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Apple Patent Aims to Integrate Calendar App and iPhone Mapping [U]

Dave — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 21:17:24 +0000

A recent Apple patent details a tight integration between navigation and the Calendar and Address Book applications. Unwired View reports that the Apple dubbed “Integrated calendar and map applications in a mobile device,” may be tied into future iPhone firmware updates.

The workflow of the purposed integration seems rather straightforward. A user enters in their scheduling information, i.e. meetings or appointments etc… into their Calendar and if a person’s name correlates to one already located in your address book, the software will automatically complete your entry. Additionally, if there is an address or location associated with the entry, it will automatically interpret this data onto your map, while still allowing you to manually input information if necessary.

“Techniques, computer programs and apparatus relating to an integrated calendar and map feature are described. In one implementation, one or more calendar entries are identified in a calendar. A calendar entry includes an associated time and an associated location. A display of a map is provided including a graphical representation indicating a location associated with at least one calendar entry. The location associated with the calendar entry is derived from the calendar entry and included in a request to a map application for the map.”

When a significant amount of information is entered into the device, say you have several meetings spread throughout the day, the software can find and map the best routes using routing and traffic data that can even estimate the amount of time you will need to get to a specific location. In this respect, your iPhone can monitor your whereabouts and ping you when it feels you should leave for your next meeting in order to avoid being tardy. If for whatever reason you are running late, your iPhone has you covered as it will prompt you to send a pre-selected message with a single touch.

When and if this integration becomes fully implemented, I am sure it will be of great benefit if you are on the go and need to be punctual. To read the entire application, you can download the .pdf(2.3MB) here.

The official patent (#60/946,921) is credited directly to Scott Forstall, Imran A. Chaudhri, Gregory N. Christie and Robert E. Borchers.

Recurring Leaked Info; 2nd Gen iPod touch to Have GPS

Aviv — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 01:30:54 +0000

It is believed that Apple will update their iPod product line (particularly the iPod nano and iPod touch), within the next two weeks. Among news that has trickled in before the official release, the inclusion of GPS in the 2nd generation iPod touch has been making the rounds.

We have previously reported about the upcoming iPod touch and the inclusion of GPS. It is a rather natural progression of enhancements within Apple’s product line. Seeing as how GPS does not need a cellular network to run, why shouldn’t the iPod touch benefit as well?

Rumors claiming that Apple will introduce a price cut for the upcoming iPod’s have also recently come in, with Digg founder Kevin rose claiming the following: “iPods to see fairly large price drops to distance itself from the $199 iPhone.”

While the touch may be lowered to $179, or possibly a $159 price point, if Apple lowers it any more than that, it will cause friction with the products below it.

“I just received news that iPod Touch 2nd Gen will have GPS. This comes from an inside source that have contact with employees building iPod Touch 2nd gen and iPod Nano 4th gen cases. A Chinese manufacturer must have a computer scan of the device before they can make a mold. Parts of the new iPods find their way to accessory companies who then pass on the computer scan to Chinese manufacturers and once this happens the word spreads from workers to other companies and to sometimes to me,” ‘Insider’ claims for iDealsChina.com.

MacRumors points out that “iDealsChina was previously responsible for leaked iPhone 3G case moldings that turned out to be accurate.”

Apple SDK Terms Block Turn-by-Turn Navigation on iPhone 3G

Aviv — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 16:07:14 +0000

MSNBC reports some rather interesting news about Apple’s iPhone SDK terms and the potential inclusion of Turn-by-Turn Navigation on the iPhone 3G.

Previously, MacBlogz has reported that GPS features were possibly seeded with iPhone Firmware 2.1. Additionally, a crafty find regarding some expanded Core Location items, which could in theory allow for turn by turn GPS navigation were discovered, but still, we haven’t seen anything remotely close to turn-by-turn GPS Navigation like our Garmin touting friends experience.

“Sal Dhanani, co-founder of TeleNav, a GPS software maker, said as soon as Apple announced its “Software Developer Kit,” the company obtained it and started working on a GPS program,” MSNBC explains. “Just like every other developer, we signed up for the program and downloaded the SDK, even though there were some specific clauses in the developer agreement that said you can’t write GPS navigation applications,” he said.

TomTom explains: “We have made our navigation system run on the iPhone; it looks good and works very well,” said Dutch-based company TomTom, in a statement to msnbc.com. “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.”

“When I spoke to Apple, they didn’t say such applications would be prohibited,” said Avi Greengart, Current Analysis’ research director for mobile devices. “What is clear is that there aren’t any available yet.”

MSNBC continues to explain that “Dhanani said TeleNav has proceeded ahead with its GPS program, TeleNav Navigator, for the iPhone, and found that it works quite well on the device “which is more than capable of providing an application like this,” he said. “The GPS worked really well.”

