Posts tagged gps
TeleNav Unveils OnMyWay for Android
Aug 26th
TeleNav is releasing another handy application, OnMyWay into the Android Market today. You know TeleNav, don’t you? They’re the brains behind your Sprint and AT&T navigation titles. To describe their new (free) app’s premise, I think it’s best to use it in a short hypothetical scenario.
Let’s say you are on your way to a ten o’clock brunch meeting and you’ve got a an hour drive ahead of you. You start off on time, but later you find yourself stuck in traffic and it looks like you’re going to be late. What’s the best way to to let everyone know what time you’ll actually get to the restaurant? You don’t want to call everyone, do you? And we all know better than to text while driving, right? OnMyWay does this for you.
OnMyWay alerts a pre-set recipient or group of people as to your status and ETA. Set the notification right before you start driving and everyone gets an alert (text and/or e-mail) that tells them when you are expected to arrive at the destination. If you run into anything that might delay you, OnMyWay automatically sends an update to those that matter. Their new message tells them that you’ll be late and provides the updated ETA. This way, you don’t have to worry about anything but driving safely.
To create an OnMyWay notification, you’ll need to follow a few quick steps:
- Input a destination
- Enter a scheduled appointment time
- Selects or enter phone numbers and/or e-mail addresses to send alerts to
- Start!
Your phone contacts are integrated into the app so there’s no need to hunt anything down. Further, you have the option to send personal messages with your notifications. For those of you worried about privacy, OnMyWay never shows your specific location, nor does it share it with any recipients. Keep your eyes peeled for OnMyWay in the Android Market!
TeleNav Unveils OnMyWay for Android originally appeared on AndroidGuys.
TiPb Apps 6.3: AllSport for iPhone (CTIA 2010)
Mar 25th
Some of us recently realized there’s a whole world out there, and perhaps it’d be a good idea to visit it once in a while, and an even better idea to (gulp) exercise in it.
And so, we hug out for a few minutes at CTIA 2010 with the folks from Trimble Outdoors and their AllSport GPS app, which comes in a free, ad-supported version [iTunes Store link] and a full, $4.99 version that adds a few additional features [App Store link]. It’s kind of your standard GPS trip app, but it’s for athletes and out-of-shape bloggers of any age. Pick your activity, hit the start button, and it tracks your route, time — hell, altitude, if you’re flying — and logs it all online for posterity and/or sharing on Facebook and the like.
Check out video of it in action after the break.
TiPb Apps 6.3: AllSport for iPhone (CTIA 2010) is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.
TiPb – The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog
TomTom updated to 1.3 now with Google Local Search!
Mar 13th
The AT&T Navigator app and TomTom are my two favorite GPS solutions; TomTom just took the lead with this most recent update.
One of the benefits of the AT&T Navigator app was the ability to search real-time and navigate to a location via the web. Now, TomTom is bringing us that functionality via Google Local Search, and more! Here is a list of changes in the most rescent update, 1.3:
- Real-Time traffic- The best traffic information available today (an additional $19.99)
- Google Local Search- Access the latest listings from within TomTom
- The Latest Maps- The most accurate map
- Music Fading- Instead of music pausing, it fades when navigation is spoken
- Automatic Day/Night Mode- TomTom now calculates the sunrise and sunset and changes the map accordingly
- Add Locations- From other apps and websites
There are some other nuances too such as button placement and how the iPod controls work, but they are definitely for the better. It is disappointing that the traffic component costs an additional $19.99, but to me the Google Search alone is worth this update. Check out some pics after the break!
TomTom updated to 1.3 now with Google Local Search! is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.
TiPb – The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog
Garmin Announces nuvifone A50 Ahead of Mobile World Congress
Feb 11th
After more than a year of waiting, Garmin is set to show off their newly announced nuvifone A50 next week at Mobile World Congress. As it turns out, the device is more GPS than phone. Surprise!
The Android-powered A50 features a 3.5-inch, HVGA capacitive touch screen, 4GB of built-in storage, Microsoft Exchange support, full GPS, and other navigation services built-in. The touch only device also comes with an accelerometer, 3 megapixel camera, and the Android Market. With a heavy dose of Garmin, it includes an e-compass and their own cityXplorer maps, as well as real-time, location-relevant information like weather, traffic, fuel prices, safety cameras, and flight status. Look for the A50 to arrive in Europe sometime in the first half of 2010. Pricing and carriers have yet to be announced.
