Google India Mapathon 2013
We all know that mapping the world is not easy. Google has done a great job in developed countries but collaborating with the authorities. However, for developing countries like India, where establishments and points of interests change as frequently as every 6 months, it is difficult to just rely on the government authorities to provide accurate up to date data.
In an effort to enhance the Google Maps data for India, Google India is running a Mapathon where anyone with a Google account can improve the Google maps data for their neighborhood or places they are familiar with. Google India is also offering attractive prizes for people like 10 Samsung Galaxy Note 800 Android Tablets, 40 Samsung Galaxy S II GT I9100 Android Phones, 50 Flipkart gift coupons worth Rs. 5000 each and 1000 Google Mapathon 2013 t-shirts and certificates (includes the top 100 above and another 900 people).
In order to participate in the effort, log on to Google India Mapathon 2013 microsite and enroll yourself. Thereafter, any improvements you make in Google Mapmaker will count towards the effort.
Imangi Studios Launch Temple Run 2, the Sequel to their Wildly Popular Game
Imangi Studios surprised everyone by releasing Temple Run 2 – the sequel to their wildly popular game, Temple Run. The original game was a huge hit because of its immersive and thrilling, yet simple gameplay. The sequel is no different. It improves upon the prequel with astoundingly better graphics (which are, apparently, built using a much better graphics engine this time), new power ups, new stunts, yet using the same simplistic controls.
You can download the iOS version from here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/temple-run-2/id572395608?mt=8. The Android version will be released in some time.
Gaana.com’s Mobile Apps Now Available
Gaana.com has launched its mobile apps for all major platforms which let you stream unlimited music over 3G or WiFi. The apps have been developed by Times Internet and are available at the App Store, Google Play Store, and also for Blackberry, Nokia and Java based phones.
The iOS app offers a neat and simple player design which is pretty intuitive and smooth in operation. The player includes all the features from the gaana.com website such as playlists, search, music discovery, favorites etc.
The apps lets you enjoy gaana.com’s huge catalog on the go. The only thing we found missing in the iOS was AirPlay support in the app. Although you can beam the music to AirPlay devices at the system level by double pressing the home button and swiping left twice.
The apps put gaana.com neck to neck with their competitors like saavn and Dhingana. Hopefully the next round will be on the quality of the streaming audio.
Cleartrip Now Offers Passbook Support
Cleartrip is famous for its neat and simple, yet amazingly powerful UI. Oh, and seamless ticket bookings as well 
. When it comes to user experience, cleartrip clearly is one of the best case studies. They are always on their toes to keep innovating and setting new standards.
Keeping with the tradition, cleartrip is now supporting Apple’s passbook format for all your bookings. Users can now send their bookings to their iPhones & iPod touches (with iOS 6 or above) and keep all the tickets, and passes handy. Apple’s passbook is a nifty app that serves as a digital folder for all such things. Think of it as the digital equivalent of your document kit. Learn more about it here.
Unfortunately, airports in India currently do not support paperless boarding passes. So you will need to collect one from a counter. However, the pass should work as a paperless ticket, which, apparently, the airports are beginning to accept now. Pretty good move by Cleartrip.
[via Cleartrip blog]
Google Maps Now Available on the iPhone
Google has finally released its maps app for iOS giving relief to a lot of users around the world. After many embarrassing turn of events for Apple, it was inevitable for Google to work on and release an awesome app to users facing too much inconvenience. And they have delivered well.
The new app is beautifully designed and has all the elements one would need from a maps app. The app looks slick and minimalistic, however, it is feature packed with turn by turn voice navigation, transit directions, walking directions, live traffic view and reviews for restaurants in addition to some personalization features. I tried turn by turn voice navigation in India and found it to be pretty accurate. However, the distance units are not in metric which is a bit inconvenient. To make the distance units show up in metric system, go to Settings -> General -> International and change the Region format to India. Also, there seems to be lags here and there when the app speaks out directions. Even with all these quirks, the app is a welcome for anyone who was used to using the native Google maps apps before iOS 6. The app has already replaced the native Apple maps app on my home screen.
