The TomTom App for iPhone and iPad will be the first to use social networks as a source for turn-by-turn navigation. It can automatically plan routes based on information from Facebook events, places and friends. Drivers can also use the App to share their destination and arrival time on Twitter, Facebook, by email and SMS text.

Source: TomTom PR

Tagg is at CES 2012 showing off their tracking app for pets. The hardware receiver is extremely lightweight and attaches directly to your pet’s collar. Once activated, the receiver will continuously monitor your pet’s location. If they happen to wander outside your home area, you will receive a text or e-mail notification. From there you can track your pet’s location via the free application or iPhone and iPad.

If you want to take your pet for a walk or travel outside your home area, a button press on their collar will deactivate notifications but continue to GPS track. Tap it back on when you’d like notifications to be active again.

The Tagg collar is currently available for $99.95. The service will run you $7.95/month with your first month free.

TeleNav, one of the largest back-end providers of GPS navigation services for smartphones and other in-car turn-by-turn navigation systems, has announced the upcoming release of a free HTML5-based voice-guided GPS navigation service that works on your iPhone through the Safari Mobile Browser.

“This is an enormous amount of added value for any mobile, location-based website or app focused on travel, shopping, local search, deals and more,” said Sal Dhanani, co-founder and vice president of products for TeleNav. “With one line of code, you can give your customers one-click access to premium, voice-guided turn-by-turn directions to any location, including hotels, restaurants, merchants or deal locations. Customers never need to leave your app.”

As mentioned, the service will be completely browser-based allowing it to run on just about any smartphone, including the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S. Developers will have the opportunity to add just a single line of code to their existing website or apps, which will allow users to jump directly into the browser for turn-by-turn navigation from within any app, or directly from Safari itself.

If all goes according to plan, we should start seeing it in apps come 2012.

Source: TeleNav

Garmin has announced an iPhone fitness app called Garmin Fit and also an accessory called the ANT+. The fitness app will allow users to track their workouts including pace, distance, time and calories burnt. It can also map your runs and automatically uploads your data to Garmin Connect which is a web community for Garmin Fit users.

The ANT+ adapor clips into the 30 pin dock connector on your iPhone and it can then connect wirelessly with various Garmin accessories such as a heart rate monitor and even a foot pod senor. The foot pod sensor allows users who are using a treadmill or similar to track speed, distance and even run cadence.

“Garmin Fit is the ideal solution for users who are new to the fitness tracking landscape and for those looking to stay totally connected,” said Dan Bartel, Garmin’s vice president of worldwide sales. “To be able to utilize Garmin’s powerful fitness accessories with the same device that plays music, makes calls and uploads workouts automatically to share and analyze, makes Garmin Fit a must have app.”

The Garmin Fit app is available in the App Store for and is compatible with the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. The ANT+ adaptor is available directly from Garmin at a price of $49.

[App Store link]

TomTom, the GPS enabled navigation app has just been updated and it now includes an optimized version for the iPad. The app is now a universal binary so there will be no need to pay for an additional navigation app for your iPad if you already have it on your iPhone.

The TomTom App. World-class TomTom navigation, on your iPhone or iPad New to v1.9: Now iPad-optimized for a sharper, full screen view.

• Make the most of your iPad, with a full-screen display that shows you driving view and Advanced Lane Guidance images at the same time. Purchase connected services in-App or easily transfer your existing subscriptions (cellular connection required). When you want to go bigger, move your TomTom App to iPad.

• Because roads are constantly changing, on average 15% of roads change every year, your TomTom App update comes with the latest and most up-to-date map.

• Your TomTom App is quicker and easier to use than ever. See driving view with one touch from anywhere, access guidance options in a tap, and switch between different route types more easily. It’s a simpler way to enjoy TomTom navigation on your iPhone or iPad.

TomTom is available for the iPhone and iPad for $49.99.

[App Store link]

Have an app you’d love to see featured on TiPb? Email us at iosapps@tipb.com, tell us about your app (include an iTunes link), and we’ll take a look.

A new Kickstarter project has started up for MobileMount, a nice looking suction cup mount for the iPhone, iPad and other smartphones and tablets. The kickstand mount is produced by JR Sanches of J & M Company and promises to deliver the best mount your money can buy.

The MobileMount is a universal mount/kickstand for virtually any hand held device with a flat surface, like smartphones and tablets. Comprised of two twist-to-lock suction cups and one ball joint, this device’s unique design allows for superior suction and durability.

The twist-to-lock suction cups are said to be the strongest out there and will secure your devices “for weeks”, rather than days or hours from competing mounts. The universal design means you can use it on your iPhone or iPad, or any other flat-surfaced device. They also came up with a smart ball and joint system that allows for free horizontal and vertical rotation, making it a perfect setup for using your iPhone on your car dashboard or windshield as a GPS unit.

Pledges for the MobileMount start at just a buck and go all the way up to $700, but a pledge of just $25 will secure you a black MobileMount and 4 vinyl circles (for use with devices that have a matte surface) for delivery in January of next year. They’re goal is $20,000, but they’ve already passed $10K so it doesn’t look like this will have any trouble getting to market.

I’ll personally be pledging $50 to get a couple of these bad boys — one for my iPad 2 at the office and one for a windshield mount for my iPhone 4 in the car.

Check out the full video after the break!

Source: Kickstarter

GLONASS stands for Globalnaya Navigazionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema or Global Navigation Satellite System. Wikipedia tells us:

Globalnaya Navigazionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema or Global Navigation Satellite System, is a radio-based satellite navigation system operated for the Russian government by the Russian Space Forces. It is an alternative and complement to the United States’ Global Positioning System (GPS), the Chinese Compass navigation system and the planned Galileo positioning system of the European Union.

GLONASS has around 24 satellites worldwide and when these work alongside the standard 31 GPS satellites, your GPS accuracy and fix speed can be greatly enhanced. We are not sure if Apple is using the systems in tandem to provide this extra accuracy and speed. It may just be that in order to sell the iPhone 4S in Russia it had to be made available. Either way, it is something you can brag to your friends about!

Source: Apple via The Next Web

School’s out and it’s time for a break from work. Curious which are the absolute best apps and games to take with you on your much deserved summer vacation? Odds are you’ll want to share your adventures, brush up on local attractions, and stay connected while you’re having fun. Luckily there are tons of apps available in the App Store that makes organizing and sharing your vacation from your iPhone super simple.

Whether you want informational apps for your own use or social apps to share, we’ve got you covered. Read on for TiPb’s top 10 most recommended, most must-have summer vacation apps to get your started.

• Top 10 apps for new iPhone owners
• More top apps

Gowalla

For regular everyday check-ins, I typically use Foursquare. But for trips, Gowalla wins hands down. It acts as somewhat of a “digital passport”. They offer stamps and pins for completing trips and checking in at certain places (similar to Foursquare badges).

You can also upload pictures and comments on places that you’ve traveled to. Sometimes you’ll pick up items when you check into places. You can either drop them elsewhere for someone else to find (and to become a founder of a place), or you can choose to add them to your pack where they’ll permanently stay. I’ll typically drop items I’ve picked up more than one of and save more rare and unique items in my pack.

Gowalla also allows you to share check-ins and pictures to Twitter and Facebook as well which makes it even easier to let your friends and family follow along with your adventures.

Free – iTunes Link

Instagram

I use Instagram on almost a daily basis but it’s especially cool for sharing pictures on vacation. Not only does it upload your images to a plethora of services (Twitter, Facebook, etc) – you can also add all kinds of cool filter effects to your photos before uploading them.

I’ve always found uploading photos directly to Facebook to be hit or miss. I always use Instagram now. It’s fast and connects to all the services I want to share to. The user interface is simple and uploading a photo only takes seconds, which is great when you’re constantly on the go and just want to share a quick snapshot.

Free – iTunes Link

TripAdvisor

While you may have already loaded some GPS and navigation apps, you’ll also want to make sure you have additional information about certain places. TripAdvisor is a great app to find out about hotels and attractions. You can read and write reviews straight from the app. I know we’ve saved ourselves some heartache by checking user reviews for certain hotels and restaurants before making our decision.

It’ll work regardless where you’re at so this is a great one to have on board for virtually any type of trip. And don’t forget to write reviews for future travelers as well!

Free – iTunes Link

Beautiful Planet HD

No matter where you’re traveling, Beautiful Planet has tons of pictures, facts, and descriptions of the most amazing travel destinations on Earth. I’ve found a lot of really cool destinations just by browsing through the app in my spare time. While on vacation, you can not only learn about the places you’re visiting, but find other really cool areas to check out.

This app is perfect for vacationers that want to spend a lot more time outdoors than they do indoors. I also recommend this to travelers who don’t necessarily have a strict itinerary and really want to spend more time exploring than anything else.

$1.99 – iTunes Link

Navigation and/or information apps

No matter where you’re going, some type of GPS app should be on the top of your list. I personally prefer Garmin StreetPilot when I travel but you’ll want to pick the GPS app that covers the areas your traveling to. That’s why I’m not picking a technical “favorite” for this category. What you will want to use will differ based on where you’re going. Just pick one that covers the area you’re traveling to the best.

You can also look at specified navigation apps as well. I live on a lake and love the water, so I picked up an app called Marine&Lakes. These types of navigation apps are great for specified areas and a lot of times contain attractions or areas that you’d never otherwise discover.

Prices will vary depending what apps you choose to use.

Your top summer vacation apps?

So there you have them, our top 10 best iPhone 4 apps to get you started. Be sure to check out our Picks of the Week and iPhone App and Games Forum for more recommendations, and if we missed any of your favorites leave them in the comments below!

Summer is almost upon us and it is always a great time to get outside and do some exercise. With the help of your iPhone, you can make that experience so much better and more rewarding. We look at our top 5 Fitness apps to help you reach your goals! Check them out after the break!

RunKeeper

RunKeeper uses your iPhones built in GPS technology to track your fitness adventures. It has a very easy to use interface and you can use it to monitor running, walking, cycling and many other activities too. You can also enter activities manually; if you do your exercise on your treadmill, RunKeeper still has you covered.

RunKeeper syncs up to its own web portal where you can view your history and stats in more detail. Integration with Facebook and Twitter is also included so you can show off your fitness prowess to your friends!

[Free - iTunes link]

Nike+ GPS

An additional feature is the Nike+ Tag. This allows you to run against friends in a virtual Tag type game. Outrun your friends to win. The Nike+ website stores all your stats and you can also post to Twitter and Facebook all without leaving the app.

