iPad Apps Review, Part 2
May 20, 2010 @ 3:17 PM by Kumiko Yamazaki -- apple apps ipad reviewLast month I reviewed some early map apps that made its way into the iTunes store (iPad Apps Review, Part 1). Let’s see what others have achieved since then:
1. NYC Way (Free!!)
A winner of 3 awards at the NYC BigApps Competition, NYC Way is an extremely well designed app that includes all the information you’ll ever need about the city whether you’re a tourist or resident. Location is huge these days and NYC WAY does a tremendous job implementing your location with nearby businesses and events (and restaurant inspections and job postings and subways and more!) and even allows you to check-in via Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare.
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2. Topo Maps for iPad ($7.99)
A little pricey but well worth it if you are really really into USGS topo quads. Just navigate to the quad and download for offline use! It will detect your location and have the option to create and import/export waypoints. Beware if you’re expecting to see hiking trails with these maps. Many of these quads are old (the first I downloaded was from 1955 — Conestoga, PA) and only major trails are shown.
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3. World History Atlas by Maps.com ($1.99)
Eh. Another static image dumping atlas with nothing else. Index is too small. Yawn.
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4. MotionX GPS HD ($2.99)
This is a popular app for the iPhone but the iPad version currently does NOT allow you to save and send your tracks.. which I believe is an important feature to have. However, it’s still getting excellent reviews so give it a shot if you own a 3G iPad. I can tell you right now this app is fairly useless on my WiFi version despite its claims.
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5. 123 World HD ($1.99)
Clearly I am too old for this but kids will enjoy this little coloring book app. Choose your color from the palette and click on the state/country/continent to color them in. As you fill your countries with colors, its name and capital will pop up on screen. Not bad, your kids can play and learn geography at the same time!
iPad Apps Review, Part 1
Apr 20, 2010 @ 2:55 PM by Kumiko Yamazaki -- apple apps ipad reviewWhile all of you were keeping busy at the AAGs in DC, I was in the office glued to the new love of my life, the glorious iPad!! I’ve already downloaded some geo-related apps so here’s a brief summary of each:
1. National Geographic World Atlas HD ($1.99)
Gizmodo recently called this “$2 of app spam” and it’s pretty accurate, albeit a little harsh. You receive several of their world maps, basic country info, and a search feature that plots the location on the map. It’s not jaw-dropping but it looks nice and runs ok (crashes every now and then). However at $2 and a brand like National Geographic, you just expect wayyy more than the few searchable world maps they provide. The free native Google Maps app will do fine for almost everyone.
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2. The World Factbook for iPad ($1.99)
This is the entire CIA World Factbook packaged offline. It offers all their country maps, locator maps, flags, and more information than you’ll ever need on a particular country. It’s good reference material and the best of all world factbooks currently available.
Just to be nitpicky, I’m going to point out the flags on the left menu are all incorrectly shown as having the same dimensions.
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3. Geo Hangman HD ($0.99)
BIG! SHINY! BUTTONS!! Geo Hangman looks beautiful and is a simple hangman game where each correct answer is a country. Once you’ve guessed correctly, you’re also informed the capital of the country and have the option of viewing its location on a map.
Some students may complain about the lack of a scoring system, but it does at least have educational value.. unlike some mindless games I’m officially (shamefully) addicted to!
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4. World Atlas for iPad ($0.99)
This app does nothing but display a single general reference map for each country. These shaded relief CIA maps can all be found on the Perry Castañeda Map Collection website. Do not buy.
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5. Carta Compact Atlas HD, Bible Maps ($4.99)
Over 30 Bible maps done well with traditional cartographic styles. Unfortunately, this app has zero interactivity other than pan/zoom and is priced too high.
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What does everyone think? I think we can all agree that no ‘killer app’ has been developed yet. Personally, I’d like to see more geography games that are engaging to both students and adults - am I being selfish? :) I’d also like to continue reviewing iPad apps in the future so I hope you enjoyed this first installment!
Can Flash Maps Be Replaced?