Download the new app from the app store: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/google-maps/id585027354?mt=8
How To Get Back Google Maps Experience on iOS6 (iPhone/iPad)
Apple dug it’s own hole by replacing the much Beautiful Google Maps with its crappy Apple Maps (powered by TomTom) on iOS6 – There I said it.
The sheer disaster is very obvious from the tweets all over the world. Some of the non-techies woke up with a surprise with the features that they lost like public transit details/biking/walking directions etc which were replaced with a less-used Fly over maps (Again just for the US).
Here’s a comparison between how it was (Google Maps), and how Apple Maps (with no data). It’s almost as if the whole area has been demolished over night by Apple destruction crew. Our only hope is that Google comes back to the rescue of the poor (not $ wise) iOS6 users.
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Google Maps (Before) |
Apple Maps (After) |
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Here are two ways to get back Google Maps that we’ve tried out.
Google Maps Live Traffic Info Now Available for India (Also on Android and iOS)
Well, I am not really breaking any news here. Just for those folks who might’ve missed this.
Google Maps now shows Live traffic information. This is a sign of relief for Indian users who were only relying on Waze at the moment. The traffic data isn’t too accurate at the moment. But as we all know the more the users the more the accuracy (it’s crowd sourced).
The UI is very intuitive and this traffic information is also available on the Google Maps applications on Android and iOS (probably on other OS with traffic layer support too).
FirstLook: Lumia 920, 820 Windows Phones, Nokia Hopes For A Comeback
This month’s all about technology launches.. Windows Phone 8, Windows 8, Nokia’s Lumia Phones, Samsung ATIV WP8 Phones, iPhone 5, Amazon Kindle Fire 2, Apple iPhone 5, Apple iPad Mini (still rumored), iOS6.
Nokia announced it’s much awaited flagship Windows Phone 8 phones – the Lumia 920 and 820. Just like the Apple iPhone 4S, Nokia wishes to sell it’s new Camera capabilities (PureView) in these new phones.
The phone comes with a great dual core processor, 1GB RAM, wireless charging, PureView camera and a few other Nokia software.
The Next Generation of Macbook With Retina Display is Here
In addition to announcing iOS 6 at yesterday’s WWDC keynote, Apple also revealed their next generation of Macbook featuring the awesome retina display. The machine is a powerhouse. Lets take a look at its features:
- 15.4 inch retina display with a resolution of 2880 by 1800 pixies (thats 5 megapixels. Full HD is 2 megapixels)
- Up to 2.7 Ghz quad core Intel Core i7
- Up to 16GB hi speed 1600 Mhz RAM (comes with 8GB)
- Upto 768 GB of SSD
- Intel HD graphics 4000 & NVidia GeForce GT650M with 1GB DDR3 RAM
- 720p HD FaceTime camera
- Two thunderbolt ports, Two USB 3.0 ports, HDMI port, SDXC card slot
- 801.11n WiFi & Bluetooth 4.0
- 7 hours battery backup with 30 days standby
The prices start from $2199 and can go up to $3749 with the maximum configuration possible. In India, the price will range from INR 152,900 to INR 192,600 for off the shelf models and will increase depending on what configuration you choose.
Get ready for iOS 6
Apple announced the 6th version of their iOS mobile operating system at the WWDC 2012 keynote yesterday. The update brings a lot of new features to thrash the competition. Let us look at some of the key new & improved features:
Maps:
The biggest change in iOS 6 is going to be a totally new, built from ground up maps app replacing Google Maps. The new app has been developed by Apple. The change was inevitable given Apple’s and Google’s rivalry in the mobile space. The new maps app by Apple is amazingly designed using vector images which do not need to reload when you zoom in (the biggest issue if you are on a slow connection). The app will also give you turn by turn navigation directions – something for which you have to buy expensive apps currently. This is built in collaboration with Tom Tom which has its operations in India. So, in my opinion, they should be available in India as well at launch.
