Tag: GPS

Turn by Turn Navigation and Real Time Traffic comes to iPhone with New Maps App!

by Shy Mukerjee

Apple Maps for iOS6

While Google Maps has provided GPS-esque turn-by-turn navigation on Android for free for quite some time, iPhone users have been left in the dark. But with iOS 6, the latest version of Apple’s mobile operating system, Google is being kicked out of the Maps app, and Apple is taking over with their own technology that provides many of the features iPhone users have been clamoring for, including navigation.

But that’s not all! Real-time traffic analysis and crowd-sourced traffic data comes into play as well. This means that not only can you get ultra-reliable traffic data built into your navigation, but the app can automatically calculate faster routes based on actual and up-to-the-minute traffic conditions and ask you if you’d like to take a different route. It even automatically calculates how much time you’d save!

The final feature of the upgraded maps shows you 3D views of major cities in stunning detail. While this doesn’t have a business purpose I can think of, I can’t wait to play around with these new maps :)

Apple Maps for iOS6 3D Screenshot

 

VIDEO: Looking to spy on your friends, family, or babysitters? Check out the latest in spy tech!

by Mario Armstrong

With Stuart Chaifetz in the news this week after wiring his autistic son Akian with recording equipment and capturing some truly horrible emotional abuse hurled at Akian by educators, it’s time to look at the various tech that’s out there in the spy tech world.

Bullying is an epidemic in this country, but lately it’s getting a lot of media attention. Parents looking for ways to confront it have no doubt found a lot of comfort in seeing Mr. Chaifetz’s success.

But recording audio is just one part of the picture. Worried about your daughter getting lost while on hiking in a national park or when she’s on a field trip at school? Slip a GPS tracker from Brick House Security into her backpack and keep track of her location remotely. Need to keep on eye on a nanny? Slip a covert alarm clock into a bedroom and record video and audio without suspicion.

I give a bunch of other tips, including info about keyloggers and how mobile devices like Smartphones can be used as spy devices, so be sure to check the CNN video above.

iPhone Hotspot gives Wifi-only iPad 2 GPS Capabilities

by BrothaTech

I had the opportunity to visit the special Apple pop-up store that ONLY sold the iPad 2 and accessories down in Austin Texas this past weekend during SXSWi 2011. The line wasn’t bad and there was ample stock, so being the early adopter that I am, I picked up a black 16GB wifi-only iPad 2.

Features-wise, this was a downgrade for me because I currently own (and plan to sell) a 32GB 3G iPad with a data plan. At any time, I could whip out my iPad “Classic” and locate my exact location via the Maps app, and get directions (no voice navigation) to anywhere. Out of the box, my new iPad 2 can’t do this due to the lack of GPS in the wifi-only version that is inherit in the radio of its 3G counterpart.

On the other hand, with the recent release of the Verizon iPhone 4 and the iOS 4.3 upgrade for AT&T version, any user that opts-in for the feature can use their phone as a wifi hotspot for the iPad 2. As a result, it has been discovered by Cult of Mac that if tethered to an iPhone 4 with the hotspot feature, a non-3G iPad 2 can “borrow” the GPS signal from the phone for location information. According to Cult of Mac, it hasn’t been tested on wifi-only iPad Classics, but in theory, it is a possibility.

In the video below is a brief demo of the wifi-only iPad 2 GPS trick in action:

I have been using the hotspot feature for my MacBook Pro, iPad Classic and my iPad 2 and it’s pretty fast. With the added zip of the dual-core A4 processor housed in the iPad 2, my guess is that the wifi-only GPS hotspot trick works pretty well, even if it may not be in real-time.

So if you’re like me and was of the suckers advocates who went out and bought an iPad 2 this past weekend, you will be in for a free GPS treat if you plan to use your iPhone 4 as a hotspot if you didn’t pony up for an 3G iPad 2.

Test it out, come back, and drop a line in the comments section to let us know how the feature works.