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Loopt Location-Based Social Network Unveils iPhone App

by Justin


Location-based social network Loopt demoed and announced a native iPhone app at the Worldwide Developer’s Conference yesterday, one of the first iPhone apps to be available when the iPhone app store opens for business in early July. The application will cost you nothing and will use pins on the iPhone’s built-in maps to show you where your friends are. Congrats to Loopt to opening up the gates for other location-based developers to unleash their apps on the 3G iPhone-enabled world. Check out the demo in the video above.

via cnet

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June 10, 2008   1 Comment

3G iPhone Gets AGPS, Costs $199, Hits 22 Countries July 11

by Justin

Apple’s 3G iPhone with GPS is no longer just a rumor.  This morning at the Worldwide Developer’s Conference in San Francisco, Steve Jobs announced the new iPhone.  With a tagline, “Twice as fast, half the price”, the new iPhone features 3G technology enabling the iPhone fast access to the internet and email over cell networks worldwide, about 2.4 times as fast as EDGE.

3G iPhone With AGPS

Sure enought the 3G iPhone features assisted GPS (AGPS), utilizing both an internal GPS receiver, Wi-fi hotspots, and cellular towers to give you the most accurate location information possible.  If you’re inside, the iPhone will find your position using Wi-fi or cellular towers, and a circle around your position on the map tells you exactly how accurate the information is (smaller circles equal more accurate info).  You can view turn-by-turn directions when planning a route or watch your progress with real-time tracking.  You can switch between map view, satellite view, and a hybrid view, like Google Maps on your computer and by tapping on the multi-touch screen you can pan or zoom around the map.

The new iPhone has some cool powersaving features as well.  The phone detects when the GPS features is in use, but immediately shuts off when now to save power.  The screen has an ambient light sensor that brightens the screen in the sunlight and dims it when in a darkened environment, plus a proximity sensor detects when the phone moves to your ear and shuts off the display.

Other details:

  • slimmer form factor
  • 300 hour standby time
  • 2G talk time 10 hours, 3G talk time 5 hours
  • video playback is 7 hours
  • audio playback is 24 hours
  • internet browsing-up to 6 hours
  • HSDPA for faster downloads
  • support for quad GSM bands, 2100MHz UMTS, 850MHz and 1900MHz variations (mainly American carriers)

The new 3G iPhone will be available in 22 countries July 11 in two models: the 8 GB version will cost $199 come in black, while the 16 GB version will cost $299 and come in both black and white.  Later this summer the iPhone will hit an additional 24 countries, and a further 24 countries are on the list for a later date bringing the total number of countries getting the 3G iPhone to 70.

via apple, check out the full keynote here

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June 9, 2008   8 Comments

Broadcom Supplying 3G iPhone With GPS?

by Justin

Apple\'s 3G GPS iPhone Coming June 9?We’ve been following the 3G iPhone GPS integration rumors for a bit now and they’ve continued as expected.  As the June 9 Apple WWDC gets closer, GigaOm is reporting that Broadcom has landed the contract to supply GPS to the iPhone.  Now if the expected 3G/GPS iPhone announcement does pan out come June 9, it could have some drastic ramifications for the portable GPS market.  And not just because it’ll have native GPS navigational capabilities, but because the iPhone SDK currently in its sixth beta version is also supposed to have an official June release.

If you’re not up on the latest iPhone developer news, a $100 million fund, the iFund, provided by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers will surely entice developers to come up with some innovation location-based applications for the 3G iPhone.  Combine this with the upcoming release of Google’s Android mobile browser and its location-aware potential and we have a potentially lethal mix for companies such as Garmin and TomTom.  Now we’re starting to agree with Om Malik’s prediction that the portable navigation market could face some strain in the near future.