[$1.99 - iTunes link]

Full Fitness

You can easily create your own exercise program or use one of the 20 built in programs to help you reach your goals. Full Fitness can also be used to track your food intake and body weight as well as schedule your workouts.

Full Fitness allows you to log your exercises, view progress graphs, and email or backup the results online.

[$0.99 - iTunes link]

Edomondo Sports Tracker

The app allows you to track distance, duration, speed and calories burned as well as monitoring of your heart rate if you have the necessary add on. All the data is again synced online where you can share information to Facebook and Twitter as well as other members of the Endomondo community.

[Free - iTunes link]

Cyclemeter GPS Bike Computer for Road & Mountain Biking

Cyclemeter is not just for cycling however it is aimed squarely at that market. Cyclemeter is an app that tracks your rides, recording time, location, distance, elevation and speed. Your progress is announced to you via 25 configurable announcements including distance travelled, time taken, current speed and elevation.

You can set up your next ride against a previous ride of the same route. This is like a race mode and enables you to try and beat your previous best times. If you have friends that use the app, you can import their routes and times into the app and use this to race against too.

Twitter and Facebook sharing are all catered for and you can also get text to speech; although this is via an in-app purchase.

[$4.99 - iTunes link]

Your top apps?

We’ve heard rumors and gotten questions about whether the iPad 2 gains any GPS functionality when tethered to an iPhone 4 and, based on our tests (see the video above) — yes it does, albeit a little dumbed-down. GPS functionality seemed to be working in both Maps and Navigon, but it clearly doesn’t work half as well as the 3G enabled iPad with assisted GPS built-in. Still, if you’ve decided on purchasing the 3G enabled iPad 2 primarily for its GPS capability, you may want to consider tethering an iPad Wi-Fi to iPhone 4 as an option.

Keep in mind the test was conducted on an iPhone 4 running iOS 4.2.1 using MyWi to create a wireless hotspot, however the results should be the same when using an AT&T or Verizon iPhone 4 (running iOS 4.3 or 4.2.6 respectively) with the Personal Hotspot feature baked-in. Results should be similar on the original non-3G iPad as well, and make sure you have location services enabled on both devices for it to work properly.

So although this technically works, we wouldn’t suggest using it as a full in-dash GPS unit by any means. If you want to do things like location-aware tweets it should work like a charm by roughly pinpointing your location when Wi-Fi router mapping isn’t an option.

If you have a Wi-Fi-only iPad then pair it up with your iPhone 4 and let us know how it’s working for you in the comments below!

[Urbanape via Daring Fireball]

Gogo Navigator supports real-time turn by turn navigation throughout the United States and Canada at a decent price. I recently looked at Garmin StreetPilot for iPhone which is currently priced at $34.99. While the app had a great interface and offers turn by turn navigation, I found it had one huge down side. StreetPilot does not store maps natively. This means if you’re out of range of a signal you won’t be able to access maps since they can’t pull from the servers.

Gogo Navigator uses native maps for navigation. Regardless whether you have a signal or not, you can still get turn by turn directions. They offer maps in regular view as well as real-time 3D view. You also have the features you’d expect from a good GPS app like favorites and places of interest (POI). Gogo Navigator is currently priced at $29.99 in the app store which is a great deal for a decent GPS app. It’s a much lower price point that most and I found it did the job just as well as some of my other GPS apps. Hit the jump for some screens!

iTunes Link

While Apple and social networking didn’t get off to a good start with Ping!, it appears Apple may be willing to try again with a new patent pointing to a social networking feature they are titling “Places”. (Does this sound familiar to anyone else?)

The patent shows that Places will be a social networking type service that will use the assistance of GPS to locate users on iOS devices. Whether or not it will integrate with Ping! is yet to be seen. The service is pretty much the same thing most mobile users already know how to use through apps like Gowalla and Foursquare. Ping! didn’t seem to do as well as Apple would have liked so this may be a move to try and tie in the two services.

My big issue with Apple creating services like this is that it only encompasses the Apple ecosystem. What about my friends that are on other platforms such as Android? I can already interact with them through services like Gowalla and Foursquare, which are cross-platform. Apple would have to give me a really good reason to use their service to get me to abandon apps I’m already familiar with. Perhaps they’ll integrate access to those services through their own. I’m still surprised they’re using the title “Places” since Facebook already uses that title for their check-in service, and Apple already uses it for its facial recognition in iPhoto and Aperture.

What do you guys think? Would you use it or stick with what you already have?

Patently Apple

blueSLR is a bluetooth accessory for Nikon DSLR’s that pairs with your iPhone to embed GPS information into your files as well as allow you to use your iPhone as a remote shutter release. The folks at XEquals sent me a unit to test out and share with you. To find out what I think, follow along after the break!

[blueSLR]

The hardware is very compact and doesn’t add much bulk to your camera. It plugs into the slot labeled “GPS” and blends in with the camera rather well. There is a small light for indicating bluetooth connection to your iPhone. Once connected, you can use the blueSLR companion app to send GPS data to your Nikon camera to geotag your photos.

The app is very simple and strait forward. Your GPS location information is displayed on the main screen as well as a shutter release button. You can also easily set a timer and tell the camera to take as many as 10 shots. If you only want to use blueSLR as a remote shutter release, you can simply disable the GPS function and save battery life on your iPhone. I’m hoping that a future update adds the ability to adjust camera settings like shutter speed, aperture, and ISO.

There are three blueSLR models that cover compatibility with the following Nikon DSLR models: D3100, D5000, D90, D3(S), D200, D300(S), and D700. At this time, blueSLR is not available for Canon cameras, but XEquals hopes to bring that functionality soon.

If you use a compatible Nikon DSLR camera, blueSLR makes an excellent addition to your camera bag and can be yours for $149.

Garmin just released StreetPilot for iPhone, the newest addition to their mobile line-up of GPS apps. The app boasts a lot of the same features nüvi owners already enjoy. StreetPilot has up to date map support for both the US and Canada. All maps and directions are pulled from Garmin’s servers so you can expect the same quality directions as a native GPS unit. Since maps are pulled from the server, the app only takes up around 7 MB of space on your phone. Hit the jump for a few initial impressions, some screens, and a list of features.

iTunes Link

I had some time to play with StreetPilot earlier today and found it extremely intuitive and easy to navigate. Not only that, the UI is nicely designed as well. I liked the layout of the weather portion a lot and I’m considering using it for weather too. Voice navigation worked just as you’d expect it to. I also tried out the pedestrian directions as well. It re-routed me on a shorter route that didn’t take one way streets into consideration. All in all, it worked well.

One thing I noticed while playing with optional settings was that the iPod controls need some work. I couldn’t always get it to add the correct songs to a playlist. And skipping a track didn’t always register and you’d have to push the on screen button again.

Holding down on any part of a map will bring up a pop-up menu that allows you to choose that location as a destination, find something nearby, save the location, or display the address. There are little shortcuts throughout the app that seemed pretty well thought out. I’m looking forward to using this app on our next trip. If you’ve picked this up, let us know what you think. If not, what’s your favorite GPS app?

For those of you still debating on GPS apps, here’s a list of StreetPilot’s main features -

Features include:
-Always up-to-date maps for the U.S. and Canada
-Voice-prompted, turn-by-turn directions including street names
-Real-time traffic updates to avoid traffic delays
-Speed limits for most major roads
-Integrated Local Search
-Millions of points of interest
-Lane assist with junction view for complicated interchanges
-Address book integration to navigate to contacts
-Integrated iPod® music controls
-Multi-tasking on iOS4 for navigating while calling
-Current weather conditions and forecast
-Place calls directly from search listing
-Navigate in both portrait and landscape mode
-Easy to install with quick load times

RunKeeper Pro has been made available to everyone for free today. The offer lasts until the end of January 2011 so don’t delay, go and grab yourself a copy of this fantastic app for free.

In an effort to encourage more people to get off the couch, and as a show of appreciation to the RunKeeper community for your terrific support for the last two and a half years, we’re making the RunKeeper Pro app (usually $9.99 USD) free to download now through the end of January!

What more do you need to kick-start your fitness goals for 2011!

[iTunes Link]

Some of us recently realized there’s a whole world out there, and perhaps it’d be a good idea to visit it once in a while, and an even better idea to (gulp) exercise in it.

And so, we hug out for a few minutes at CTIA 2010 with the folks from Trimble Outdoors and their AllSport GPS app, which comes in a free, ad-supported version [iTunes Store link] and a full, $4.99 version that adds a few additional features [App Store link]. It’s kind of your standard GPS trip app, but it’s for athletes and out-of-shape bloggers of any age. Pick your activity, hit the start button, and it tracks your route, time — hell, altitude, if you’re flying — and logs it all online for posterity and/or sharing on Facebook and the like.

Check out video of it in action after the break.

YouTube link

The AT&T Navigator app and TomTom are my two favorite GPS solutions; TomTom just took the lead with this most recent update.

One of the benefits of the AT&T Navigator app was the ability to search real-time and navigate to a location via the web. Now, TomTom is bringing us that functionality via Google Local Search, and more! Here is a list of changes in the most rescent update, 1.3:

• Real-Time traffic- The best traffic information available today (an additional $19.99)
• Google Local Search- Access the latest listings from within TomTom
• The Latest Maps- The most accurate map
• Music Fading- Instead of music pausing, it fades when navigation is spoken
• Automatic Day/Night Mode- TomTom now calculates the sunrise and sunset and changes the map accordingly
• Add Locations- From other apps and websites

Yesterday Navigon MobileNavigator received a pretty nice update, today Telenav released a update of their own for AT&T Navigator that includes some very nice new features. They are as follows:

• Shake-to-Go(tm): Users can now shake their iPhone at any time while in an AT&T Navigator menu screen and it will automatically initiate a route to a pre-designated “home” address the user has set.
• Speed Limit Display & Alerts: Navigation screen includes speed limit information and provides visual alerts if the limit is exceeded.
• Last Trip Origin: Once a trip is completed, users can easily return to the origin of their last trip by accessing the “Recent Places” menu.
• Nighttime Maps: The brightness levels of map screens are adjusted for nighttime driving for easier viewing.
• Improved Route Avoidance Options: Drivers may now choose to avoid routes that make use of high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes or choose to avoid routes that include toll roads.
• Improved Pedestrian Mode: Users will be able to clearly identify when they are navigating in pedestrian mode with the introduction of a new pedestrian icon on the map screen.

AT&T Navigator version 1.5i is now available to download within the App Store. The app is free to download with a subscription cost of $9.99 per month, or $69 for a year.