“But the if and when is a different matter. It’s “hard to say, because Apple does have to update their agreement for navigation to happen,” he said. “We figured it’s a big category, navigation, and Apple will change their stance, because there’s going to be a lot of consumer demand for it.”

While Apple may be developing their own solution, Apple’s vice president of Hardware Product Marketing Greg Joswiak described voice-based, turn-by-turn navigation apps as “complicated.”

Apple did not respond to a question regarding their own navigation app.

Read – iPhone Atlas
Read – MSNBC

Mobile Map Usage Experiencing Rapid Growth

Craig — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 16:52:13 +0000

InformationWeek reports that “Users around the globe are increasingly turning to their mobile phones to get directions, according to new data from ComScore.”

“The report found that 8% of U.S. wireless subscribers and 3% of European mobile subscribers accessed maps from their mobile handsets between March and May 2008. This represents a growth rate of 82% and 49%, respectively, compared with the same period last year. ”

“The mobile phone as a personal navigation device makes tremendous sense,” said Mark Donovan, senior analyst at ComScore, in a statement. “With the influx of devices, such as the iPhone with GPS, entering the market, Nokia (NYSE: NOK)’s purchase of Navteq, and the growing popularity of downloadable navigation applications, you don’t need a map to see where this sector is going.”

“The study found that Apple’s iPhone was the leading device for U.S. customers to access maps. This can be attributed to the integrated Google Maps, and this is expected to continue now that the iPhone 3G has built-in GPS.”

“Meanwhile, European users preferred Nokia’s N95 and N70. The report said the vast majority of mobile map users are seeking driving directions, even in Europe, where public transportation options are more popular.”

“According to the report, the majority of users — 73% in the United States and 57% in Europe — accessed mobile maps via the handset’s browser. Less than a third of customers in these markets used a downloaded application.”

“As more cell phones sport built-in GPS chips, wireless operators and handset manufacturers are increasingly offering data-heavy navigation services. To counter this increase in competition,Garmin (NSDQ: GRMN) will enter the mobile phone market later this year with the”

Copy-and-paste, turn by turn GPS? Lets hope so

Dave — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 17:20:33 +0000

According to AI, one crafty developer has uncovered possible references to cut-and-paste within the framework of the iPhone SDK. Could this possibly be the answer to perhaps the most requested feature for the device?

“One notes that in exploring the Localizable.strings entry under English.lproj in the current iPhone WebKit framework, there are entries for several commands the firmware does not currently support, including cutting, copying and pasting.” via MacNN.

There is an apparent “other source” that is claiming to have received a beta of the 2.1 firmware that is said to be distributed solely to developers. “Among the features in this are alleged to be expanded Core Location items, including means for gauging the direction a person is headed, and their velocity.” This could, in theory allow for turn by turn GPS navigation, a much anticipated feature.

Apple’s vice president of product marketing, Greg Joswiak, has previously indicated that a copy-and-paste feature has not been present in the iPhone 3G because it was not high on the priority list. We’ve done extensive research here at MacBlogz, as to why copy-and-paste might be missing from the current iteration of the iPhone. If Apple’s priorities are to blame, then they need to re-evaluate them.

With the onslaught of third party applications such as Wordpress for the iPhone, copy-and-paste has become an absolute must. Surely there will be a slew of other apps in the future that will greatly benefit from copy-and-paste.

Images via AppleInsider.

[poll] TomTom plays nice with Apple, realizes it can’t compete with iPhone 3G.

Aviv — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 20:25:27 +0000

We’ve reported before about how Garmin and TomTom (GPS navigation device makers) have been scared sh*tless about Apple’s iPhone 3G. Well, nothing has changed on that front, but TomTom has decided to jump into the Lion’s Den (or the Snow Leopard Den) and offer up their software to run on the iPhone.

TomTom says it:

“already has a version of its navigation software running on Apple’s iPhone and has plans to sell it to consumers, a spokesman said on Monday.”

The TomTom spokeswoman continued to say “”Our navigation system runs on the iPhone already,” after Apple announced the new iPhone 3G that will include global positioning (GPS) capability.

The spokeswoman did not say when the software would be made available to iPhone owners.

My Thoughts:

The only choice companies like Garmin and TomTom have (being GPS device and software makers), is to roll over and play nice with Apple. They aren’t going to get anywhere or garner any new market share by swearing against the iPhone or the iPhone development platform. By choosing to develop a piece of software for the iPhone that runs through TomTom’s proprietary system, new interest and a general warmth will be felt towards the company from consumers.

There’s absolutely no doubt that Apple and the revolutionary iPhone are continuously in the spotlight. If a company like TomTom can squeeze itself in and snap up a little piece of the iPhone pie, they’ll fair much better than attempting to directly compete with it.

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