Apple iPhone iOS4 upgrade live

In a slightly unusual move Apple have released the iPhone OS update before the new devices hit the stores. Normally it is the other way round.

iTunes is offering Apple's iOS 4 for upgrade.

iOS 4 contains over 100 improvements, but the headliners are MultiTasking, Application Folders, Improved Mail App, and iBooks. Apps taking advantage of these new features started appearing in the Apple AppStore over the last few days, and now they will be eligible for downloading and installing onto your updated iPhone.

This means that you will be able to run your Turn by Turn navigation app alongside your favorite Speed Camera Warning app (assuming that supports multitasking too).

Press release from TomTom follows:

TomTom for iPhone app to support Apple iOS 4 multitasking functionality

~ Seamless navigation features will leverage iOS 4 multitasking demonstrated yesterday at Apple WWDC ~

London – June 4, 2010 – TomTom will introduce multitasking to the TomTom app for iPhone. Its next version, which will be compatible with iOS 4, will be submitted to Apple for review after the June 21 release of iOS 4. Among the new features available in TomTom app for iPhone, will be support formultitasking functionality*, allowing users to get turn-by-turn guidance at the same time as operating other applications.

The current version of the TomTom app for iPhone (version 1.3) is available for purchase via the App Store, and both current and new owners of the app will be able to update to the new version immediately upon its availability for no additional charge. As an additional incentive for new users to start using the application, TomTom is currently offering the UK& Ireland and Western Europe versions of the app at a discounted price of £54.99 and £42.99 respectively.

Following the success of the recent promotion, TomTom is also making its award-winning HD Traffic service available to users at a new price that will make avoiding the jams that much easier. Beginning today, a 12-month subscription for TomTom HD Traffic is now offered on the TomTom app at £22.99. With TomTom HD Traffic, TomTom app users receive real-time traffic speed updates and incident reports continuously. As soon as any delay is found on the route, users are notified and can be automatically re-routed to an alternate, faster route. TomTom HD Traffic is an optional service available via in-app purchase.

“As TomTom continues to innovate and to take advantage of new capabilities of the iOS 4, users of the TomTom app will benefit from the combination of TomTom’s most advanced and acclaimed features and the iPhone’s unique functionality,” said Tom Murray, senior vice president of market development for TomTom Inc. “We are pleased to integrate multitasking capabilities to the newest version of our TomTom app, and to be able to ensure that users can now enjoy other iPhone features while they continue to receive the best routing directions from their TomTom application.”

*Available on iPhone 3GS and iPod Touch 3^rd Generation devices, running iOS 4.

This special offer pricing applies to both the iPhone app in the Apple AppStore and the Android app from Android Market. Happy Holidays!!!

The CoPilot Promotion PR:

Thanksgiving is always one of the busiest times on the roads and 2009 will be no exception. In fact AAA are forecasting an increase on 2009, with almost 40 million Americans travelling more than 50 miles over the weekend.

Travel easier this Thanksgiving – and beyond with CoPilot Live.

Magellan Raodmate for the iPhone

A second item on the same Press Release mentions a Premium Car Kit. This is an Active cradle for the iPhone with its own GPS receiver, internal amplifier and bluetooth hands-free. This is an adjustable design to allow the iPhone to be used with skins and cases in place. It is also compatible with the iPhone classic and iPod Touch enabling these devices to be used for navigation. At $129.99 it is slightly more expensive than the TomTom cradle ($119) and is expected to be shipping in December.

The initial mapping offered through the Apple AppStore includes USA, Canada and Puerto rico. In the future Western US, Eastern US and Europe will also be available.

Click here for the Magellan iPhone information page.

Magellan Roadmate for iPhone Screen

The Magellan Press Release follows:

MAGELLAN® COMPLETE TURN-BY-TURN NAVIGATION APP NOW AVAILABLE ON THE APP STORE

The Magellan RoadMate App (U.S. & Canada maps) is available for an introductory price of $79.99 from the App Store on iPhone and iPod touch devices or at http://www.itunes.com/appstore/. The MSRP for the car kit will be $129.99.

The AppStore is undoubtedly the main stay of the iPhone market, that without it we question weather the iPhone would have been so popular. With 50 million of us downloading up to 10,000 apps a day, you can see how important the AppStore is to apple, and what this benchmark must mean to the other smartphone manufacturers.

Much of the AppStore’s current success has been contributed to the 3.0 firmware release which gave the developers up to 100 new features to experiment with like cut, copy, paste, compass, MMS, Bluetooth, and Push. With iTunes 9 Apple hopes to continue to give us new ways to easily search or wade through these apps with better search and discovery.

Now if only they could find a way to reduce the amount of useless, duplicated apps!

Please note this now appears to be a bug which is being fixed.

A recent app that I, like many others, bought on the AppStore with real money appears to have suddenly stopped working. A simple application called Night Stand, which is now copied by other app developers in true AppStore style, designed to simply display the time and alarm while dimming the screen. Not exactly a controversial app to say the least and has been available for some time! Now it seems that you can load the app but it simply won’t run.

This app has also been tested on a colleagues phone with the same results. This is not as a result of any updates as it was seen to work recently and, stranger still, the app has been pulled from the AppStore itself. As of this moment I have not yet been able to find any reason for it’s disappearance, but am more concerned about the fact that any app can seemingly be pulled from your device without warning or reason.

