A number of weeks ago we went on a vacation to Las Vegas, and I was curious to see if an app can replace a traditional tour book. I picked the most respected tour book I knew, Frommer's Las Vegas 2009 by Mary Herczog; and an iPhone/iPod touch app called Vegas Mate [iTunes Link] which trucks on years of experience and data from an established Las Vegas review site.

The Vegas Mate app sells for $4.99 and is almost wonderful. It provides a wealth of immediate information. From the Concierge button you can get current Las Vegas news. It's always interesting to read what's going on behind the glitz. There's a listing of all the events and shows, along with where and when they are playing.

The Nearby button uses the GPS function to give you a listing of the hotels, restaurants and activities with the closest ones displayed first.

Tapping the Hotels button gives you a list of hotels on or off the Strip or a full listing. Tapping on a hotel brings up a screen with information including basic cost, the nearest Monorail station and a fairly useless map with stick pins representing what's around, but no walking directions. Squeeze the screen and you'll get a lot of real estate on the map, but the unmarked stick pins didn't seem remotely useful.

What was useful was a history of each hotel, a live phone number, and a listing of all the restaurants in the hotel. Tap on one and it'll tell you if the place is open, a few paragraphs about each, a phone number and sometimes even a menu (which can take quite awhile to load using 3G). The most valuable part to me was user ratings of just about everything.

Since Ratevegas.com has been around for years, users post reviews and those show up in the app. This was useful since we found that the Criss Angel show was rated poorly by most all reviewers. We had advance tickets and the consensus was right on the money. We also found that the new house show at the Mirage, Terry Fator, who won the TV show 'America's Got Talent,' was terrific; although we had never heard of him, we bit, and it was one of the best shows we saw all week. This is very very good stuff.

Tapping on the Restaurant button delivers an alphabetical listing with a useful red or green symbol telling you whether the place is open or closed in real time. You can filter restaurants by cost from $ to $$$$$ which is just a rough indication, since there is no legend accompanying the dollar signs. Other information includes listings of shows and nightlife.

Update: An earlier version of this post noted that the app states that "most of the MGM/Mirage board are about to be indicted for insider trading." Further research pointed out that the information contained in the statement is three years out of date, so we have removed the offending statement. Our apologies to the MGM Mirage hotel and casino for this error.

File under "It was only a matter of time": The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that Nevada gaming authorities are warning casinos to be on the lookout for blackjack card counters getting an assist from their iPhones. While card counting itself is not banned in Nevada, the use of an assistive technology is a felony (!), and apps like Card Counter or A Blackjack Card Counter make it much easier for the math-impaired. ABCC's 'stealth mode,' which uses vibration to alert the user when the time is right for a big bet, is particularly head-achey for casino security.

Nevada casinos don't have any instances yet of gamblers being kicked out or arrested for iPhone use -- the initial warning was from California authorities, who spotted card-counter apps in use at a Northern California casino and thought it prudent to raise the alarm. The lure of easier blackjack winnings may be too tempting for some people to pass up, but the consequence of this iCheating may be that we all have to check our iPhones before heading to the blackjack tables.

Aside from the logistical challenges of an iPhone ban in casinos ("Sure, I don't need my phone, my family knows that I'll be here at the quarter slots for the next five hours"), this is a fascinating example of how the App Store is turning us all into denizens of the Matrix, with skills and information on demand and jacked in, literally at our fingertips. Need to level a bookshelf? Fine. Want to identify local birds? Done. Get your garage mojo in gear? Can do. Learn a language? Of course. Adding the ability to move money from the casino's pocket into yours with better odds than usual seems like a natural next step... and another 'disruptive technology' is going to come into conflict with a long-established, politically and economically powerful industry. Let's watch.

Update: Commenter 'brainopera' contributed his "Matrix moment" -- have you had yours yet?

Thanks Matt

Apple opened two new Apple Stores last weekend -- one in Ridgeland, Mississippi (that state's first store) and another in sunny Las Vegas (Nevada's fourth and the third in Vegas). As usual, we asked any TUAW operatives who may have attended to share their reports and/or pictures. Reader Dave took some nice shots in Mississippi.

So, did you go, and more importantly, what did you get? Let us know in the comments. Here's hoping you scored a T-shirt!

In related news, there's an interesting map at ifoAppleStore that overlays Apple Store locations with population density in the US. Of course it makes sense to put stores where the most people are, and that's just what Apple has done.

Apple plans to open two new retail stores in the US this Saturday, August 30th. One in Ridgeland, Mississippi and another in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Apple Store Renaissance at Colony Park (Ridgeland) will open at 10:00 AM. The store is located at 1000 Highland Colony Parkway, next to Williams Sonoma and J Crew. You can find full travel directions here. This will be Mississippi's first Apple Store.

Apple Store The Forum Shops will also open at 10:00 AM in sunny Las Vegas, Nevada. You'll find it at The Forum Shops At Caesars, at 3500 Las Vegas Blvd., South. Full travel directions are here. This will be Nevada's fourth store, and the third in Sin City.

If you visit either store over the weekend, please let us know! We'd love to see your pictures and stories.

[Via ifoAppleStore]

CityCenter is a massive new multi-use building project designed by architectural rock star Daniel Libeskind. It is currently under construction in Las Vegas, and -- according to AppleInsider -- the jewel in this glittering crown will be a supermassive Apple Store, located directly in the front of the complex right along Las Vegas Boulevard.

Quoting "people familiar with the project", AppleInsider claims that the store will boast over 20,000 feet of floor space on two levels. The article is accompanied by architectural renderings, though none of them feature any giant white apples or other clues as to the exact placement of the store.

The CityCenter project has been controversial in Las Vegas; six workers have died on the project since it began, and construction workers walked off the project last Monday after union safety negotiations with the general contractor failed, though they returned the next night. The project is due to be completed in the fall of 2009, at which point the new Apple megastore will join the two existing Apple Store locations on the Strip. (AppleInsider incorrectly states that there are three locations, but the third Apple Store in Nevada is actually in Reno, on the other side of the state.)

Speaking as a resident of Sin City, I'm not sure if CityCenter is going to be a beautiful hypermodern arcology to rival Tokyo's Roppongi Hills, or just another big ugly thing for drunken idiot turistas from the Midwest to throw up on. But if they're really putting a ginormous Apple Store front and center, I'll be out front on opening day with the rest of the rubes.

What happens in Vegas will be visible to your iChat buddies when the $2.9 billion Fontainebleau resort opens in Sin City next fall.

VegasTrippers.com reports that the Fontainebleau has partnered with Apple to install an iMac in every one of the 3,889 rooms and suites. To quote the fancy brochure available on the Fontainebleau website:

"Fontainebleau guests experience a new sensory landscape through an innovative relationship with Apple. The program includes intuitive and simple options for booking and pre-planning stays online and interactive programming throughout the resort. An iMac in every guest room inspires guests to share memories and encourages personal expression."

There's no word on whether a fabulous Vegas version of iPhoto will give you the ability to airbrush out that strange woman or man you're with, or if there is a new Apple-designed peripheral for removing tattoos that mysteriously showed up on your body overnight.

[Via VegasTripping.com]

Thankew, Jordan, thankew vurry much for the tip. Elvis is leaving the building now.