Check out this latest version in action after the break!

Apple’s iPhone Developer News feed has posted a note saying developers should enhance their App Store apps with Core Location… but not if they just want to use it to serve up location-based ads. Of course, this has set off yet another round of conspiracy theories and Apple accusations. Here’s what Apple had to say:

The Core Location framework allows you to build applications which know where your users are and can deliver information based on their location, such as local weather, nearby restaurants, ATMs, and other location-based information.

If you build your application with features based on a user’s location, make sure these features provide beneficial information. If your app uses location-based information primarily to enable mobile advertisers to deliver targeted ads based on a user’s location, your app will be returned to you by the App Store Review Team for modification before it can be posted to the App Store.

Since Apple bought mobile advertiser Quattro Wireless and said they were going to provide a seamless way for developers to earn advertising revenue, especially for free apps, chatter on the web has it the above is Apple’s way of locking out the competition in general, and Google-owned AdMob in specific.

And why not? Just a few days ago there was rampant speculation Apple was forcing Stanza to remove USB sharing to punish owner Amazon and get all anti-competitive due to their upcoming iBooks app. Turns out, however, Stanza was using a private API and misusing the camera roll to store eBooks instead of the image files it’s meant for.

Okay sure, maybe Apple is getting ready to be anti-competitive about advertising, and risk a ton of negative developer reaction and potential investigation, or maybe Quattro Wireless-powered apps will likewise have to make sure advertising isn’t the primary purpose of location-aware apps either. Maybe our location information is a fairly important piece of data and using it because we want to find a restaurant or friend is preferable to it being used because someone else wants to serve us an ad.

So yes, this could be a nefarious plot for unfair competition or it could just be Apple’s policy on all location-based advertising going forward — if you want to use GPS and CoreLocation, make sure the primary reason is for the user, not for the ads.

TiPb will keep an eye on this as it develops, but let us know your thoughts!

[Thanks to Fassy for the tip!]

Magellan recently announced they are releasing a GPS car kit of their own and it already has hit the FCC. Like the much anticipated TomTom car kit, the Magellan will give the iPod touch and first generation iPhone GPS capabilities as long as you are using the Magellan GPS application. [iTunes Link] This particular car kit is crammed with some nice features:

• Fully adjustable mount that works with any skin or case
• Rotates for both portrait and landscape use
• Enhances signal with built-in GPS receiver
• Noise-canceling speakerphone
• Bluetooth hands-free calling
• Amplified speaker for clear, powerful sound
• Works with any GPS application (Unless you are using a iPod touch or first generation iPhone – you then must use the Magellan application)

Currently no price has been announced but you can expect the Magellan car kit to hit stores before the end of the year. Those of you in the market for a GPS car kit now have one more option available to you. Decisions decisions…

TomTom has released a rather significant update to their $99 iPhone Turn-by-Turn GPS application [iTunes Link]. It seems as if they had second thoughts about omitting first generation iPhone 2G (and iPod touches) support in the TomTom car kit. It was only last month that TomTom officially stated the kit would not enable GPS with the original iPhone or iPod touch. My how quickly things change, perhaps the release of the free Google Navigation application had something to do with it…

If anyone still rocking the first generation iPhone or a new iPod touch and try TomTom out, let us know how it goes!

[Via AppAdvice, thanks Tyler]

Are you still on the hunt for the right GPS navigation application? Sygic Mobile Maps [$59.00 - US iTunes Link] has just gotten a much needed update and we are happy to report is has polished this GPS app nicely. Gone is the lag we experienced along with the addition of some other much anticipated features.

• Now with text-to-speech – voice guidance announcing the name of the next street or road
• Choose addresses straight from your iPhone contacts and navigate to.
• Music playback fades out smoothly so you can better hear the voice instructions.
• Improved GPS lock, now faster than ever.
• Smoother position display as you follow your route.
• Increased font size of street names and information bars for improved readability.
• No disclaimer warning message after completion of phone call.

So if you currently have this application, update now! If not and you’re still on the lookout for a good GPS app, Sygic Mobile Maps is definitely worth a look.

Well it’s official, TomTom’s much anticipated iPhone car kit accessory will not make it out this summer like the company initially had planned. Rather, it has been delayed until October according to their website’s FAQ page.

The TomTom car kit availability was originally planned for this summer. But we have decided to take some extra weeks in order to deliver the highest quality on this innovative product. So, the car kit will become available this October on www.tomtom.com.

We suppose it is best to delay the accessory for a few weeks in order to insure you, the consumer, can purchase the very best TomTom has to offer. It could have been worse and the kit could have been delayed until next year, right?

[Via TUAW]

A robbery victim has taken advantage of his MobileMe service and put it to good use. A Pittsburgh man, who’s name has been withheld, told police he was forced to turn over his wallet, his PIN number and his iPhone at gun point (Pellet Gun as it turns out) by 3 robbers early Sunday morning. Lacking any tech savvy skills or common sense for that matter, the robbers were clueless about one of MobileMe’s very helpful features, “Find My iPhone“.

After calling the police, the man used his computer and MobileMe to track down his iPhone along with the 3 not so smart criminals having a late night snack at a local restaurant.

Police said they will charge Bryant Rather, 22, of West Mifflin, Brent Ray Potter, 22, of Swissvale, and Myron Knox, Jr., 22, of Homewood, with two counts each of access device fraud, conspiracy, receiving stolen property and possessing instruments of crime. Mr. Rather and Mr. Potter will also be charged with robbery.

Moral of the story: crime doesn’t pay.

[Via Post-Gazette]

While the wait for TomTom’s iPhone software to hit the App Store has come and gone, most of you are still eagerly awaiting the arrival of TomTom’s iPhone car kit, first shown off at WWDC back in June. Engadget Mobile is now reporting that your wait may be coming to an end as TomTom’s car kit has received its FCC approval. Included in that link, for your viewing pleasure, is the kit’s manual, some images, and a few test reports.

Since it’s announcement TomTom has kept pretty quite about the kits full capabilities. Well, a quick look in the user manual gets us all of the official details.

Your TomTom car kit for iPhone is designed to provide you with the best possible navigation experience. A built-in GPS receiver enhances your iPhone’s GPS signal, ensuring the most reliable navigation, wherever you are. Using the car kit, you get loud and clear voice instructions, can make hands- free calls, as well as charge your iPhone while you drive. The car kit is a safe and secure dock with the award-winning fold-and-go EasyPort� mount.

Are those the features you’ve been waiting for?

[Via Engadget Mobile]

TomTom insists on teasing us all with the above video yet there is still no mention of pricing or availability. As you can see, this car kit brings a lot more to the table than a simple window mount for your iPhone. With the following extras, you can count on this being a pricey addition to your accessory collection.

• Hands-free dialing
• Louder speaker
• Enhances GPS signal
• Charges iPhone

As impressive as the TomTom car kit looks, we are thinking you possibly may have to dish out up to at least $100 for this tricked out window mount. Are you still interested in making this purchase?

Sound off in the comments!

[Via Engadget Mobile]

Welcome to From the Forums. If you are curious as to what all of the hot topics are on the TiPb forums, this is the place to be. In order to create any new threads of your own or reply to any of the following threads, you must be a registered member. Becoming a member is a simple process that will only take a few minutes out of your day, so if you haven’t already, head on over and register now.

The first thread comes to us from jaguar11 and he wants to know how many push applications do you currently have on your iPhone? Sure the availability of push notification enabled applications was pretty slow at first but a lot of developers are finally coming around. Hopefully that is a good sign of things to come.

Next up we have a great poll thread from toomanyphones – what iPhone GPS application are you using? It seems like the GPS application market has exploded the past few months as so many developers took advantage of TomTom getting to the party late. So what is your GPS app of choice?

This thread was started by yours truly – what native iPhone application or feature do you use the least? Is copy and paste all it was cracked up to be? How about the landscape keyboard? The possibilities are endless, let us know what you are thinking…

Last but not least, smileyboy started a poll thread that poses the question, what’s your monthly data usage? Are you someone who barely uses data with your iPhone or are you making sure you get your money’s worth for the high prices the carriers are charging?

See you on the forums!

As you might have heard, TomTom’s GPS application hit the App Store late yesterday. The question still remained regarding the much anticipated TomTom car kit and if it would be compatible with the iPod Touch or other GPS applications. Macrumors is now reporting that TomTom public relations manager Yann Lafargue says yes, you will be able to use other GPS applications along with Apple’s iPod Touch with the car kit.

“It will work with the iPod touch and will also work with third-party GPS applications.”

There still is no word on pricing or availability except it will arrive “later this summer”, but keep an eye on the official TomTom Twitter page for the latest “official” information.

How much would you be willing to spend on this accessory?

With news of TomTom hitting Apple’s App Store it’s time to start looking out for great deals from the other GPS apps currently available. Today we were notified that one of the most feature-filled GPS apps, Sygic Mobile Maps for the US is on sale for a limited time and it’s priced to sell – $39.99. [iTunes Link]

We’ve used Sygic Mobile Maps and it is well worth $39.99 if you are within the United States. The sale ends at the end of this month so be sure to act fast! It contains some very nice features with some of the highlights as followed:

• Voice guided turn-by-turn GPS navigation
• Rotation sensor for automatic switching between landscape/portrait operation in real-time
• Automatic return to the app and the route after a phone call
• All important safety features, including lane assistance, speed limit indication, safety cameras, information about railway crossings and dangerous areas
• Thousands of POIs; among others also a list of parking options nearby for you to select and be guided to selection between car and bicycle modes for optimum route calculation
• All the maps will be stored on the device, there will be no need to download data on the go, which otherwise costs unnecessary waiting time and money

Screen shots after the break!

As we reported earlier today (before the Apple event, even), the iPhone 3.0 update will allow real, turn-by-turn directions on the iPhone. It looks like Apple isn’t bothering with enmeshing themselves in the confusing licensing issues surrounding turn-by-turn and is instead simply lifting the SDK Ban on turn-by-turn directions. The first app may very well come from Sygic (that’s what they’re claiming, anyway), which we had the chance get some eyes-on time with during Mobile World Congress.

Apple is simply allowing 3rd party apps to extend their access to CoreLocation (the iPhone’s built-in location service that includes GPS, cell tower-based, and WiFi-based location) to include turn-by-turn. Of note: Apple says that developers need to “BYOM” (Bring Your Own Maps). What that implies is that the licensing issues referenced above prevents Apple from allowing developers to use another new iPhone 3.0 feature: embeddable maps. iPhone 3.0 allows (almost) any app to include embedded Google maps, complete with pinch, zoom, and the like, within the app itself. Using that embedded map for turn by turn directions, however, is verboten. Instead developers will either have to require a large download of maps and/or provide them over-the-air as TeleNav does.