Might We Suggest…
AT&T Navigator for iPhone Updated to v1.5i
Feb 10th
Yesterday Navigon MobileNavigator received a pretty nice update, today Telenav released a update of their own for AT&T Navigator that includes some very nice new features. They are as follows:
- Shake-to-Go(tm): Users can now shake their iPhone at any time while in an AT&T Navigator menu screen and it will automatically initiate a route to a pre-designated “home” address the user has set.
- Speed Limit Display & Alerts: Navigation screen includes speed limit information and provides visual alerts if the limit is exceeded.
- Last Trip Origin: Once a trip is completed, users can easily return to the origin of their last trip by accessing the “Recent Places” menu.
- Nighttime Maps: The brightness levels of map screens are adjusted for nighttime driving for easier viewing.
- Improved Route Avoidance Options: Drivers may now choose to avoid routes that make use of high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes or choose to avoid routes that include toll roads.
- Improved Pedestrian Mode: Users will be able to clearly identify when they are navigating in pedestrian mode with the introduction of a new pedestrian icon on the map screen.
AT&T Navigator version 1.5i is now available to download within the App Store. The app is free to download with a subscription cost of $9.99 per month, or $69 for a year.
Check out this latest version in action after the break!
AT&T Navigator for iPhone Updated to v1.5i is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.
TiPb – The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog
Apple: No Location-based Ads for Non Location-based Apps — Controversy de Jour?
Feb 5th
Apple’s iPhone Developer News feed has posted a note saying developers should enhance their App Store apps with Core Location… but not if they just want to use it to serve up location-based ads. Of course, this has set off yet another round of conspiracy theories and Apple accusations. Here’s what Apple had to say:
The Core Location framework allows you to build applications which know where your users are and can deliver information based on their location, such as local weather, nearby restaurants, ATMs, and other location-based information.
If you build your application with features based on a user’s location, make sure these features provide beneficial information. If your app uses location-based information primarily to enable mobile advertisers to deliver targeted ads based on a user’s location, your app will be returned to you by the App Store Review Team for modification before it can be posted to the App Store.
Since Apple bought mobile advertiser Quattro Wireless and said they were going to provide a seamless way for developers to earn advertising revenue, especially for free apps, chatter on the web has it the above is Apple’s way of locking out the competition in general, and Google-owned AdMob in specific.
And why not? Just a few days ago there was rampant speculation Apple was forcing Stanza to remove USB sharing to punish owner Amazon and get all anti-competitive due to their upcoming iBooks app. Turns out, however, Stanza was using a private API and misusing the camera roll to store eBooks instead of the image files it’s meant for.
Okay sure, maybe Apple is getting ready to be anti-competitive about advertising, and risk a ton of negative developer reaction and potential investigation, or maybe Quattro Wireless-powered apps will likewise have to make sure advertising isn’t the primary purpose of location-aware apps either. Maybe our location information is a fairly important piece of data and using it because we want to find a restaurant or friend is preferable to it being used because someone else wants to serve us an ad.
So yes, this could be a nefarious plot for unfair competition or it could just be Apple’s policy on all location-based advertising going forward — if you want to use GPS and CoreLocation, make sure the primary reason is for the user, not for the ads.
TiPb will keep an eye on this as it develops, but let us know your thoughts!
[Thanks to Fassy for the tip!]
Apple: No Location-based Ads for Non Location-based Apps — Controversy de Jour? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.
TiPb – The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog
WHERE Update Encourages User-Generated Content
Jan 25th
WHERE, a popular location-based app that helps users find cheap gas prices, movie showtimes, and more, has been recently updated. Now, rather than simply giving you relevant information, they have made it possible to add your own content. For instance, if you arrive at a gas station and find the price to be different than expected, you can submit your own finding. Show up at an address expecting some good Mexican food only to find they’ve moved? Let WHERE know!
WHERE V1.8.6 is available (for free) today in the Android Market. According to their blog, there are four changes/improvements that are meant to foster a community spirit.
- WHERE reviews button – You can now easily rate or read reviews about local restaurants and businesses with the click of a button.
- “Flag Venue Incorrect” option – A convenient link now lets you easily flag a venue if you notice any incorrect information, enhancing the quality of our real time information.
- “Report a Price” gas feature – Spot a change in price at your local gas station? Share your findings with other users.
- Expanding avatars – Take a better look at the people in your area. WHEREwall users can now zoom in on other users’ avatar pictures.
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