Thursday, October 1. 2009

Update: MotionX GPS App for iPhone - NAVTEQ Data and Low Cost

Updated 10/1: Title and text updated per comment from FullPower to note the app does not use OpenStreetMap (below).

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I'm trying hard not to get too wrapped up in all the iPhone nav apps, but I am interested in the reaction of the planet as each one appears. When the TomTom app came out for the iPhone the folks on Buzz Out Loud (BOL, the C|net podcast of indeterminate length) criticized the price and attributed it to the cost of the data (provided by Tele Atlas, which it owns). Now, InformationWeek previews MotionX-GPS for iPhone in part because of its low price $2.99 and $25 annual subscription.

The app uses deCarta tech and NAVTEQ data (from FAQ), so that's not what dropped the price. Another of the company's products does use OpenStreetMap.

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I had to dig a bit on the website, but it seems the app uses OpenStreetMap. (I'm a bit confused since GPS Business News says it uses NAVTEQ.) Also noteworthy: the company behind it is FullPower and headed by former Borland CEO Philippe Kahn. Gosh I loved Borland! My first real job, at a consulting firm, used Quattro. One of my colleagues, a programmer, won a big award for automating the processing of data from our Gas Chromatograph all in Quattro.

Thursday, September 24. 2009

Bionic Eye - Augmented Reality (with no connection required)

I've been keeping an eye on augmented reality and the apps are getting better and better. Consider Bionic Eye from Presselite. it's an update of app originally announced as "Nearest Subway" for iPhones (iPod Touch, and old iPhones, too - but with limited functionality since those don't have the compass of the 3GS). The video says it best:


One point not made: only POIs with in 1km are shown in the augmented reality app.

The cool part, for me, this requires no interactivity (cell phone connection or wi-fi). All the data, including POIs which come with the app and pub transit stops for NY, Chicago and DC, which are available in app for an additional fee, are stored locally. Now, that's great when you don't have a connection, but it does mean the data are static. That in turn means the company (or another one) can provide updates for a fee. The app is available now, for $1.

- Wired

Thursday, September 17. 2009

Autodesk Releases iPhone/iPod Touch Supported SketchBook Mobile

There's a free and $2.99 version of the "professional-grade paint and drawing" program. Its counterpart on the desktop is Autodesk SketchBook Pro, a package you can buy at Amazon for $75 (list is $100). Data created in the mobile version can be opened on the desktop.

- press release

Monday, September 14. 2009

Would the ideas of Gov 2.0 work for business?

Watching the Gov 2.0 Summit presentations this past week tweaked my mind about what technology should do, not just for government agencies, but for business. Tim O'Reilly's model of "government as a platform" goes directly to some of the business process improvement methodologies that businesses have longed to attain.

O'Reilly uses the analogy of the Apple iPhone as a platform for applications developed by programmers outside of Apple as his vision for what government should be able to facilitate for citizenry: build the platform...let the citizens take it from there. And he is not just hoping that federal agencies will find ways to work better together but for intergovernmental agencies as well such as federal to state, state to local, local to citizens, etc.

Would this model work for business? Would businesses share data and some of their internal IT platforms with partners, perhaps in a cloud computing environment? Some already put data "outside the firewall" for sharing but how many businesses build their IT model with the idea that shared data is a foundation for business expansion and efficiency?

Walmart was first recognized for using RFID technology to monitor inventory and "advising" their suppliers to adopt ways to conform with its inventory and logistics control procedures. Inventory data was shared with suppliers; orders were automatically placed and shipped to distribution centers. But for O'Reilly's vision to be transformed into standard business practice I think an entirely new level of trust might have to be developed between business partners.

That's not to say that it can't be done and in this economic climate it may be a necessity. It's a model that needs more thought and exploration. Andrea DiMaio of Gartner provided the reasons why government cannot act as a platform and you can use these arguments as a check list as to why business platforms may or may not work.

Tuesday, September 8. 2009

Loopt Gets Background iPhone Processing (for a user fee to AT&T)

One of the big issues with the iPhone and GPS is that it can't run in the background. That means that you must turn on the app itself to "check in" to share location information. But now, Loopt has swung a deal (for a $3.99 fee per month) to have AT&T do background updates. I'm not sure how that meshes with Apple's restrictions, but it does give Loopt an advantage over "everyone else" including Google's Latitude.

There's a free trial for the first 5000 folks, but I suspect that's full already since the news broke Sept 4.

- Silicon Valley Insider via Mobile Burn

Scrabble + GPS + iPhone = Seek 'n Spell

Ok, I've been reading about iPhone apps, specifically location-based ones. for quite a while. None have made me think, "wow, I want that"...until today. Seek 'n Spell is a letter hunting game played in a park - the game downloads a satellite image for you to use as a map and you capture virtual VW Beetle sized letters by running to them, to spell words for points. This sounds fun - but then I used to play Scrabble competitively and am a runner...

- GPS Business News