It’s also possible that developers will be able to use the new in-app purchasing feature of iPhone 3.0 to allows users to purchase maps as well. It’s unclear who else besides Sygic is getting a turn-by-turn directions app ready, but you can probably rest assured we’ll see such apps from the big players in short order once 3.0 is released this summer.

Update: TeleNav is still staying quiet about their plans.

Dieter gave us our first eyes-on look at Sygic’s Turn-by-Turn GPS solution for the iPhone 3G, but we wondered if Apple — whose iPhone SDK specifically forbid providing such navigation — would ever allow it.

Seems Sygic thinks they will:

Sygic is entering the AppStore to be the first on the market that offers full turn-by-turn navigation for Apple users. “We believe Apple users will benefit soon from Sygic Mobile 2009 turn-by-turn navigation worldwide – the same as all of our customers on different platforms” said Michal Stencl, CEO and founder of Sygic.

Could this be part of a new Premium App Store launch later today? Our tipper, antonioj, seems to think it will…

Only 2 hours left, so be sure to join us for our live meta-blog coverage and hopefully we’ll find out together!

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News

• Dieter’s at Mobile World Congress, and so is Turn by Turn GPS, and so is Flash “Full” but iPhone Safari already supports CSS animation
• iPhone going multi-core, AT&T Going 4G/LTE, Chargers going Universal (should Apple Ditch the Dock?)
• Next Gen iPhone Rumors: Could matte black be the new back? Push Notification waiting on Snow Leopard Server? Or will it multitask?
• iPhone update: 2 tiny little MicroCell (Femtocell) PNGs
• Apple owns 51% of the mobile web and boast 20,000 Apps in 7 months
• Google-palooza: Offline GMail Proof-of-Concept, Edit Google Docs spreadsheets, optimized Google Books and Gmail Tasks, Latitude later but Google (Active)Sync now!
• Amazon Making Kindle App for iPhone?
• Apple Brass Says: iPhone growing, no iPhone Nano, no iPhone Slider, what about re-releasing the iPhone 2G? And Jailbreaking should not have a DMCA exemption
• MobileMe adds Large File Sharing and improves Outlook Sync but what else do you want to see in MobileMe 2.0?
• Mighty Marvel Motion Comics coming to iTunes!

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Credits

Our music comes from the following sources:

• I Called You — iPhone Remix by Pete Leidy
via Sneakmove iPhone Ringtone Challenge
• Relaxation Spa Treatment by Dan the Automator via Wired 12.11: Sample the Future
• Wataridori 2 by Cornelius via Wired 12.11: Sample the Future
• DC 3000 by Thievery Corporation via Wired 12.11: Sample the Future

There you see it, folks, a real live native iPhone app that provides turn-by-turn GPS directions with voice prompts, points of interest, support for multiple countries, maps stored in-memory instead of streamed from the internet, the whole nine yards.

Working off a tip/reminder from antonioj (thanks!), I scurried off to the TeleAtlas booth at the close day here at MWC to visit Sygic, a company that makes (you guessed it) downloadable GPS apps for smartphones and PDAs. They had promised a demo of their iPhone app at MWC09 and, well, they delivered.

Read on for more!

Sygic, as we said, looks to be a full-featured GPS app that stores all the maps on-memory (about 2 gigs for Europe). It uses TeleAtlas maps as a base — whether that means that they’ll be able to successfully navigate both the legal briar patch surrounding turn-by-turn on the iPhone and manage to make Apple forget about their SDK explicitly prohibiting such apps remains to be seen. For now (although I didn’t drive around with it), I can say that Sygic works and seems snappy enough. It took the software shown about 30 seconds to load up and initialize, however, which didn’t fill me with glee.

Otherwise, you can pretty much see the featureset from the gallery below. Sygic says they will submit to the app store and see how it rolls, there’s no real intention of just releasing it as a jailbreak app. What do you think, will Apple accept the app or are they still holding out for a cut of that sweet, sweet TeleNav subscription fee? Or is the hold-up with turn-by-turn something else entirely?

Our sibling site, Android Central, has posted up a story about TeleNav making a turn-by-turn GPS navigation app for Google’s Android G1:

The TeleNav software will include full color 3D graphics, speech recognition, one-click rerouting, traffic alerts, weather updates, gas prices, and restaurant reviews.

Sure, it’s not all roses. After a 30-day free trial, you need to fork over $9.99 a month, $99 a year, or $249 for four years to keep the service, but at least they have the option.

So what’s happening with the iPhone app? We asked, and this was what we got in response:

We have to stay mum at this point on an iPhone app other than to say that we’re working on it. Please stay tuned!

If it’s hard to stay mum, imagine how hard it is to “stay tuned” after months and month (and months) of waiting.

Dieter mentions that Apple, flush with success battering around the music industry and Google, may not know how to zip their lip and make nice with the map licensors. Could that be the hold up?

We won’t ask if you want turn-by-turn GPS navigation — we know you do — so we’ll just tell Apple and TeleNav to suck it up and get this done (before more people jailbreak just for xGPS), and we’ll leave the comments open for you to do likewise…

Long before I had my iPhone 3G, I had the good fortune of watching a college football game at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. Having never attended an event there, I was a bit fascinated how the golf course adjacent to the stadium is literally used as a parking lot for event attendees. Yes, that’s right. The entire golf course is one ginormous parking lot and one lost car fiasco waiting to happen.

After the game, it was dark and disorienting. Even though there were large balloon markers spaced avery 100 yards or so, it was nearly impossible to find my car and almost an hour was spent tracking it down. If only I had my iPhone 3G! If only it had been conceived!

Why, you ask? GPS. Fast forward a couple years to CES in Las Vegas a few weeks ago. Driving down the strip in the heart of Vegas on a Saturday night is NOT for the patient. I was meeting up with Dieter Bohn and several others bloggers for a fancy-pants dinner and quickly realized that I would reach my location much faster if I abandoned my ride and hoofed it – the good old “ankle express.”

I found a massive parking garage that barely accommodated the height of my truck, parked, and then froze. I knew I had a good jaunt in front of me and I wanted to be sure I could easily and quickly locate my truck again. I’m easily disoriented and have a poor sense of direction – when people call me “Magellan”, it’s NOT a compliment. My iPhone 3G to the rescue! I simply opened up my Maps app, tapped the “target” in the bottom left of the screen, and dropped a pin for my current location and bookmarked it (just tap the pin after you drop it and then “Add to Bookmarks” in the bottom right of the following page).

Is the iPhone 3G’s GPS precise to the foot? Not exactly, but I was able to easily return to my truck because I could rely on my iPhone’s GPS to point the way and return me to the parking garage, even in the busy hustle and bustle of the Las Vegas strip. So if you need to leave a trail of virtual breadcrumbs the next time you park your car or plan on wandering far and wide from your base camp, give your iPhone 3G’s Maps app a try, drop a pin, and have fun!

[Note: Above photoshops are for comedic value, no actual trucks were impaled on giant map pins in production of this how-to]

So you’ve been on the fence about Jailbreaking recently, maybe this is enough to sway you? Once again, a 3rd party developer has come through for all of us and has delivered a working turn-by-turn GPS solution!

xGPS uses Google Maps and add it’s own real-time navigation readout and a voice. Seriously, how hard could this have been for Google or Apple to add for us? Another nice feature is the ability to download maps ahead of time. So that means even first generation iPhone users can get in on some turn-by-turn action.

So how many of you are going to Jailbreak now? Let us know!

*UPDATE: The newest version with vocalization is expected to be available within the next week. Be sure to check out the xGPS Blog.

[Via Gizmodo via ModMyi]

Sibling site WMExperts, which — while Dieter doffs his WinMo cap and rounds his robin reviewing the iPhone — brings us Phil Nickinson’s exception to iPhone OS 2.2‘s Podcast Download feature.

Okay, it’s not cut and paste, lack of MMS, no unified inbox, no Flash, etc. etc. In all fairness, it’s an interesting look at some of the things we here at TiPb complain about as well, pointedly the 10MB cap for podcast downloads over the 3G network (you have to switch to WiFi for anything larger, same as the App Store has enforced since iPhone OS 2.0):

It’s this kind of manipulation from Apple that keeps a good many of us from wanting to deal with the company (and frustrates many who do). It’s not that the hardware’s not sexy. It’s not that the software is lacking. It’s that lines are being blurred, or destroyed. Apple makes the hardware, and AT&T provides the service. There’s too much collusion going on. If AT&T wants to set a 5-gigabyte cap on my data, fine. But don’t tell me how to use those gigs. And don’t use Apple as a proxy to do so.

The only problem with the argument? The inclusion of Apple.

Look no further than the very next day on WMExperts, when Dieter posted a rant of his own, asking people to help save GPS on Windows Mobile, which we’ll paraphrase thusly:

It’s this kind of manipulation from [Microsoft and the OEMs] that keeps a good many of us from wanting to deal with the company (and frustrates many who do). It’s not that the hardware’s not sexy. It’s not that the software is lacking. It’s that lines are being blurred, or destroyed. [Microsoft and the OEMs] make the [software and hardware], and [Verizon] provides the service. There’s too much collusion going on. If [Verizon] wants to [lock down the GPS that's not fine]. [And] don’t tell me [I have to pay to subscribe to Telenav in order to do it]. And don’t use [Microsoft and the OEMs] as a proxy to do so.

See what we’re getting at? Targeting Apple and the iPhone — which hits the rabbit-eared AT&T 3G towers like Elmer Fudd with a rail gun — for redirecting high-bandwidth traffic to WiFi, when Verizon is locking out GPS entirely is platform division at the expense of a united front against a common enemy. It’s the WinPot calling the iKettle black in a cupboard full of charred cooking ware, and it misses the main culprit: the carrier fire.

Now, while Apple has done more in it’s brief 1 1/2 years in the mobile space to break the carrier locks than Microsoft or any other megacorps have done in a decade it’s still not enough. Just imagine what could happen if Microsoft put their own, still ginormous weight behind reform. Imagine if Google, rather than taking the carrier-centric, business-as-usual Android licensing route put their “don’t be evil” mantra where their handset was? Imagine if RIM, rather than letting carriers rip WiFi from the Blackberry Storm, stood up told the carriers just where exactly they could push their odiferous demands? Imagine if Apple told AT&T to invest a little in infrastructure cause unlimited means unlimited and podcast downloads they are a coming!

