Slashgeo

The Google Earth blog brings us news about this : "At long last, Google is releasing Google Earth for the iPhone (and iTouch) tonight! I've been expecting this to happen for months. Especially after I saw another Google Earth-like application on the iPhone back in May. Apparently some folks in Australia and Japan have already downloaded Google Earth for the iPhone. CNET has an initial review - and it looks fantastic. I quickly managed to download it - see my updated review below (the app is great!). You can click here to download GE for the iPhone from the iTunes app store. Or you can search the app store from your iPhone."

There seems to be a continuous stream of iPhone stories on the geoblogs and the like. See our recent coverage and related stories below. The latest ones are Slashdot discussing stereoscopy on the iPhone: ""Some of the coolest media technologies predate the Web and the PC — in fact, they predate the 20th century. My column in Xconomy explores the world of 19th-century stereoscopes and stereo views, which are the all-but-forgotten forerunners to anaglyphic 3D, VR goggles, and other modern stereo vision systems. As it turns out, it's pretty easy to 'free-view' vintage stereo images on an iPhone or other small screen, getting the full 3-D effect without any other viewing aids. The article has instructions for accessing a collection of old stereo images using the new Seadragon Mobile iPhone app from Microsoft Live Labs." The stereoscope, that killer technology of the last century but one, was invented in 1859 by Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., who gave it away and never made a dime off it. If you don't have an iPhone and want to get the feel of free viewing on a computer monitor, start here at Roush's Flickr photostream." The other story is APB linking to the GPS iPhone app that was sold $70,000.

There is currently a discussion on Slashdot right now discussing this : "A number of projects are working on bringing a smooth Open Street Maps Viewer to the iPhone, where smooth means as smooth as the Google Maps application. Route-Me is one of them (New BSD License, complete Objective-C native code). The GPS Mission blog reports that their application (GPS Mission) uses Route-Me and made it to the App Store as the first application using that OSM component. The map looks real nice and behaves just like Google Maps with all the well known zooming and panning available. What other iPhone applications exist that feel as smooth as Google Maps but use the Open Street Map?"

APB links to an article about an Apple Inc patent regarding the integration of iPhone Mapping and Calendar applications. This is nothing extraordinary, but we're yet to see widely used calendar and mapping integration. Ogle Earth talked about this idea in October 2006. From the article: "You enter your scheduling data - meetings, appointments, etc; to your calendar app. If the person’s name you are meeting with is in your address book, software automatically pre-fills you calendar entry from there. If physical address information is available, it then automatically associates this data with the location on the map. Of course, you can enter the location info manually as well. E.g. when you are meeting someone for lunch in a cafe. You fill in cafe name and then the iPhone finds it’s location on the map and let’s you associate it with the meeting info. But that’s only a beginning. With all the data on your device and already cross referenced, many new capabilities to make your life easier open up. If you have several meetings in different places scheduled throughout the day, your iPhone can map out the best route to each meeting. Using routing and traffic info it can even advice on how much time you will need to get there. Your iPhone can also monitor your location, and ping you that you have to leave for the next meeting now, if you don’t want to be late. Or, if you are stuck in traffic and gonna be late anyway, it will prompt you to send a pre-selected message with a single touch." More iPhone stories with a search.

Jesse writes "Schmap has released their own Twitter client for the iPhone called GeoTweeter that blends the messaging capabilities of the social network with their Schmap.me service announced last year. From their website: "This cool iPhone app puts the 'where' into your tweets! Messages automatically include a 'schmap.me' link, showing followers your exact location with a configurable map icon: say more about places you visit with an optional photo and star rating.""

From the cars.com blog : "The iPhone has unquestionably dominated the mobile phone industry for the past two years. One of its biggest advantages over other devices is the long list of applications of every variety that can be downloaded to it. There are “apps” for everything from keeping track of your Twitter feed to following your favorite baseball team. Finally, after nearly two years, a developer has released the first real-time, turn-by-turn navigation application for the iPhone. XROADS G-Map ($19) is clearly the best real-time navigation option for an iPhone right now, but we ran it through the same tests we would a stand-alone TomTom, Garmin or Mio system to see how it fared with the big boys of navigation. Update: 03/10 16:44 GMT by S : I dare add this to lxnyce's story: AnyGeo links to mapNinja, a commercial mapping SDK for the iPhone.

The Virtual Earth blog informs us about the new iSynth software, bringing Microsoft's Photosynth to the iPhone. From the blog: "iSynth brings all the eye candy of Photosynth to the user experience of iPhone making it a fantastic way to explore synths. You can search, browse and view synths right on your phone effortlessly. The application was developed outside of Microsoft by Greg Pascale, but we wholeheartedly think the application is great!" See also previous Photosynth stories below.

The iPhone OS 3.0 was announced yesterday and, without surprises, it includes several new capabilities that makes it important in the location-based services mobile devices world. If you want a good overview of what's new or improved, see Tidbits. What's in there more specifically for geospatial? The O'Reilly Radar runs a story named "What the iPhone 3GS and 3.0 OS Means for Geo Devs", mentioning TomTom has a turn-by-turn navigation app for the iPhone. APB runs an entry about Intermap bringing their DEMs to the iPhone. There was a Slashdot discussion named "Using the iPhone As a Pointing Device For the Real World" but that was just before the actual announcement. Slashdot inevitably discussed the iPhone OS 3.0 afterwards. I expect to see more iPhone geonews on the geoblogs in the coming weeks. See also recent related stories below.

It's now official, Google announced the release of the Moon in Google Earth, also covered on the generic Official Google blog. From the Google Lat Long blog: "That's why I'm so excited about the release of Moon in Google Earth, which is launching today at the Newseum in Washington D.C. This tool will make it easier for millions of people to learn about space, our moon and some of the most significant and dazzling discoveries humanity has accomplished together. Moon in Google Earth enables you to explore lunar imagery as well as informational content about the Apollo landing sites, panoramic images shot by the Apollo astronauts, narrated tours and much more. I believe that this educational tool is a critical step into the future, a way to both develop the dreams of young people globally, and inspire new audacious goals." See also related stories below.