How your smartphone's GPS can get out of a speeding ticket

by Damon Lavrinc
from: http://translogic.aolautos.com/

We've all have that friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend who fought the law over an erroneous speeding ticket, but do you know anyone who's put their smartphone on the stand to prove their innocence? Well, you do now.

Sahas Katta got clocked by a cop doing over 40 in a 25 mph zone. He handed over his info and signed the ticket, but then remembered he was running Google MyTracks on his Motorola Droid. For the uninitiated, MyTracks is an Android app that uses the phone's GPS to record and plot where the user has travelled, allowing you to log a jog, bike ride or drive. After looking at the data and doing some research, Katta discovered that he never crested the 25 mph speed limit and decided to fight the ticket.

You can read the entire account over at SkatterTech, but for the tl;dr crowd, the cop didn't know the last time he went through radar training, when the gun was serviced or the unit's model number. Katta then busted out the GPS data from his Droid, and after reviewing the evidence and Katta's clean driving record, the judge let him off. Granted, he may have just gotten lucky thanks to a uninformed judge and a hapless cop, but the results all the same. Lesson learned. You can download MyTracks here.

If you're not equipped with one of the dozens of Android-powered smartphones on the market, you've got a few alternatives. For the iPhone crowd, there are a myriad of GPS-tracking apps on the market, including the OutFront and myTracks (no relation to the Google-developed app). If you're packing a new Windows Phone 7 device, the pickings are slightly slimmer, but Marathon is porting over its popular Windows Phone 6 app to the new mobile OS and has included several social features into its updated app. TrackSpace and MojoTracker appears to be the best solution for Palm/HP WebOS devices and for those using a Nokia smartphone SportsTracker looks like the best bet.

Check out a videos demos below to get a taste of of OutFront and Marathon, and submit your own selections in the comments below.





[Source: SkatterTech]

Apple makes Find My iPhone service free for iOS devices

From: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/

Who hasn't dreamed of attaching a tracking device to their keys, or sunglasses or cellphone?

Apple announced on Monday that the Find My iPhone (or iPad or iPod touch) feature -- which helps locate a missing device by way of an online map -- will be free to use without a MobileMe subscription. The service is limited to the latest-generation devices (iPhone 4, iPad or fourth-generation iPod touch) running iOS 4.2, the newest version of Apple's mobile operating system, also released Monday.

Previously, the feature was available only to iOS users with a MobileMe subscription for $99 per year. It also required the download of the Find My iPhone app, free in the App Store.

To access the service, users must go to settings after installing the iOS 4.2 update and add a new MobileMe account through "Mail, Contacts and Calendars." A prompt will ask for a user's MobileMe ID, but entering your Apple ID and password, which is also used in the iTunes store, will open access to the Find My iPhone feature.

Once enabled, users will be able to locate their Apple gadget on a map online (as well as command it to display a message or make a sound); owners can also lock or wipe data from a lost device either through the app from Apple or online.

Other new features from the iOS 4.2 include multitasking, folders and a unified in-box for the iPad, and AirPrint wireless printing and AirPlay for audio and video streaming for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

iPhone App Uses Background Location for Automatic Checkins on Foursquare

Jennifer Van Grove

From: http://mashable.com/

Foursquare players too busy painting the town red to go to the trouble of whipping out their iPhone and checking in can sit back and let Checkmate do the work for them.

At $1.99, Checkmate offers a convenient alternative for those looking for a passive aggressive way to play the geosocial game. The brand new app harnesses background-running location on the iPhone () to check in Foursquare () players automatically at specified venues.

After you download and fire up the app, you can select different venues to add to your “Auto Checkin Venues” list. You can toggle automatic checkins on or off for the whole list, as well as specify whether to automatically post a shout or share the checkin on Facebook () and Twitter (). Once you’re within 50 meters of a designated venue, Checkmate will take over and check you in on Foursquare.

The application works on iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 and eventually will add support for other checkin services.

Future Checkin [iTunes link] is similar in nature; it too supports automatic checkins for specified venues via background location on the iPhone. Future Checkin differs by letting you adjust the GPS settings for more accurate or more battery-friendly automatic checkins. Both applications warn that by running location in the background, you risk draining your phone’s battery.

Do automatic background checkins appeal to you? Leave us a comment and tell us why or why not.

What’s Happened With Cell Phones This Decade?

From: http://cellphones.org/
Posted by: admin


Via: Cell Phones

Paragliding the Himalayas With iPhones, So You Can Go Too

• By Keith Barry

From jagged, snow-capped mountain peaks to peaceful villages adorned with colorful prayer flags, there are perhaps no more breathtaking views on earth than from high above the Himalayas. Five paragliders are right now flying and hiking the length of the Himalayas all the way through Nepal, and they’re sharing the once-in-a-lifetime experience with anyone who has a computer.

While paragliding in the Himalayas is a fairly common trip for experienced fliers, no team has gone all the way through Nepal. These guys are seasoned fliers and between them they have experience flying all over the world. But they’ve never tried anything like this before: hiking and flying more than 800 miles from Dharamsala to Sikkim, India.

“This journey has never been done by a team,” said Nick Greece of the U.S. Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association. “People have flown from Northern India to the Nepal border but never further. This team will fly across Nepal as well. For a team to do this live tracking is imperative, and it is only in the last year or two that it has become realistic and relatively reliable.”

