The flood starts: Layar, Urbanspoon bring augmented reality to iPhone
Two big entrants in the world of augmented reality today brought their apps to the iPhone today.
Both Layar, one of Europe’s pioneers in augmented reality browsing, and the popular restaurant-finding app Urbanspoon are using the technology to mark up the real world. Augmented reality is a nascent field that lets developers superimpose data and graphics on a camera’s viewfinder (kind of like how the Terminator scopes out targets, but not deadly).
The apps are part of… Continue Reading
IAC buys restaurant recommender Urbanspoon
Urbanspoon, the startup behind a popular restaurant recommendation application on the iPhone, has been acquired by web giant IAC. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but TechCrunch hears it was in the millions of dollars.
The Seattle startup has a web-based recommendation service, but it found its biggest success with an app that uses the iPhone 3G’s GPS features and WiFi/cell tower triangulation to provide recommendations based on your exact location. It also uses… Continue Reading
MG’s ten favorite iPhone apps of 2008
Now before I write anything else, let me just say that these are my ten favorite iPhone applications of 2008 and not necessarily what I think are the ten best iPhone apps — because really, there are so many diverse apps, how can one judge which are the best of them?
Also, this list includes no iPhone games because that category has become so robust that I’m going to make another list just for that. [Update: Here’s the list… Continue Reading
Urbanspoon: An iPhone app that bests its website
One of my biggest pet peeves with the iPhone App Store is the paid apps that offer the same functionality as free web sites. Why should I pay to access information when I can just look it up using the mobile Safari browser? Apps like theNextTrain, which gives users quick access to Bay Area train times, may be worth the $4.99 for some daily commuters. But I’m cheap, and I’ll go through the hassle of… Continue Reading
Struck with indecision over a restaurant choice? Let the iPhone 3G decide
I’m indecisive when it comes to picking restaurants to eat at. Annoyingly so, I’ve been told. I simply don’t care the majority of the time; I’ll eat anything. Urbanspoon’s new native iPhone application may be the perfect tool for me.
The app is extremely simple. You open it, it detects your location then you shake your iPhone. This causes a series of sliders to spin around like a slot machine until they land with a recommendation… Continue Reading