Those are the rants I want to see more of, and in more places.

Go get ‘em, tigers!

PS: Particularly perplexing with the current 10MB cap on podcasts in iPhone OS 2.2 is that they only apply to direct downloads. Hitting the title, on the other hand, will begin to stream the podcast over 3G (or WiFi) without any such limitations or restrictions. What’s up with that? Anyone know if streaming traffic is any different for the 3G network than download traffic?

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iPhone OS 2.2, Turn-by-Turn GPS Navigation, Google hearts the iPhone, and more. Listen in!

Background Reading

• iPhone 2.2: App Rating and Direct Podcast Downloads?
• More iPhone 2.2 Google Goodness: Transit, Walking, Street-View, and Share Location!
• iPhone Firmware 2.2 Beta 2: Google Street-View Enabled + Line-in Audio!
• TiPb Answers: Why is There No Turn-by-Turn Navigation on the iPhone?
• Why You Shouldn’t Hold Your Breath Waiting for Realtime Turn-by-Turn Directions within Google Maps
• Friday Fun Rumor: 3D Turn-By-Turn GPS Navigation for iPhone Post 2.2?

Ultimate iPhone Accessory Pack Contest

• This week’s way to enter? Join our new Facebook Page!

Credits

Thanks to the the iPhone Blog Store for sponsoring the podcast.

Our music comes from the following sources:

• I Called You — iPhone Remix by Pete Leidy
via Sneakmove iPhone Ringtone Challenge

And special thanks to editor emeritus Mike Overbo for the killer intro!

Did you think we forgot all of you on 1st generation iPhones? Well we here at TiPb have not forgotten any of you! If you have been craving true GPS for you iPhone well here is your chance to grab it while you can.

OrangeGadgets is on the brink of releasing an add on GPS module for the iPhone, the iGPS360. This is excellent news for all of you with 1st generation iPhones… what’s the catch you ask? I’m glad you asked… you have to jailbreak your device for it to work. The reason for this is that Apple has not allowed any 3rd party access to the operating system via the dock connector. So jailbreaking is the only way.

The iGPS360 is now available to order for $75.00. For that price you will also receive a 6ft USB-A to micro USB-B cable for on-the-go or at home charging. According to their website the module begins shipping today. Keep in mind, they are only producing 1000 of these units so if you want GPS, act fast!

[Via Buymeaniphone.com]

TiPb loves answering your emails, but we also love sharing our answers with the community in hopes that more people will benefit, and even better answers will present themselves (hey, that’s why we have them forums!). Today’s question comes from Chris:

“Why doesn’t the iPhone have real GPS?! Even the [redacted] Samsung Instinct has turn by turn! Why does Apple add [redacted] like street view [but] not the things users really want?”

TiPb answers after the break!

We’ve covered iPhone GPS and turn-by-turn navigation quite a bit here at TiPb, especially Dieter who lives out in the middle of somewhere and claims he needs it quite a bit. Why wouldn’t Apple add it indeed? Should be a no-brainer, right?

Well, here’s a few things:

1. Apple doesn’t really supply the GPS middlewhere on the iPhone. They have the chip, of course, and they made the UI (Steve’s even boasted about it on stage!), but the App itself is “powered” by Google Maps. So, the functionality of the App is in some ways limited to the functionality provided by Google. For example, we’re seeing street-view, transit, and walking directions in iPhone 2.2 Beta 2. Why? Because Google has been rolling that out across smartphone platforms, starting with Android. Do any devices have Google-powered tun-by-turn yet? Not to our knowledge. And there may be a reason for that…
2. Licensing conflicts. Google doesn’t own the maps they serve. They license them from Tele Atlas and Navteq. Dieter pointed out a while back that Google’s “API only provides Tele Atlas data, it appears that it’s prohibited from serving Navteq data. As early as ‘05 there has been speculation that there was some sort of license fight between Google and Navteq and both sides decided to take their ball and go home.” This looks like a pretty complicated and potentially deal-breaking deadlock (read the whole article for more). And it’s not the only legal problem…
3. Apple’s iPhone SDK agreement currently prohibits 3rd party turn-by-turn Apps. This could be to avoid the licensing issues mentioned previously, to leave the door open for an “officially licensed” version if Apple and Google can come to an agreement with the licensors (who may not want to see a competitive convergent device like the iPhone get that functionality), or because Apple feels they’ll be sued by the first brainiac who tries to switch between turn-by-turn and SMS and back while driving into a lake.
4. Why can’t TomTom or another dedicated GPS manufacturer release an iPhone App directly, using their own Apps? After all, TomTom has already said they’ve made their system run on the iPhone. The App Store has a reported 2GB size limit, so there’s likely space enough for a robust install. Despite the SDK licensing restrictions, however, would a company like TomTom feel iPhone App sales would make up for the loss of dedicated hardware unit sales they’d face? There have been stories about the dedicated GPS players fearing the iPhone (and other convergence devices) would put them out of business. Let’s remember when Popular Mechanics asked the president of a GPS navigation system manufacturer how he felt about the prospect of a GPS-enabled iPhone, the president said he was: “Scared [expletive]-less“.
5. Could all of the above issues be at play? Apple’s head of iPhone Marketing, Greg “Joz” Joswiak, previously said: “there are some murky “complicated issues” preventing driving directions apps at the moment. ‘It will evolve. I think our developers will amaze us.’ “

Huge rumor. No corroboration. Not journalism. Posting this from a first time, antonymous tipster and if it doesn’t pan out… well… I’ll be boiled in clam chowder eventually anyway… But it’s Friday and this is FUN. Of course, Dieter already told us about the complicated legal quagmire surrounding turn-by-turn GPS, but dagnabit, we wants it!

Apple has begun quietly demonstrating an internally developed iPhone GPS Navigator program that includes turn-by-turn, 3d views etc. Visually, it is very similar to Tom-Tom, but with the expected Apple eye candy. They were sketchy about the details, but it seem that this will not be part of the core software (I.E. they intend to charge for it). It was also unclear whether they were using cellular-based data to share traffic information, but some of the screens seemed to indicate that it would.

Our nameless could be friend — might be prankster — says this will be released after 2.2, but in time for the holidays.

Are we getting played? Or is this happening? Again — not news, not reliable leakage, but pure rumormongering at its most unsubstantiated. Take it for what that’s worth.

Could all the rumors — and even Kevin Rose — have been right? Will we see a longer, widescreen iPod Nano that brings the candy-bar shape back? MacRumors rounds up some “leaked” “case designs” that suggest maybe they are — or merely that even the Chinese read Kevin Rose’s blog? Roughly Drafted, on the other hand points out that a new aspect ration for the screen might cause problems for existing iPod formatted videos and games.

Wilder still is the rumor that the next generation iPod Touch might just beef up its LocationServices with… GPS. Lacking the cell radio of the iPhone, it probably wouldn’t be aGPS (which uses the cell towers to pre-crunch, and thus really speed up, GPS location discovery), but it would certainly supercharge the current, WiFi only offering.

So, will we be seeing tall-boy Nano’s and GPS Touches? And more importantly, will they finally feature Phasers?! September cometh!

Running out of things to say about the ongoing (and ongoing, and ongoing, and ongoing) TomTom and general turn-by-turn GPS on the iPhone saga?

Lucky for us, MSNBC’s Suzanne Choney (via MacDailyNews) found out the big industry players certainly aren’t.

Says TomTom:

“We have made our navigation system run on the iPhone; it looks good and works very well. We will have to look more closely to Apple’s strategy before we can say more about what kind of opportunities this will bring us.”

Says Garmin:

“We’re always looking at new phone platforms to expand into for Garmin Mobile, but we don’t have any announcements regarding the iPhone at this time.”

Says Magellan:

“[We do] not have immediate plans for this, but we are looking into it.”

Wow, could Garmin and Magellan sound any less enthusiastic? Sure, they have to play their cards close to their vest (though TomTom is obviously faster and looser in that regard), but how about a little hype-jacking?

No matter. Smart money says we should see turn-by-turn soon-ish. However, given how 3G network connectivity, MobileMe, and some other functionality has rolled out (never mind cut and paste!), turn-by-turn is something that Apple (or TomTom, or whomever provides it), really can’t afford to get wrong. 2.1 has already dropped push notification, so if turn-by-turn was even on the list, chances are it’s been bumped down again. No matter how “complicated” it may be, they have to nail it from launch, or people will be more than just inconvenienced.

That is, depending on how badly we still want turn-by-turn GPS? Dieter is all over it, of course, but how high is it on your iPhone firmware fix wish list?

Thanks to CoreLocation in the iPhone SDK, Apps can make use of WiFi, Cell, and A-GPS (for the iPhone 3G) information to keep track of where you are. Your Twitter feed can be tagged with your current location, or can show you just those contacts in a certain vicinity. A movie app can automatically fetch show times for all the theaters in a certain radius. A to-do app can pop up location-based (rather than just time-based) alerts, reminding you to help your mom change a lightbulb next time you’re there, or ping you when you pass the electronics store so you remember to pick up that cable you need.

Convenient? You bet. Powerful? A game changer. Invasive? Er… Could certainly be.

What if you don’t always want whereabouts broadcast, if you don’t want everyone to know (or potentially be able to find out) where you are, when you’re out shopping, where that picture of your child was taken?

Read on to find out how apps ask for permission to use your location, how you can change your mind and make them ask you again, or how you can turn off location services completely.

Apple enforces a policy that requires apps to pop up a requester asking your permission several times before defaulting to location aware status. In my tests, every newly downloaded app will ask for permission until it’s agreed to twice. So, if you say “Okay” twice in a row, it will stop asking and begin using your location. However — and unfortunately — the same doesn’t hold true for “Don’t Allow”. Using Apple’s Camera and App Store apps, I said “Don’t Allow” ten times in a row and it kept asking. Then said “Okay”, “Don’t Allow”, and “Okay” again, and on the second “Okay” it stopped asking.

While Apple should, of course, allow users to just as easily default to a non-location aware state through some combination of repeated denials over time, they have baked in a couple of options for the privacy and security minded of us.

To disable Location Services completely, tap Settings, tap General, and then slide the Location Services switch to the “off” position. (You can always turn them back on when/if you want to use them later.)

To force apps to ask your permission again before using your location, scroll to the bottom of the General Settings, tap Reset, then tap Reset Location Settings. Next time you fire up Camera, Maps, or Apps like Twitterrific, Showtime, etc. they’ll ask you again if they can use your current location, and you can agree or decline on a per-App basis.