I paid good money for that app, all be it 59 pence but it is mine, or is it?

This is all very nice in theory. In practise, however, it is somewhat different…

My personal experience is not good – it simply won’t log in and returns a ‘Network Unavailable’ error. I could believe that a free app released by O2 would maybe cause some server overload but both ‘Mobile Allowance’ and ‘Mobile Minutes Tracker’ connected to the (same) server without any issues. I’m not the only one with problems either, if the AppStore reviews are anything to go by. One in every three of the reviews gives the same error as I received. Maybe it’s an OS3.1 issue, or maybe it’s because I have 2 account numbers with O2 (see previous comparative review) but both the other apps handle these fine.

Our recommendation? Don’t be so cheap and go grab Mobile Allowance for a mere 59p! IT – JUST – WORKS!!

Navigon MobileNavigator

This release adds Text-To-Speech and iPod controls as well as some other minor changes. The Text To Speech allows the road names to be included in the navigation instructions giving the driver more confidence in the manoeuvre they are making. The iPod controls are also a very welcome feature as previously although you could set the iPod playing in the background if the playlist or album ended then you had to exit the Navigation application to change the music.

Also included in this release are: Location sharing, and automatic day/night mode switching.

The full Navigon Press Release follows:

NAVIGON Further Extends the Feature Set of its iPhone Navigation App
Second free update includes major additions such as spoken street names (text-to-speech), seamless integration of iPod functions, a location sharing feature and more

Hamburg/Germany, September 10, 2009 — NAVIGON AG, leading innovator in the navigation market, today announced availability of a second free update for the North American version of MobileNavigator for the iPhone. The update equips the NAVIGON app with a comprehensive set of innovative and sought after features.

The highly anticipated text-to-speech function lets the NAVIGON MobileNaviagtor announce street names in addition to turn-by-turn directions. It is the first on-board navigation app for the iPhone with this functionality. Instead of only stating “turn right”, the app informs the user to “turn right on to ‘Main Street’, enabling the driver to further concentrate on the road ahead and not become distracted looking for street signs. “With the addition of text-to-speech technology from SVOX, NAVIGON remains on the forefront of iPhone navigation options with the most solid feature set on the market,” said Gerhard Mayr, Vice-President Worldwide Mobile Phones & New Markets at NAVIGON. “SVOX offers high quality text-to-speech technology, characterized by a natural and clear sound as well as a unique polyglot capability – the same voice can speak multiple languages like a native speaker,“ said Eric Lehmann, Chief Sales Officer of SVOX.

NAVIGON, from the outset is committed to not only setting the industry standard for navigation capabilities on the iPhone, but also integrates iPhone-specific functionalities. The new update is the next step in this direction with seamless integration of iPod controls. Drivers can now enjoy the full range of iPod functionalities with a simple one-click from map access to artists, titles, albums, audio books, podcasts and playlist selections. The feature also takes advantage of the shuffle, and automatic playlist generating technology within iPod. The driver can listen to songs again or leave it to the device to generate a random selection.

A new location sharing function makes it convenient to meet-up with friends and acquaintances, on the go. Users can share their own location, an address or a point of interest (POI) such as a restaurant or museum via email. If the recipients are MobileNavigator users, a simple link-tap provides the exact address. The navigation software starts automatically when the link is activated and guides the user directly to the destination, without having to input locations, and waiting for the search results. In addition, the app routinely changes the maps colors switching it between Day and Night Mode determined by time and location. This guarantees optimal display visibility at all times and allows drivers to recognize the route as quickly as possible to improve orientation.

The MobileNavigator transforms any iPhone 3G, equipped with the new Apple OS 3.0 operating system, and any iPhone 3G S into a complete navigation device. It is the only iPhone navigation app on the market featuring Reality View™ Pro which displays 3D views of complex highway interchanges and exits helping drivers to orientate. Also unique are the branded POI’s along the route which make it easier to spot any points of interest that are on the way.

The NAVIGON solution sells for $89.99 in the Apple App Store and is equipped with maps of North America from NAVTEQ®. There are no subscription fees attached and no map downloads during navigation. The update is also already available for regional country versions of the MobileNavigator across Europe as well as for the Australian app.

For more information and FAQs, please visit: www.navigon.com/iphone.

Navigon MobileNavigator

The official feature list is as follows:

iPhone OS 3.1 Software Update

This update contains bug fixes and improvements, including the following:

• Genius recommendations for Applications
• iTunes 9 support
- Genius Mixes
- Organize your apps directly in iTunes
- Improved syncing options for music, movies, TV shows, podcasts and photos
- iTunes U content organization
• Redeem iTunes Gift cards, codes and certificates in the App Store
• Display available iTunes account credits in the App Store and iTunes Store
• Browse and download ringtones wirelessly from the iTunes Store*
• Save video from Mail and MMS into Camera Roll
• Option to “Save as new clip” when trimming a video on iPhone 3GS
• Better iPhone 3G Wi-Fi performance when Bluetooth is turned on
• Remotely lock iPhone with a passcode via MobileMe
• Use Voice Control on iPhone 3GS with Bluetooth headsets
• Paste phone numbers into the Keypad
• Option to use Home button to turn on Accessibility features on iPhone 3GS
• Warn when visiting fraudulent websites in Safari (anti-phishing)
• Improved Exchange calendar syncing and invitation handling
• Fixes issue that caused some app icons to display incorrectly