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Geolocation posts

Filed under: iPhone, iPod touch, App Review

Your iPhone and iPhoto library are in sync with Simplify Photo


Like its music app on the iPhone, which allows you to use your iPhone to tap into your desktop's music collection, Simplify Media provides similar functionality with photos through its Simplify Photo [iTunes link] iPhone app.

Many of us are forgetful in some form, and this trait is especially magnified when one proceeds to show others an "awesome photo" on your iPhone that, sadly, didn't get synced. Instead of telling your friends that you'll show or email them the photo later -- assuming you even remember to -- you can use Simplify Photo to view your entire iPhoto collection.

While increased megapixels in digital photography brings with it the promise of better picture quality, in most cases it comes at a file size premium. And because storage space on your iPhone is a finite resource, you can choose to set aside dedicated space for those really important photos and use Simplify Photo for those that are not as important but would nonetheless like to have access to just in case.

Simplify Photo is available for 99 cents on the iTunes App Store, while the required desktop client (available for Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux) is available as a free download at the Simplify Media site. The desktop app allows you to not only specify which iPhoto albums and events to sync, but the people as well -- via integration with the app's "Faces" facial detection feature. And if you're not exactly sure which album or event a photo is stored, you can use the app's search feature, which searches your photos' tags, titles and comments.

But the standout feature of Simplify Photo is its geolocation support. Like iPhoto '09's places feature, Simplify Photo displays a map with various dropped pins; and tapping on the pins will display the photos taken in the vicinity.

If a picture can say a thousand words, then Simplify Photo's desktop syncing capabilities have the potential to make your iPhone speechlessly filled with photos.

Filed under: iPhone, iPod touch

No need for an app with Sig Alert's maps

As TUAW's own Steve Sande noted, one of the neat features of Safari on iPhone OS 3.0 is its ability to leverage the HTML 5 geolocation API. One of the more prominent web-based services to use geolocation is Google's Latitude, which allows one to see where their friends are located and what they're currently up to. Whereas Latitude provides you updates on where your friends are and what they're up to, Sigalert.com provides you updates on what's holding up all the traffic at your current location (for California and Arizona only) as well as when you should be expecting it to loosen up.

During a recent weekend afternoon drive from Los Angeles to San Diego, I was stuck in heavy traffic -- unusually heavy considering the day and time I was traveling. Sure, I could have relied on dedicated apps, such as iPhone's built-in map app or MapQuest 4 Mobile, to see exactly where the traffic would loosen up, but I wanted to know exactly what was causing the traffic. So I turned to sigalert.com instead.

Continue readingNo need for an app with Sig Alert's maps

Filed under: OS, iPhone, SDK

Safari Browser 3.0 for iPhone is GPS-aware

One of the relatively unsung features of the upcoming iPhone 3.0 firmware is that the new version of Safari for iPhone will use geolocation. This means that the browser can request location information from the iPhone's GPS receiver, and can also provide that location information to websites that you're visiting.

ComputerWorld's Seth Weintraub reports that the beta versions of the firmware are working well with sample web-aware websites. This capability is not only planned for the iPhone's implementation of Safari, but many upcoming browsers for Mac as well.

Geolocation capabilities make it simple for developers to create web apps that no longer need to ask you for an address or zip code. Google, for instance, is planning on making their Latitude application a 3.0-only web app rather than a standalone application on the iPhone. Latitude will leverage the geolocation features of Safari by knowing exactly where you are at a particular point in time and sending that info to the Latitude servers, then returning the whereabouts of your friends while informing them where you are.

For those of you who don't want your 3.0-enabled iPhone to let the world know exactly where you are, remember that you can always turn off Location Services in the General Settings or just answer "Don't Allow" when asked if Safari or a particular website would like to use your current location.

Filed under: iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

HearPlanet for iPhone now lets you see

HearPlanet Premium [App Store link] is a new and enhanced version of the free iPhone app HearPlanet. The premium version is U.S. $5.99.

HearPlanet Premium gets your location from GPS, or you can enter any location manually. It then provides quite a bit of text information, generally sourced from Wikipedia. HearPlanet can tell you what is around you, like tourist locations, museums, geological features, and read the descriptions out loud, or you can read them yourself without the audio. The app has worldwide coverage.

We took a look at the original HearPlanet and found much to like. Apparently, we weren't alone, as 300,000 copies of the travel app have been downloaded. One of the most requested features from users was maps, and now HearPlanet contains detailed maps of many locations. The maps are sourced from the Open Streets Map project, and are quite attractive to look at. Other similar apps can link you to Google Maps, but they throw you out of the program. HearPlanet Premium has everything in one place.

When you find locations, there are often thumbnail images that go with an entry, but you can't enlarge them. One of my suggestions for the free app was the inclusion of phone numbers, pretty important in a travel guide, but since the source of much of the information is Wikipedia, there still aren't many phone numbers that I could locate. The developer says there are phone numbers, and as data sources are added the amount will increase.

The maps allow you to zoom and pan, giving you a good idea of what is around you. You can reference the maps while the program is speaking, and the ability to look around while learning about a location is very nice. HearPlanet premium is a nice upgrade from the free version, which is still available at the app store. If you want the addition of maps, HearPlanet Premium is the way to go.

HearPlanet and HearPlanet Premium both run on the iPhone or iPod touch. Of course the touch does not have GPS, but it can usually derive your location via Skyhook's WiFi capability.

Check out a few screen shots in the gallery below:

Filed under: iPod Family, iPhone

Twinkle: location-aware Twittter client for iPhone

According to Installer, Twinkle from Gogo Apps is "Twitter plus Location." It's a Twitter client that adds photos and geolocation as well as clickable URLs and Follow / Stop Following control within the app. With it, you can find people twittering near you -- in fact it seems to be using my findme utility to power its location-awareness. And no, I have no financial interest in this thing -- I gave permission for them to use the utility so long as the app remains non-commercial.

I logged in, entered my Twitter account info (yes, the account information is stored in clear text in ~mobile/Library/Preferences) and within seconds, it found tweets within 50 miles of my location.

You can tweet directly from Twinkle. Tap the pencil button at the top-right corner (it's the one that for quite a while I mistook for a mis-shaped lower-case "i"). From there, you can enter your tweet, specify whether to tag with a location and optionally snap a photo.

Twinkle offers a professionally designed interface and good ease of use. The only negative occurred after I mistyped my password. I ended up in an infinite loop of authentication errors and had to force-quit the application.

Gallery: Twinkle

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