And voila: control restored!

Greg “Joz” Joswiak, Apple’s head of iPod and iPhone marketing shed some light on the iPhone 3G/2.0 and some of its highly requested, yet still missing functionality, like where’s our ability to select text, cut it or copy it, and paste it?

Apple has a priority list of features, and they got as far as they could down that list with this model

Why isn’t there a constant yet ever-so-slightly-disappointed voice telling us we missed our last ten exists and threatening to “re-calculate”?

[T]here are some murky “complicated issues” preventing driving directions apps at the moment. “It will evolve. I think our developers will amaze us.”

Like TomTom?

With regards to David Pogue’s claim that Apple said the iPhone 3G GPS antenna was too small for turn-by-turn?

Find his answer after the jump!

That’s wrong; the iPhone’s GPS is just like the GPS in other phones, many of which do provide driving directions

We can view Microsoft Office and Apple iWork docs in iPhone 2.0, why can’t we edit or create them?

[T]here might be issues with applications each having their own file space. “There’s no cross-application file structure.”

TiPB is still waiting on DocsToGo as well. What about unspecified technical issues?

[D]idn’t know of any such hold-ups.

Does that mean there aren’t any, there are but they remain unknown, or that the ones he knows off are all very specified?

Time, and future 2.x firmware updated will hopefully tell.

We’ll be bringing your our iPhone 3G review in two parts.  Part one (the part you’re reading now) is where we’ll give you a full, in-depth review of the new iPhone 3G Hardware.  Here you’ll find details on GPS, 3G speeds, the feel of the actual physical device, etc. If you’re on the fence as to whether or not you should upgrade to the iPhone 3G, we’re here to help and here’s where we are, uh, helping.

Part two will focus on iPhone 2.0 software, where a lot of the real magic this week is happening and it’s available on both versions of the iPhone.  That review is coming soon, for now, let’s take a look at the iPhone 3G hardware with (much) more depth than we gave you in our iPhone 3G unboxing video and picture gallery

Look and Feel

The 3G’s most significant change from the 2G is that the back of the phone has been switched from a flat piece of aluminum combined with a plastic bottom to an all-plastic bottom. It comes in white and black. All of this is nothing new to you, likely. What you might not know is that the plastic is, for lack of a better term, high-grade. It’s very hard, it almost feels more scratch-resistant than the original’s aluminum back (though this surely isn’t the case).

While I was initially worried that the plastic back would feel cheaper than the aluminum, that fear turned out to be unfounded. The plastic back may look a little less professional, perhaps, but I view it as a lateral move instead of a downward one. The added benefit of improved reception and GPS (more below) more than makes up for it.

Otherwise, the basic shape of the iPhone 3G is, well, darn near identical to the original iPhone (henceforth “the iPhone 2G” or just “original.”). You’re looking at a thin slab whose front is dominated by a large, 320×480 screen with a home button on the bottom and a speaker on the top. Compared to the original, the 3G’s only major difference on the front is that it’s slightly wider and therefore has a black ‘edge’ on the left and right sides of the screen. I’m not a fan, but what can ya do?

The iPhone 3G is also ever-so-slightly taller and thicker than the 2G. The net effect ought to be that the iPhone 3G feels much larger than the 2G, but actually that’s not the case at all. The reason is that the back of the iPhone is curved — it’s actually thinner at the edges than the original. The iPhone 3G feels as good in the hand as the original, if not better. There’s a warmth to the plastic that’s not there in the aluminum.

Rounding out the look and feel, what few buttons the iPhone 3G has are now metal and look and feel pretty darn good to me. More subtly, the grille on the earpiece speaker (and also on the speakers on the the bottom) is now also metal and looks good. Those speakerholes on the bottom are now just two holes (one for Mic, one for speaker) flanking two screws.

Overall the iPhone 3G makes up for that plastic backing and increased size through, you guessed it, sheer design. Larger footprint? Sure, but the curved back helps. Plastic? Sure, but it’s tough as nails. You get the picture. After a couple days with it, I prefer the look and feel iPhone 3G to the original.

Reception and Data

Call reception for me is heads and shoulders above the original iPhone. Calls are much clearer on 3G than they were on Edge, due to 3G’s improved infrastructure, but I’m also getting more signal even in Edge-only areas. I’d say that my signal is usually about 20% better (seriously!) with the iPhone 3G compared to the original iPhone.

I live in an Edge-only area (boo!), but the improved reception does make a difference for me, just a bit. I was also able to check 3G when I first got the iPhone. I myself had mixed results, averaging around 400kbps. It appears from reports I’m reading that my experience might be on the low end of people’s 3G experiences.

Sound and Call Quality

You’ve probably heard that the speaker on the bottom of the iPhone has improved sound. You heard correctly — it’s louder and has less distortion My only gripe is that it’s easier to muffle the sound when you’re holding the iPhone 3G sideways to watch a movie. The single speaker-hole is much easier to cover up than the original’s. This happens especially when I’m ‘cupping’ the phone to try to get some extra sound bouncing off my palm (admit it, you’ve tried it too). Still, a tiny quibble against the vast advantage of having a louder, better speaker.

In the category of sound — the headphone jack is now flush instead of recessed. Joy. There’s a small metal ring around the rim to bolster the strength of the jack, the idea probably being that when your headphone jack puts pressure by being tugged in this direction or that the stress gets transferred to the stronger casing instead of the weaker soldier points. The bottom line is that not only do we get to use our own favorite headphones, we can feel relatively comfortable that we won’t be busting up the headphone jack by doing that.

GPS

The GPS on the iPhone 3G picks up satellites like nobody’s business. Inside, where other smartphones I have don’t have a prayer of catching the signal from the skies, the iPhone has nary a problem. I also like how Google Maps bounces the location indicator until it’s finished trying to figure out where you are. It’s a subtle indication that nevertheless gets the job done very intuitively without pestering you with how many satellites you’re picking up (though, honestly, it would be nice to know.

I’ll admit, though, that I’m getting tired to telling applications that it’s ok to know where I am.

The only thing I could wish for is that Google Maps would also indicate direction once it’s able to guess. That and turn-by-turn directions, of course, which we’re still hoping for.

Screen (that ‘Yellow’ Issue)

Yes, my iPhone 3G is ‘yellower’ than my iPhone 2G, though it also looks slightly brighter, too. I don’t mind the change too much, but there it is, it’s there. As Rene noted over the weekend, I might be able to mediate that a bit by upgrading firmware. The bottom line is that Apple made a decision to make the screen look a bit warmer. It might not look that great on the blue-gray parts of the interface, but my whites sure do look whiter and contrast overall ‘feels’ better between white and black now too.

I’ll take that, improved readability is always welcome on these aging eyes.

Speed and Responsiveness

Alright, I can’t exactly blame this on the iPhone 3G because it also appears to be the case on the 2.0 update on the 2G, but I have to bring it up. The iPhone 3G feels like it’s a little slow in the interface, more so than the original. It’s not enough to make me chuck the thing against the wall, but it is noticable — especially in the contacts app.

The contacts app (and the phone generally) should be holy ground. It must never crash, ever ever (it hasn’t on the official ROM on me) and it must be speedy. People generally go into the contacts app because, well, they want to contact somebody, and so speed is key. I can see why Apple didn’t include contact search on the original iPhone ROM — because it’s sinfully slow.

There’s another, separate and larger issue here of our overall experience of the iPhone being degraded somewhat by buggy 3rd party apps. It’s happening to me just a bit, but we’re still very early in this brave new iPhone 2.0 world so I’ll give those apps a pass …for now.

On the other hand, when I open the contacts app, it should not take nearly 3 seconds for my 877 contacts. There shouldn’t be a delay between my pressing a key on the keyboard and the visual indicator popping up of nearly a second. Unacceptable. Bad Bad Bad. Apple – there’s still not an insanely great way to quickly search my contacts like I can on every other QWERTY smartphone: just start typing. The closest I’ve come is the Google 3rd party app, but it’s unnecessarily slow because it’s also searching the web.

Ok, rant off.

Battery Life

Er.. Rant back on. It’s still very early, of course, but over the weekend my iPhone 3G did not handle itself very well whilst in 3G range. I got a movie, a half hour of talking, probably a half hour of games, and maybe a half hour of web surfing. Yes — add all that up and you’re looking at just over 4 hours plus standby, so perhaps I was within range. Still, it felt like a far cry from the nigh-invincible battery on the iPhone 2G.

Add on the fact that Apple changed their dock connector to cease supporting power adapters that previous worked (the ones that charged via the firewire pin), and I ended up having a dead phone for my drive home from the airport Saturday night.

Things may get better as the battery gets ‘broken in’ a bit — or as I use the iPhone under normal circumstances and not “ZOMG NEW IPHONE” circumstances. In the meantime, I’m watching my battery life closely and that extra attention pains me a bit.

Conclusion: Should you Upgrade?

Well, should you upgrade? The best features of the iPhone 3G are also available on the iPhone 2G, namely, the iPhone 2.0 software upgrade. A full review of that is coming up.

Meanwhile — it comes down to two questions:

1. How important is GPS to you? If it’s above, say 40% important, I’d say upgrade.
2. How important is 3G to you? I’d say that there’s a much higher threshold for this. Yes, 3G is 2 to 3 times faster than Edge in my testing, but the tradeoff appears to be battery life. You really have to want it, call it a desire above 75%.

If your number is higher than either of the above, get thee to an Apple store. Actually, I don’t know why exactly I’m quoting percentages here, I guess it’s because the answer to “should you upgrade” isn’t a clear “yes” based on the hardware improvements. Stylistically, it’s a lateral move from one look-and-feel to another. Not better or worse, just different. Spec-wise, if you can get by without GPS and 3G, there’s no need to upgrade.

For me, my GPS need percentage hovers around 90%, so the upgrade was a necessity. In the end, that’s the best review I can give the hardware: for me, it’s better, despite my battery fears.

This is it. We’re in the home stretch. Third period power play, clock’s all but run out, and Steve Jobs is cranking back for the slap shot. In 5 days we find out if Apple scores the go-ahead goal, the two-peat for smartphone (even gadget) of the year, or if they bounce it off the goal post with their mostly evolutionary, not so much revolutionary, next generation handset.

Yesterday we mentioned one big change: the fast 3G data chip. The other big change? GPS. (Global Positioning System).

What is this and why should it matter to you? Read on after the break!

