Maps
If you've ever taken the New York City subway, you know what a mess it can be for an inexperienced rider. Transferring to the right line can be confusing, there's always at least one track closed for maintenance, and the maps at the station aren't much help if you don't know where you are to begin with. Luckily, the MTA (Metropolitan Transportation Authority) plans to replace all station maps and announcements with interactive HD displays that will provide simple directions and real-time service alerts. Read More
One of the most embarrassing chapters in Apple's history has been covered with a Band-Aid. In what can only be a bittersweet milestone for iOS, the Google Maps app is now available in the App Store as a standalone app. Read More
Apple Maps sends Australian motorists off the beaten track
Having already attracted widespread criticism, the inaccuracy of Apple Maps has now prompted police in Victoria, Australia, to issue a warning about using the iOS 6 app. The warning comes after a number of motorists seeking directions to the town of Mildura became stranded after they were directed into a National Park by the problem-plagued app. Read More
The iOS version of Nokia's cloud-based mapping service has been released on Apple's App Store. The service boasts a number of compelling features and undoubtedly aims to capitalize on the problems iPhone and iPad owners have encountered while using Cupertino's own Maps app. Read More
If you ask someone about Apple's biggest success, you won't likely hear the words "Siri" or "Maps." Siri is inconsistent and still in beta, while iOS Maps was panned for taking a huge step back from Google Maps. A recent report, however, reminds us how important both are to Apple's future: the two services are rumored to be included in the next version of Mac OS X. Read More
Apple's iOS 6 Maps has been widely criticized. The company is under pressure to improve its service - quickly. MacRumors reports that Apple has a novel solution: employ its army of retail employees to report errors. Could this be a stroke of Genius? Read More
Apple Maps inaccuracy draws widespread criticism
Popular mobile photo-sharing app Instagram received perhaps its most significant release since launch when version 3.0 hit app stores today. With a feature Instagram simply calls "Photo Maps," Instagrammers can now view geotagged photos by a given user on a map, provided that user has elected to share. Read More
When blind people are trying to navigate the city streets, they can get assistance from a speaking GPS-enabled smartphone, just like everyone else. Once they move indoors and lose access to the required satellite signals, however, it’s a different story. While there are some indoor navigation systems that require things like radio-frequency tags to be strategically placed around the building, it’s currently unrealistic to expect to find such systems installed in many places. The University of Nevada, Reno’s experimental new Navatar system, on the other hand, just requires a smartphone loaded up with a digital two-dimensional map of the building in question. Read More
Tourists want to experience the "sights and sounds" of everywhere they travel, but usually viewing the sights is much easier than hearing the sounds. It's one thing to look at the Statue of Liberty; it's quite another to be able to listen to the sounds around it. The UK designer behind the Listen Here concept would like to redress the balance by giving tourists a chance to hear audio from all over a town without having to actually go to each place. With microphones at different locations transmitting data to a central map, tourists would be able to simply point at a different and hear live ambient sound from all around a city. Read More