Mar 19, 2010 @ 11:36 PM by Kumiko Yamazaki -- apple flashEarlier today, I had the pleasure of visiting Alex Tait, VP of International Mapping Associates. We discussed the current state of the mapping industry and where it’s headed, and it pains me greatly to admit this as an Apple fangirl, but Flash mapping is still very much alive and well (boooo!)
Flash maps are especially popular for educational purposes as it can provide all the interface, animation and interactivity as well as its accompanying audio/video….. but is NOT supported by the iPhone or iPad. There’s no question Flash is the complete package and I wonder if this can ever be replaced by HTML5 and CSS3? Or by overlaying information through Google Maps or Bing or the MapQuest API? I ask this because I will soon be an iPad owner and I’d love to see how people will be pushing HTML5 and attempting to replace Flash with their maps.
Here are just a few examples of animation that’s already being done with HTML5/CSS3 and can potentially be used for mapping (use an updated Firefox, Safari, or Chrome browser to view):
1. HTML5 Canvas Experiment - This one gathers tweets relating to HTML5, displays them using processing.js for its particle rendering, and all the while taking advantage of the audio tag. Can the particles be georeferenced to a coordinate?
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2. CSS3 Gallery Example - A cluster of images are shown and when the cursor hovers over one, the selected image will be enlarged. Potentially similar to a KML popup.
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3. Pure CSS3 AT-AT Walker (Chrome or Safari required) - This is an AMAZING example of animation that almost certainly looks like Flash but is not. Good news for those wanting to show various route and polygon animations.
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4. Canvas Slippy Map - A slippy map is a map that allows you to dynamically pan by grabbing and sliding the map over. This example looks a bit like a bare-bones OpenLayers interface but is done using the HTML5 canvas and is pulling data from OpenStreetMap.
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I’m betting some fantastic maps can be built using HTML5/CSS3 and can one day be an alternative to Flash, if not replace it altogether. This will take some time however, and an even longer time for it to become the standard for all web applications. So in the meantime, make sure you know some Flash!
The iPad and Maps
Mar 12, 2010 @ 9:55 AM by Kumiko Yamazaki -- appleIn case anyone’s missed it before, or just want to see it again, this is CNET’s video showcasing Google Maps in action on the iPad.
How will the iPad revolutionize the mapping community?
Unless you purchase the 3G version, the iPad only comes with an integrated digital compass and will be using Wi-Fi trangulation to approximate your location and orientation. This is hardly useful if you’re lost and on the road.
If, however, you’re one of the lucky ones with an iPad 3G, it will include almost all the capabilities of the iPhone and more. This will undoubtedly change the apps market and its expectations from each app due to its larger screen size. One prime example is guided tours. The iPad is no longer about carrying a map, but a data overload of suggested sites to see, reviews, comments, nearby restaurants, photos, and videos. DC Historic Tours is an excellent example of the future on the iPad.
Apple’s Final Macworld
Jan 8, 2009 @ 9:17 PM by Kumiko Yamazaki -- apple google mapsBy now, most of you have heard about Tuesday’s Macworld without Steve Jobs (he’s recovering, hooray!). His sub, Paul Schiller, introduced the new iLife ‘09 package that included a healthy dose of map related products.
What I’m referring to is the iPhoto ‘09. Aside from fancy face recognition and Flickr/Facebook support, this new version clearly takes advantage of geotagged photos.
Here we see geotagged photos displayed on Google Maps within iPhoto. Organizing photos by date is great but sometimes browsing by location is the best method.
It also has the capability to convert lat/longs to city names.. I’m thinking iPhoto ‘09 takes care of it.. either that or I don’t properly know how to use my iPhone. (photo1) (photo2)
The next maps are from when you wish to create a photo album for printing purposes. It’s a real map!! Pretty nifty if you ask me. Where they pulled it from, I can’t tell. But from what I see, it automatically colors in the subject country, populates it with cities in which the photos were taken, and arrows to tell you the direction in which you were traveling. I think it’s fantastic although I haven’t come across anyone who seems as interested or excited as me.
And last but not least, we have a Google Earth-like globe featured in iMovie ‘09. Again, very well made and looks cartographically appealing as well! How smooth it is, I won’t know until someone buys me iLife ‘09. Ok? Thanks!
Kumiko Yamazaki: kyamazaki@mapkist.com
