Tag: Don't Panic »

This fall, Douglas Adams nerds will have the granddaddy of all iOS apps to show off to their friends. Whether they actually care or not. Hothead Games, in a somewhat obvious attempt to prove that the entire planet owes them a drink, is making a "real" Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy for the iPhone and iPad. I'm not talking about an e-book or movie companion or any of that mundane stuff, but a fully realized and interactive rendition of the iconic inter-stellar travel guide.

It's hard to come up with words to say about this news when my brain keeps going "WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

Pushing on, there's no definitive release date yet aside from "fall," but it should be out this year which is enough to make any Guide fan happy I'd think. Judging by the screen shots, it looks like a kind of mash-up of of the original concept from Adams' books and the slightly "modernized" one found in the 2005 film. As for the actual content, Hothead Producer Joel DeYoung had this to say:

We really focused on taking existing Guide entries and presenting them in a new, interactive way... We have so much respect for the original that we had to stay true to the style of Douglas Adams, and deliver an app that feels familiar to fans, but updated for today’s devices.

Sure it won't amount to much more than a fancy iOS toy, but oh what a toy! My inner (and outer) nerd can't wait to start flipping through entries, reading up on Babel Fish, towels and everything else I'm probably only interested in right now due to nostalgia. "Fall" can't get here soon enough, as far as I'm concerned.

There's a new competitor for the navigation app throne and its name is Don't Panic. Admittedly this is a new competitor for the UK crowd as it only currently works in the UK but it could be well worth a look for those from these fair shores.

Don't Panic promises to be precise in its turn by turn instructions as well as speedy with some impressive promises of being up to 100 times faster than its competitors. An intuitive search feature is easily and instantly accessible from any point within the app and the ability to find destinations via partial addresses and points of interests is possible along with other typical navigational features.

A constant internet connection isn't even needed as the maps are available offline presumably aiding the speed issue hugely with promises of no stuttering or image lag.

For the asking price, Don't Panic offers unlimited free updates for the app with iPhone users exclusively getting unlimited free updates on the maps that come with the app itself.

Don't Panic is available now for UK users and priced at £19.99.