bundle all the Wiki info into the app. I won't mind paying for that 'Pro' version.
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Kathy said 11:45PM on 1-09-2009
This app has a lot of potential, and I can see where it's going. I had the opportunity to stop on the HearPlanet bus and talk with some of the crew there at Macworld. Considering it's only been in development a couple months, I'm actually quite amazed with how much content they have already (even if there are glitches in some of the TTS). They apparently also have some 'premium' content voiced by voice talent and tour guides (mostly around the San Francisco area so far) being added daily. They don't intend for computer voiced Wikipedia content to be their only content. It's just a start.
All and all, I'm looking forward to seeing where this app goes as they focus on developing and not launching for Macworld.
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Keith said 4:44AM on 1-10-2009
Nice but for location based information with real reviews by real people I'd recommend Qype Radar.
I like the fact it can read the reviews but there's not much else to the app.
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Chris said 6:20PM on 1-10-2009
HearPlanet isn't about reviews, it is more tour guide type stuff you can listen to and do not need to walk head-down reading while out.
It doesn't replace review apps like Yelp at all. It is a great compliment to them.
Derick said 2:38AM on 1-14-2009
I don't actually own a device that this will work on at the momeny, but after reading about this app, I downloaded it for free right away in hopes that I'll someday get to use it.
Very clever product, and it's amazing they are giving it away.
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Los Angeles Tours said 3:06PM on 1-21-2009
Nice review, I will try to use on my iphone with my tours http://www.LaTravelTours.com
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