The official Google Maps app for the iPhone and iPod touch has been launched and it actually offers a fantastic user experience built on top of Google's extensive real-time data and mapping information that they have built up over the years. The app is fast and fluid, contains 3D representations of certain buildings in certain localities, and even has an extremely functional - albeit in a beta stage - offering of voice-guided turn-by-turn navigation system. The problem is, the app is collecting user location data, which shouldn't really come as a shock to most.
The wait is over. Months after Google Maps found itself unceremoniously kicked off of iOS 6 devices, Google's mapping software is back with a vengeance.
The technology industry and mobile space is awash with startups who are striving to create the next big product or service. Some have ambitions to succeed as a viable company with measured growth and expansion, whereas some have their sights up straight from the beginning and are hoping for rapid growth and a buy-out from one of the industry’s big boys sooner rather than later. Grokr is one of the latest startups in the mobile industry, who are attempting to make a splash by releasing an iOS app that attempts to bring Google Now type functionality directly to Apple's mobile devices.
Yahoo! may have been bullied from its once-prominent web position by the likes of Google, but the Sunnyvale-based company still has something to offer. Today, Yahoo! has released a glut of new mail apps targeting those on iOS, Windows 8 and Android, as well as revamping its web-based offering, and we've got all the details after the jump.
In a move almost contemporaneous with Instagram's significant update for iOS, Twitter has announced its intention to integrate photo filtering into its iOS and Android apps. Instagram's effortless application of a varied range of filters have made it a huge hit with point-and-shoot photographers, and it's a hit Twitter simply cannot miss.
Since being acquired by Facebook for close to a billion dollars all those months ago, it's fair to say Instagram hasn't changed a great deal. The tried-and-tested method of facilitating photos, filters, comments and likes hasn't gotten any less popular as we approach the end of 2012, and today, Instagram has pushed out a couple of new features to keep Instafans happy-snapping.
There is no denying that music plays an extremely important part in a lot of people's lives and is something that is only made better and enhanced by the fact that most of us carry around a mobile smartphone in our pockets that is capable to playing music wherever we are. The iOS App Store is already home to a large number of music based applications, but for those that are a little tired of listening to the same playlist on their device or continuously skipping between the same few tracks then the Figure universal iOS app could provide the perfect solution.
One of the great design decisions which Apple took in respect to the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad is the almost-flawless form factor and external body of the device that has only been disrupted with the addition of hardware buttons where absolutely necessary. There is a good reason why the original iPhone only had two volume buttons, a silent switch, a home button and a sleep button, and that design trend continues to this very day. However, some users like to have a way to use the volume buttons on the device to invoke different actions, which is why the BrightVol Cydia tweak may be of interest to some users.
Apple's iPhone 5 may have been a hit with consumers, but with those looking to take photos on the moderately-improved camera, the issue of purple haze has really put a dampener on proceedings. To be fair, the iPhone 5 isn't the only culprit - the new Google Nexus 4 has also seen similar issues - but despite Apple initially claiming consumers were simply holding their devices incorrectly when taking a shot, it's something that the smartphone industry needs to tackle as a whole. The case makers have attempted to amend the issue in the meanwhile, and while the camHoodie did a pretty decent job of removing that mauve mist from our snaps, the App Store developers are now trying their hand at sorting the problem.
As those of you well-travelled will be more than aware, the business of checking in, collecting luggage, waiting around and dealing with cancellations, gate changes and unforeseen delays tends to be part and parcel of the whole experience of catching a flight. To make things easier, there are an abundance of helpful apps purporting to keep us as informed as we need to be, and one of the most popular - FlightBoard - has just gone free for a very limited time only.