The original iPhone (now dubbed iPhone 2G) launched without any location aware services. While it might or might not have known where it was, it didn’t share that information with you. When firmware 1.1.3 was released, however, that all changed.

Using Google’s cell tower mapping (where Google is recording the GPS positions of cell phone towers — AT&T, Verizon, Bell, etc. in North America and increasingly around the world), and Skyhook’s WiFi router mapping (where Skyhook drove down your street and wrote down the position and unique ID of your wireless router), this let the Google Maps app in the iPhone 2G kinda-sorta get a fuzzy idea of where it was. Drawbacks? It was about as precise as a few city blocks, and if for example, you were in New York but the closest router had just been shipped there from LA, you’d just as likely show up as being in the router’s last-recorded location, LA. In other words it ranged from good enough to potentially equal parts comical or disastrous. Also, since transmitting the map graphics required an EDGE connection, it wasn’t exactly speedy.

With the iPhone 3G, location becomes as precise as a few feet. Using an array of some three dozen satellites constantly beaming their signals down to us, the iPhone 3G trilaterates (i.e. figures out) exactly where we are based on which satellite’s signals it receives and the distance of each of those signals. (Typically four or more signals are required, as unlike triangulation, it needs to calculate the timing of the signals as well). Geeky much? There’s more.

GPS isn’t all roses. It can often take considerable time and can burn a lot of power. It’s another radio to leave running, and depending on signal strength, it can take minutes — sometimes a lot of them — to acquire satellites. Then its got to spend more time and power to crunch all the numbers.

To help compensate for this, the iPhone 3G uses aGPS (assisted GPS). With aGPS, cell phone towers handle acquiring the satellite signals and pre-crunch down the location information. Since cell phone towers, unlike tiny handsets, can host very large radios and much more computational power, they can receive more and better signals and they can keep track of location much faster. This means, when your iPhone 3G GPS goes active, a lot of the heavy lifting has already been done by the nearby cell towers, and it can just fetch the data and do the final, specific to its own location, calculations. This consumes less power and requires much less overhead than the iPhone 3G having to do all the work itself.

Speaking of consuming less power, the iPhone (and Apps via the SDK), is also able to leverage all three of its location-based technologies in an elegant, escalating manner, using only what it needs and only when it needs it. If you only require location within a few blocks, cell and wifi are enough and there’s no need to waste power spinning up the GPS. Need something spot on? GPS is there, passed on the information, and then powers down again when it’s no longer needed.

Another drawback? So far, no turn-by-turn audible driving directions, but that may change.

Not everyone will need full aGPS. For some, the less they know about where they are, the better. But if you want to know exactly where you are, the iPhone 3G’s aGPS will definitely appeal to you.

I know I want it. What about you?

The status of the TomTom GPS app may still be up in the air, but we’ll still have Google Maps for turn-by-turn directions (albeit not in 3D and without voice prompts). Looks like we may to have another option, too, an AT&T-Branded “gps enabled application.” So says an AT&T insider who adds that in addition to the GPS app, AT&T is also developing a “yellowpages.com mobile” app as well.

Good news? We hope so — because our fear is that the Apple SDK user agreement prohibiting developers from creating turn-by-turn apps means that this AT&T GPS app will be our only option, an option that could potentially include a monthly fee — our worst fear.

As though the increased monthly fees on the iPhone 3G weren’t bad enough already. Say it ain’t so, AT&T!

Hoo doggy. First we thought that we were definitely getting TomTom for the iPhone, giving us 3D, realtime navigation. Then we heard that the iPhone SDK explicitly prohibits just that sort of application. We weren’t worried, though, because TomTom told us we’d get it and we, you know, trusted them.

Whoops.

Turns out TomTom was, like many a GPS manufacturer, “Scared [expletive]-less” by the thought that the new iPhone would have 3G, so when a Reuters reporter asked them about it, they said “sure, we’ll make some software for it. It’ll be grand.” So writes Joel Johnson of BoingBoing Gadgets, adding that an anonymous source within TomTom let them know that there’s no internal development yet and no prototypes either.

Bummer? Bummer. Here’s our worst fear: that line in the SDK agreement is there specifically so that only one company can create turn-by-turn 3D GPS navigation: TeleNav. TeleNav is nice and all, but it costs somewhere in the neighborhood of $10 a month and they have agreements with AT&T that lock down the GPS on many handsets (we’re looking at you, Verizon BlackBerry!) so they can only access the GPS via TeleNav. We at least know that the GPS works in Google Maps, but will Apple really prohibit other companies from using it to make full GPS apps? Are they jonesing for some kickbacks revenue sharing now that they’re not getting that from AT&T anymore?

Well now, we told you that TomTom is bringing full-on, real GPS driving to the iPhone, but apparently they’re going to be the exception that makes the rule. Engadget has dug into the developer agreement for the iPhone SDK and came across this little nugget related to what developers can and cannot do with the Location services:

Applications may not be designed or marketed for real time route guidance; automatic or autonomous control of vehicles or aircraft, or other mechanical devices; dispatch or fleet management; or emergency or life-saving purposes.

…While we’re (reticently) on board with the requirement that you can’t make an app that will drive your car for you, the rest seems pretty egregious. No control of ‘mechanical devices?’ Sounds like that sweet iPhone-driven Lego Robot is verboten. No ‘fleet management?’ Sorry UPS, no iPhone for you. The big one, of course, is no ‘route guidance.’ Pish posh, we say, TomTom said they’re coming and we’re guessing they weren’t lying. We have previously said here we were slightly worried that Apple would be overly-stringent about what apps they would let into the App Store — here’s to hoping that rules like these don’t get strictly enforced.

Ready for developers to take advantage of the new features in the iPhone 3G, namely GPS? Well don’t worry, TomTom, makers of popular GPS units and GPS software, has already developed navigation software for the iPhone 3G. A TomTom spokesperson was quoted as saying,

“Navigation System runs on the iPhone already”

Read

Monday we asked you “What’s the iPhone 3G Chip and When Will it Ship?“. Tuesday it was “What is the iPhone 3G Going to Look Like?“. Wednesday brought “What Surprises Will There Be in the iPhone 2.0 Software & Services?”. Thursday questioned “What 3rd Party iPhone SDK Apps Will Be Available Launch Day?” Today we want to know what else the iPhone 3G will feature, both now and into the future?

GPS is the biggie (right after 3G!). What about a front-facing camera? VGA screen? Stereo Bluetooth? Wireless N? Full-sized querty keyboard? … (Ha!) What do YOU think?

To give you some help, here’s a HUGE roundup of all the iPhone SDK 3rd party apps rumors. Epic-style. Because let’s face it, roughly 0.01 seconds after Steve Jobs pulled the first iPhone from his pocket back at Macworld 2007, and someone, somewhere, put aside their childlike sense of wonder long enough think: “Nice! What’s the next gen going to be like?”

Complementary, contradictory, obvious, confusing, all but confirmed or from left field via outer space, the rumors have flooded the internet ever since. It’s become almost impossible to keep track of them all.

Three days from today Steve Jobs takes Moscone Center stage for the sold-out WWDC keynote, and according to everyone and their newsfeed, announces the iPhone 3G. In eager anticipation, every day this week, TiPb wil be asking you to tell us what you think the next generation iPhone will be, from 3G to GPS, release dates to price points, colors to casings, 2.0 software to .Mac .Me services, and this weekend we’ll wrap it all up with a look into the WWDC/iPhone 3G Crystal Ball, and a roundup of the very best of YOUR predictions.

So come on, let’s get in on!

WWDC -3 and Counting: Hardware Features

As we mentioned before for purely cosmetic reasons, the first generation iPhone boasts a 3.5″ 320×480 display at 163dpi, a rear-facing 2.0 megapixel camera, 3.5mm recessed headphone minijack, 30-pin dock connector, speakers at the top and base, microphone at the base, accelerometer, light sensor, proximity sensor, top-mounted SIM slot, on/off button, mute switch, volume button, and home button. It’s also packing internals like quad-band GSM (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz), Wi-Fi (802.11b/g), EDGE data, and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR.

But that’s all soooo 2007 now, isn’t it? What will Apple bring to the table for 2008? How will they not only surpass their own previous efforts, but tackle the plethora of feature-spouting iPhone-like devices their competition has been releasing as of late?

Let’s start at the beginning and work our way forward:

March 4, 2008: RBC Capital analyst Mike Abramsky predicted an iPhone 3G with higher def (HD?) video, voice capture, streaming HD video, and real-time GPS.

March 25, 2008: Digg founder Kevin Rose used his popular Diggnation internet video show to claim that the iPhone 3G would sport 2 cameras: one on back like the current version, and another on the front expressly for iChat video conferencing. Rose, however, had been spectacularly wrong with his predictions about the first generation iPhone…

March 27, 2008: Kevin Rose was back, back again, this time on Twitter where he claimed a source close to Apple told him the iPhone 3G would be released in June with GPS. Although not at the time, this one looked more and more credible as WWDC approached…

March 31, 2008: While claiming they would’a had’a need’a time machine to have emulated the iPhone’s design, RIM’s latest release, the Blackberry 9000 Bold, did raise the bar on some specs. According to Crackberry.com, who scored the first pre-release hands-on, it included UMTS: 2100 / 1900 / 850MHz, GSM: 1900 / 1800 / 900 / 850 MHz, GPRS, EDGE and HDSPA networks, GPS, and Bluetooth Stereo Audio.

For a company that makes its dough on email, offering BT stereo before media giant Apple was clearly a backatcha-for-ActiveSync challenge. And while Steve Jobs is notorious for not offering technology that doesn’t (yet?) meet his perfectionistic standards, will the iPhone be able to avoid A2DP any longer?

April 2, 2008: With an eventual — and unbelievable — $100,000,000 in advertising behind it, Sprint aimed (both in terms of design and market!) Samsung’s Instinct squarely at the iPhone, with some challenging specs like EVDO Rev A speed, GPS, Stereo Bluetooth, and mobile TV.

April 8, 2008: In one of the most obvious iPhone derived competitive offerings to date, Nokia promised the world the “Tube”. While feature specs were not discussed, Nokia already shipped smartphones like the N95 with whopping big 5.0 megapixel Carl Zeiss-lensed cameras, the ability to shoot near DVD-quality video, and vblogger-pleasing compatibility with mobile streaming video capture services.

Can Apple, which owns everything from Final Cut and Aperture to iMovie and iPhoto, afford to fall behind in the mobile production space? And if not, how far will they be willing to bump their own 2.0mp, non-video capturing camera?