The Himalayan Odyssey Team is carrying some impressive tech. It has the obligatory iPhones and three solar chargers to keep them going, variometers to track their rate of ascent and descent, two-way radios for staying in touch and GPS for staying on course. When they’ve got cellphone coverage, the team will upload track logs to their website, allowing those of us who prefer our feet on the ground to follow their adventure from our cubicles. SPOT GPS trackers also will update their route every 10 minutes.

“These will allow visitors to reply our flights on Google Maps, or Google Earth and visualize every circle, every zig, and every zag we make, and even what the terrain underneath us looks like while we’re zigging and zagging,” team member Eric Reed said. “It’s beautiful, but it will depend on GSM service.”

Hopefully they’ll have better coverage in the Himalayas (.pdf) than in Manhattan.

Reed, a member of the U.S. Paragliding Team who was laid off last year from a management position at Microsoft, says he’s already received e-mails of support and can’t wait to start offering live updates on his progress. He’s been through the Himalayas before with team leader Brad Sander, and at the end of last year’s trip they decided that this time they’d “take the line as far as we could.”

“All of the communication is great fun — both for the readers and the writers — and I think it does actually improve our safety level, but it also inevitably make the wilds just a little less wild,” he said. “That’s the way with technology. But I’m not complaining. There’s still plenty of wild in the world.”

In addition to letting the rest of the world come along for the journey, Reed says all that technology is essential for safety, helping keep the team connected even when they land in different locations. The Himalayas can be just as inhospitable as they are inspiring, and as they began their journey Wednesday, according to their blog, conditions were already far from ideal.

“We plan to fly and land together as a team, as much as possible, but inevitably there will be days when we get separated,” he said. “Once we’re all on the ground if we’re not all together, communication gets hard via cell or radio. The SPOTs will help us here as well — we’ll use them to send our position via SMS to everyone on our team once we’ve landed.”

Photos: Nick Greece

Read More http://www.wired.com/autopia/2010/03/himalayan-odyssey-team/#ixzz0i0AMdGxI

Head to Head Comparison of the 5 Most Popular iPhone Turn by Turn Navigation Apps

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If you haven't heard, the iPhone now supports turn by turn navigation apps. These apps essentially turn your iPhone into one of those portable navigational devices which people refer to as "my navi" or "my GPS". Overall, the apps are quite good. They work well, they look great, and having a turn by turn navigational system on your cell phone is highly convenient. The Palm Pre, unlike the iPhone which requires purchasing an app from the App Store, comes equipped with one of these apps, and it's free with the Sprint service plan. The Pre's app, "Telenav By Sprint", is quite frankly the perfect turn by turn navigational app for a cell phone, and we compared the 5 most popular American navigational iPhone apps to the Pre app.

Look below for a detailed table comparing the applications on 20 different parameters.

Note: For these applications you will 100% need a car charger and an in-car iPhone cradle. These apps drain the iPhone's battery like crazy. Without an in-car iPhone cradle the apps will be pretty much useless. TomTom will soon start selling a car kit which may even be sold as a bundle with the application.

click to enlarge or click here for full size table

Below are brief overviews of each individual application with screenshots and iTunes links. Please let us know in the comments which app you bought and how it has been working for you.

TomTom (B+)

App Store Link

TomTom is the leader of the GPS world, and there's a reason. They make a good product, and that didn't change for their iPhone app. The app works great. Just like their portable devices, the map itself looks ugly...with a thick red line over a beige background, and occasionally some jagged edges. But quite frankly, it's not there to be modeled, it's there to guide you and give you functionality. That it does.

Navigon MobileNavigator (B)

App Store Link

The Navigon Mobile Navigator may be the best option in the App Store right now due to the fact that it has been dropped to $70 until August 31st, when it will go up to $100. The Navigon app will guide you wonderfully, but there are a few things missing. For one, you can't see the route summary. There's also no traffic feature...but that shouldn't stop you from buying the app.

AT&T Navigator (C+)

App Store Link

The AT&T Navigator application is an excellent app except for 3 things. It requires an internet connection, since the maps are always downloaded fresh from AT&T's servers. That means it takes a while to load and reload. Also, there is no landscape mode, which is silly for a navigational app. Lastly, the $10/month pricing will lead to an extremely expensive application if you keep it for a while. But if you're okay with that, the app offers a vivid and attractive map, and a few other great features: traffic and search for lowest-priced gas.

CoPilot Live North America (C)

App Store Link

CoPilot Live North America is the cheapest of the 5 applications, costing only $35. However, you pay for what you get. Many expected features are missing, and some of the present ones don't work. The POI search, for instance, needs a lot of work. Also, users have been complaining about app stability. On the plus side, if you just need an app to guide you from point A to point B, CoPilot will do the job. And the map looks great.

Sygic Mobile Map US (C)

App Store Link

For $40, Sygic Mobile Map US seems like a bargain. However, while the design is quite sharp, this app is lacking when it comes to actually guiding you on the road. The app often takes a while to lock a GPS signal, and often runs slow. While it hasn't happened to me, many users have complained that it has taken them the wrong way. There's also no contact integration. The good thing about this app is that it offers 26 different languages to guide users in.

Mobile Navigator iPhone Review

Visit us at http://TapCritic.com
TapCritic review of the app Mobile Navigator.
This is a demo for the iPhone.

Hands on: TomTom for iPhone Review

techradar.com — TomTom for iPhone is here, even if it's a little earlier than expected. We thought the company would release it in September, alongside its much talked about iPhone cradle, but it seems the advent of other sat-nav apps onto the market has forced TomTom's hand.

click here for the entire article including pics: Hands on: TomTom for iPhone Review