Tag: Where To »

Ever wonder where the heck something is? Sure there's Google Maps but it's not always the easiest way of searching for something. As Jeff pointed out a while back in his review, Where To? does exactly that. It was good back then and now it's had a huge update making it all the better.

In the latest update, FutureTap has added a plethora of useful features. Perhaps most useful of all is the ability to view business hours for each destination. It's easy to turn up at a store too late without realizing, or visit the cinema before it's opened - something like Where To? sets out to eradicate that problem. Throughout the experience, a compass style directional arrow points the user in the right direction and links up with Google Earth. This means that users who have never seen their destination will have a great idea of what they're looking for with an actual view of the area. In the U.S and Canada, turn by turn navigational app MotionX GPS (purchased separately) drive can also come in handy here with the Where To? app linking up with it to provide accurate directions within the app. Previously, there was already connectivity with Navigon MobileNavigator and TomTom.

There's even now improved functionality for the visually impaired, courtesy of VoiceOver support, providing directions and distances continuously announced to help any such users.

Where To? was already a great app with over 2,400 brands searchable via the app and the Augmented Reality tools superimposing search results onto the live camera video, but this update looks set to have made it even more vital for those in need of some help travelling.

Where To? is available now for all iOS devices. It's priced at $2.99 with an in-app purchase of $0.99 adding Augmented Reality features.

The 2009 Best App Ever awards winner for "Best Feel Like A Local App", Where To?, has been updated to version 3.0.

On top of a "completely revised user interface with an all-integrated leather interior" (that looks quite nice I might add), Where To? has been optimized for the iPhone 4, complete with the full retina display treatment, multitasking support, and built in SMS, so you don't have to leave the app for any reason.

“We love the new iPhone 4 with its brilliant new display. Where To? 3.0 looks gorgeous on the new iPhone and we hope our users will love it as much as we do", says Ortwin Gentz, FutureTap CEO.

The updates aren't done though, “3.0 sets the foundation for a whole bunch of new features we‘ll be implementing over the course of the next months, the pipeline is full of new stuff, we'll certainly not rest on our laurels.”

While AT&T was quietly changing your contract in their favor, of course, we've been scouring the tubes for app store news.

[caption id="attachment_15610" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Civilization Revolution"]

[/caption]SId Meier's Civilization Revolution comes to the iPhone. We teased the release of this game on Friday, and now it's here (a day early). We first saw Civilization Revolution during WWDC. 2K Games came down to San Francisco to show it off to press under a strict embargo. What we saw then was impressive, but we couldn't talk about it. This is actually the real thing. The real Civilization Revolution by the real Sid Meier. Civilization Revolution, for those unfamiliar, is a long play turn based strategy game and is the latest in a long line of games of this genre from Sid Meier. Released last year for the XBox 360 and PS3, it has now been ported, with some reduced graphics, to the iPhone. But they were very clear that it's the full game, just with iPhone optimized graphics. The controls on a game like this are always fairly complex and due to that, the controls on the iPhone are a little cramped. Good news is that you can get used to them fairly quickly. There are also some early reports of sluggish gameplay on older devices. We'll have a full review up real soon. If you try out the free lite/demo or full version, let us know what you think in the comments. Also, SlideToPlay has posted a hands on video to YouTube, take a look.

Where To? Updated - Where To? Two? One of our favorite early release apps for the iPhone was Where To? A 2.0 update has been released today to take advantage of a couple featured of OS 3.0 and in the end make the app even more useful. Now included are integrated maps that show your search results and they also update in real time on the map as you are moving. You can also email, sms, or copy results to the clipboard. Now for the bad news. This app was sold by it's original developer to FutureTap early this year. Due to this, if you purchased it before June 23rd, you can't upgrade for free. The app had to be transferred to a new developer on iTunes therefore breaking the upgrade path. For full details, check FutureTap's Upgrade page.

To celebrate this new release and to give previous purchasers a chance to upgrade cheaply, the app has been put on sale for only $0.99 until August 23rd. A great bargain for an app this useful. Take a look on their site for a video walkthrough of the app.

Red Bull X-Fighters Motocross Game from iPlay is looking pretty impressive. It's not in the app store yet but you can take a look at a gameplay video preview on YouTube. The in-game graphics look good, but we'll see if it can deliver.

Bumper Stars is running just a bazillion giveaways right now. The most important one, of course, is the one they are running with us to give away an iPhone 3GS (enter soon, the giveaway will be this week). For full details on that contest, check out the contest page.

They are also giving away a $100 iTunes gift card every week and now launched a new promo where they will give away from 25 to 100 $15 iTunes gift cards. Check it out you freebie junkies.

Someone's got a case of the Mondays. Will posted his weekly column on the app store this morning. And as usual it's a good post with a (lot of) opinions on recent happenings in the app store and the apps available. Please give it a read and leave a comment if you haven't already.

Hidden Gem: Lunarcy is an arcade, puzzle orbit simulation game. It's a little odd, but I'm digging it so far. It might be priced a little high for the current market, but only time will tell.

Tap Tap Tap, developer of a couple of the most popular and beautifully designed applications like Where To? (4.5 stars), Tipluator (3.5 stars) has imploded over differences in direction between it's founders. It's a theme we've seen before in iPhone developer Tapulous.

In this corporate divorce, most of the software has gone to Sophia Teutschler and will go under her Sophiestication Software name. This includes Tipulator, Groceries (unreleased), and Where Am I? (unreleased). The one odd ball, Where To? will be sold off by Tap Tap Tap and has already been removed from the App Store.

Tap Tap Tap has a few other projects in the works, though no details have been released.

For more info on this, see the latest Tap Tap Tap blog post here.