April 10, 2008: iPhoneBuzz reported that they found strings in the iPhone 2.0 beta that revealed support for A2DP stereo Bluetooth, Bluetooth remote control, GPS (though not whether it was internal or via Bluetooth to dongle), and something to do with printers. If true, it was a gold mine of discoveries.

April 25, 2008: Engadget claimed a source with hands-on info that the iPhone 3G would include GPS, and a flush headset jack.

May 7, 2008: The iPhone turned out to be the most popular camera phone on Flickr, despite its relatively poor 2.0 megapixel implementation. Imagine what it could do with a lens bump and a better software set?

May 9, 2008: In what might have been one of the most feature-packed competitors to square off against the iPhone, HTC announced their Touch Diamond, which according to WMExperts came spec’d out with an ultra-sharp 2.8″, 640×480 VGA screen, tri-band (aka non-US friendly) HSPA 3G data, A-GPS, a 3.2 megapixel camera, and FM radio.

The iPod Nano already had a 202dpi screen, but would Apple go that high-end with the iPhone 3G?

May 14, 2008: Swisscome announced they would be selling the iPhone in Switzerland, and rumor had it it would feature video iChat, mobile TV, and GPS.

May 22, 2008: Gizmodo revealed that Apple had job postings up for both a camera engineer:

[W]ith responsibilities for evaluation, qualification, implementation and tuning of camera subsystems in iPhone products.

And an RF engineer:

Familiar with RF fundamentals and RF test equipments (spectrum analyzer, network analyzer, signal generator), hands on for wireless system validation automation. Familiar with PC and network architecture. [...] Design and qualification expertise with IEEE 802.11 [...] Knowledge about Bluetooth, 3G, UWB, WiMAX, GPS, Mobile TV and similar wireless technologies and/or experience with wireless module integration into PC system or consumer products is a strong plus. The system integration issues include: radio coexistence, platform noise, module and system power consumption.

Et tu, WiMAX?

At the same time, Apple Insider broke word on a “private” firmware update for “select developers” that included Geo-Tagging software, which often depends on GPS to add location data to photographs.

May 28, 2008: While still in beta, Google demonstrated their much-anticipated Android OS on an HTC Dream. iPhone inspired, Google advances the multi-touch UI and sensor interactions in many ways Apple will have to not only match, but surpass. And as everyone knows (and Microsoft has often used to their advantage), its almost impossible to market a shipping product against a vaporous competitor.

May 30, 2008: Apple Insider revealed a patent filing that could allow an iPhone with GPS and an accelerometer to predict when signal loss would occur and alert both the user, and anyone the user was communicating with at the time, with distance and speed specific cues.

In a separate filing, Apple detailed how improved Bluetooth functionality could allow the iPhone to help find other BT enabled devices, or even everyday BT tagged items such as your keys. (Not that it’s unwanted, but how about some BT stereo and peripheral — keyboard — support?)

June 1, 2008: Battle of the biggie blogs as Om Malik of GigaOm said GPS was a go:

[T]here is one thing that’s for sure: The new iPhone has Global Positioning System (GPS) built into it, thanks to legal requirements put in place by the FCC.

And Brian Lam of Gizmodo responded with a thanks but…:

No thanks. Don’t need it. I’m fine with the current location technology. It works for walking and that’s all I need it for.

June 3, 2008: Samsung’s SGH-i900 is detailed by WMExperts. Modeled after the iPhone but sporting an FM Radio. While very last century, it is a feature last centurions still request…

Your Turn!

So there you go, now it’s your turn. Tell us what features you think the iPhone 3G will pack. FM Radio? HD Video? Better Bluetooth support? Espresso brewer?!

And after you’re done telling us, don’t forget to head over to our iPhone Blog’s super Wait-a-Thon spectacular where you could win an iPhone 3G of your very own, whatever it looks like, on the very day it’s released!

Go back and read Part 1: What’s the iPhone’s 3G Chip and When Will it Ship?
Go back and read Part 2: What’s the iPhone 3G Going to Look Like?
Go back and read Part 3: What Surprises Will Be in iPhone 2.0 Software & Services?
Go back and read Part 4: What 3rd Party iPhone SDK Apps Will Be Available Launch Day?

Om Malik says GPS on the iPhone is locked and loaded:

[T]here is one thing that’s for sure: The new iPhone has Global Positioning System (GPS) built into it, thanks to legal requirements put in place by the FCC.

The GigaOmster further says that new-to-the-space-space Broadcom has nailed the contract, which is great for them but panic-inducing for the stand-alone GPS market. (We know Google sees positively HUGE maps usage from the GPS-less iPhone already, so that makes the kind of sense that does.)

But Brian Lam of Gizmodo thinks the whole GPS on the iPhone thing is pretty poorly thought out:

No thanks. Don’t need it. I’m fine with the current location technology. It works for walking and that’s all I need it for.

Lam’s reasons? Current cell and WiFi location services are much quicker than GPS, they better suit walking and the iPhone is less useful while driving anyway, GPS kills battery life dead, and GPS chips would significantly fatten up the iPhone.

Personally, both 3G and GPS are still bleeding edge tech when it comes to realistic day-to-day usage in everywhere, USA when not hooked up to a generator, so while nice to have as an option, and fetishized by the tech media and the blogphere commentorati, neither will have the impact on my life that the 2.0 software update likely will. It just ain’t mainstream enough for me to be melodramatic about yet.

What do you think?

[More on the Broadcom GPS story, with thanks to reader southerntraveltourism]

One of the hottest and most persistent rumors for the next generation iPhone is GPS, either built in or via BlueTooth hardware module (the former favored by techies, the latter by battery-lifers). One of the most constant and most rewarding (at least sometimes…) factors of the 2.0 firmware beta is developers raking through the code to find every new string and buried screen setting.

Put them together and what do we get? According to some “private” updates delivered to “select developers” (check out the screen shots), we get Geo Tagging!

For the non-world traveling cameraphiles among us, Geo Tagging involves adding location-specific metadata to your photographs. For example, snap a pic of the Eiffel Tower, and the camera records not only time, date, camera, lens, etc. but the longitude and latitude of precisely where you were standing when you decided to take the 297 billionth shot of that ginormous mechano cliche…

Why’s that important? Well, it saves you the effort of manually recording where you were when you took each and every snapshot, it allows social services like Flickr to search and sort images based on location information, and it enables freaky-cool next gen image manipulation and compositing technologies like Microsoft’s Photosynth to positively blow our minds.

Now, reports don’t actually indicate anything about GPS, only location-based services (like the current gen’s Google cell tower mapping and Skyhook Wi-Fi router mapping), but these can sometimes only narrow location down to an area roughly the size of a town — not always very useful. For real Geo Tagging, GPS (which gets down to under 20 feet) seems a must.

Of course, this also rather nicely dangles the question of what type of camera will the iPhone 3G sport? 2 megapixels like before? 3? 5?

Apple is hiring photo techs, after all…

What do you think?

Read

Joking that the iPhone Risk map was getting a little crowded up in Europe… turns out not to be a joke anymore:

Swisscom on Wednesday confirmed it will begin selling Apple’s iPhone in Switzerland this year, possibly bolstering a recent report on the matter which also stated that the handset would arrive with video conferencing and other fresh features.

What fresh new features? As if borrowing from Kevin Rose’s twitter feed, GPS, bi-direction video iChat Mobile, and mobile TV.

Checking the score board:

Personally, I’m not sold on 2-way iChat yet, or Mobile TV unless Apple can break it out of the carrier-controlled sandbox in which it now languishes. This is a little too close to rumor-regurgitation for now. GPS, on the other hand, seems likely.

What do you think?

Read

Chad brought us a look at the rumored back-in-black iPhone 3G a while ago, and now Engadget claims to have some confirmation!

So we’ve got it on authority that the second-gen iPhone is already well into testing, and numerous units are floating around in super secret pockets. A trusted source got a chance to check one out.

According to Engadget’s source, the iPhone 3G is roughly the same size and shape, has GPS for realz, the glossy black backing we see in the pic, chromed up volume buttons, no removable battery (‘natch), flush(!) headphone jack, same screens size and resolution (what? where’s my Nano-res 200dpi 640×480?!)

July is rumored, but who outside the jobspod knows for sure?

“Phone different, real posts no gimmicks”

[With apologies to Eminem and - ahem - our readers.]

Rumor’s back. Back again. iPhone packed. Tell your friends.
From VP. Close to APPL. Kevin tweets. He’s top lvl.
3G soon. GPS spin. Here by June. FTW!
Kevin’s back. Back again. {interweb hums}

For those of you who aren’t up on either your Eminem or your Twitter, the story here is Kevin Rose posted up another teaser, this time on Twitter, that he has the inside line on the 3G iPhone with the above specs. He’s playing with us, right?

Right?

I was working with the firmware to try to read the signal strength from many towers for the GPS project. But this would require extensive modifications to the firmware.

The tense of his first sentence says it all: was.

Next up for George Hotz aka Geohot: Tower Triangulation. Tower triangulation is where you’re able to determine a rough position by comparing the various signal strengths of surrounding cellular towers.

“I believe the towers are public record and you can use an AT command to get signal strengh.”

It’s not as accurate as GPS, by any means, but I’d rhetorically kill for a function on Maps.app where I could search for gas “close to here,” for example. Also next up for Geohot: college at RIT.

Gruber wrote in a previous article discussing the third iPhone ad:

“The Maps app somehow knows where we are: my guess is that it’s like the Mac OS X Weather widget, with a preference setting for a default zip code. (Keep dreaming if you think Apple has secretly added GPS behind the FCC’s back.)”

He’s absolutely right about GPS and the FCC — Apple would have to re-certify the device via the FCC if they wanted to add GPS functionality to the iPhone, and we would find out about that when the FCC published their results.

My hope is that Apple made the Google Maps app GPS-capable, so I could use my bluetooth GPS device for mapping when I traveled. I don’t have it with me unless I’m in the car, though. So if the GSM localization rumor is true, well that’s just an added bonus.

I love Google Maps, I use it on my computer, in a browser. But when we were doing the iPhone, we thought “wouldn’t it be great to have maps on the iPhone.” So we called up Google and they had done a few client apps in Java on some phones, they had an API that we worked with them a little on, and we ended up writing a client app for those APIs, and they would provide the backend service. And the app we were able to write, since we’re pretty reasonable at writing apps, blows away any Google Maps client, just blows it away. Same set of data coming off the server, but the experience you have using it is unbelievable, way better than a computer. Just in a different league than what they’ve used in a client…

[via]