-A GPS on your iPhone-
Most people these days have a GPS in their cars to help them get around these days, but if you're one of the few people who don't have a GPS yet but have an iPhone, you're in luck. MapQuest's new app, MapQuest 4 Mobile, is pretty much a very basic GPS system that works right off of your iPhone.
The app gives the user a map and directions from wherever they are currently to wherever they are looking to go, and also contains some of the other features a GPS would have. You can have the iPhone talk to you and tell you where to turn, get off-route assistance and rerouting, map zoom, and distance and estimated time of arrival estimates. The best part about this app? Unlike a real GPS, it's completely free.
There are some issues with the app, however. One of the biggest complaints that can be gathered from the official iTunes page is the fact that you need to physically push a button on your screen if you go off course to reroute you, as opposed to a real GPS which will reroute you automatically. Users claim this can be a potential safety hazard, and I can totally understand that. However, I feel like this will be fixed in a later version of the app, seeing as how it seems to be a very common complaint. Another issue with the app that people are talking about is the fact that it doesn't seem to give you the shortest route on occasion, which could just be a problem with MapQuest's service and not the app itself.
I think it's fantastic that we are able to turn our smart phones into GPS systems now, especially in such an easy matter. Even though this app has some flaws, it's a great solution to the "don't have a GPS" problem that appears to work fairly well otherwise. The fact that it's free is probably the biggest plus, seeing as how free is quite a bit cheaper than a $100+ GPS. All in all, this seems like a pretty good placeholder in your life for a real GPS if you don't have the money to get one or you rarely go to new places.
You can check out the official iTunes site for MapQuest 4 Mobile here.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Sunday, April 4, 2010
iPad
-Apple's long awaited tablet finally hits stores-
I figured it wouldn't be appropriate to write a blog entry this week that wasn't about the iPad - Apple's latest product - due to the fact that it uses an app for almost everything it does. However, it was hard to pick just one app to focus on, so I figured it would be better to look at the iPad as a whole and whether or not the hype behind it is totally justified.
The Apple iPad, first announced at the end of January, had been long-rumored to be in development by Apple for quite some time. It was revealed to be what is basically a 9.5" by 7.5" iPhone or iPod Touch. It uses the same OS as the previous products, but on a bigger screen, showing a 1024 by 768 resolution. The iPad that launched this Saturday was the Wi-Fi only model, whereas the 3G and Wi-Fi model will be released in another month or so. The Wi-Fi only model comes in three different storage sizes - 16, 32, or 64 GB, costing $499, $599, and $699 respectfully. It has all of the same features as the iPhone and iPod Touch (you can use all of the same apps for both devices), with a battery life of around 10 hours.
Read up on all of the iPad tech specs here.
While Apple refers to the iPad as a "magical, revolutionary device", critics have attacked it as being nothing more than a slightly larger iPhone/iPod Touch (as previously mentioned). This is mostly true thus far, as most apps available for the iPad at the current time are reworked iPhone apps for the iPad screen size. Before I make any personal judgements on the iPad, however, I am interested in seeing what new apps come out of the minds of developers specifically for the iPad to take advantage of its newer large screen. Several developers have already released more advanced games for the iPad than those available for iPhone, but other than that, nothing "revolutionary" is already out for the iPad. I feel that the iPad has a lot of potential to change the way we view and use tablet computers in our lives, similar to the way the iPod did for MP3 players and the iPhone did for smart phones (the influence of both of these is undeniable), however, what exactly the iPad can do for us that's totally new has yet to be seen. As of right now, I would agree that it is mostly an oversized iPhone/iPod Touch, but I think it will be interesting to see where the app development for the iPad has gone a year from now and see what interesting and inventive things developers have come up with to make our lives simpler and more interesting with Apple's new device.
I figured it wouldn't be appropriate to write a blog entry this week that wasn't about the iPad - Apple's latest product - due to the fact that it uses an app for almost everything it does. However, it was hard to pick just one app to focus on, so I figured it would be better to look at the iPad as a whole and whether or not the hype behind it is totally justified.
The Apple iPad, first announced at the end of January, had been long-rumored to be in development by Apple for quite some time. It was revealed to be what is basically a 9.5" by 7.5" iPhone or iPod Touch. It uses the same OS as the previous products, but on a bigger screen, showing a 1024 by 768 resolution. The iPad that launched this Saturday was the Wi-Fi only model, whereas the 3G and Wi-Fi model will be released in another month or so. The Wi-Fi only model comes in three different storage sizes - 16, 32, or 64 GB, costing $499, $599, and $699 respectfully. It has all of the same features as the iPhone and iPod Touch (you can use all of the same apps for both devices), with a battery life of around 10 hours.
Read up on all of the iPad tech specs here.
While Apple refers to the iPad as a "magical, revolutionary device", critics have attacked it as being nothing more than a slightly larger iPhone/iPod Touch (as previously mentioned). This is mostly true thus far, as most apps available for the iPad at the current time are reworked iPhone apps for the iPad screen size. Before I make any personal judgements on the iPad, however, I am interested in seeing what new apps come out of the minds of developers specifically for the iPad to take advantage of its newer large screen. Several developers have already released more advanced games for the iPad than those available for iPhone, but other than that, nothing "revolutionary" is already out for the iPad. I feel that the iPad has a lot of potential to change the way we view and use tablet computers in our lives, similar to the way the iPod did for MP3 players and the iPhone did for smart phones (the influence of both of these is undeniable), however, what exactly the iPad can do for us that's totally new has yet to be seen. As of right now, I would agree that it is mostly an oversized iPhone/iPod Touch, but I think it will be interesting to see where the app development for the iPad has gone a year from now and see what interesting and inventive things developers have come up with to make our lives simpler and more interesting with Apple's new device.
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