I’m back!! Sorry about all those codes over the long weekend that got posted on the front page instead of behind the “continue reading” link which is where they were supposed to be… that’s what I get for being lazy and doing a copy/paste that WordPress didn’t quite understand.

Oh yeah, and my bad on those expired codes that some of you ran into! I knew they were close to going bad but I thought they’d still be ok. Eh.

New reviews are in the works, but for now check out BikeMateGPS. It’s a GPS tracker for riding your bike, but of course it can also be used for jogging/hiking/driving or whatever.

iTunes Link : BikeMate GPS

On deck: EarthCube (Games)

Never lose your car again!

iTunes Link : Park’n Find

On deck: Catan (Games)

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Thank you Affinicore!

Please play nice and LEAVE A COMMENT telling everyone which code you took. If you get one, I’m sure the developer would also appreciate an App Store review!

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2. 344X63A3Y46H
3. FKM4JWAHAHTX
4. PXYJY3XH7YRF
5. TE49NFRLTJNX
6. L4L3R3FRYWWP
7. RMEHTEWJJ37X
8. 437L9PE4HAYR
9. HN43H4TET774
10. HFJAJPFKMY99

Instructions on how to redeem promo codes can be found here:

http://www.iphoneappreviews.net/how-to-get-free-apps/

You must have a U.S. iTunes account to redeem codes.

* Codes are normally posted in the comment box, but these are being posted on a schedule due to the Thanksgiving holiday

Check out what the hot search terms are on the interwebs.

iTunes Link : HotSearch

On deck: Live Soccer (Sports)

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Thank you John and Holly!

Please play nice and LEAVE A COMMENT telling everyone which code you took. If you get one, I’m sure the developer would also appreciate an App Store review!

1. 4MFKW44EHWXP
2. PHHHXNFJ3LPJ
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4. YJ443M7EN636
5. WR9WTXTFM9WP
6. XAX99LELE969
7. RFW3JWNWWWH3
8. W7JHJ4TJWH9M
9. 6E6L99T77TPA
10. AAJEFYKMN7JL

Instructions on how to redeem promo codes can be found here:

http://www.iphoneappreviews.net/how-to-get-free-apps/

You must have a U.S. iTunes account to redeem codes.

* Codes are normally posted in the comment box, but these are being posted on a schedule due to the Thanksgiving holiday

EasyTrails GPS measures time, distance, altitude, and speed, plus it can export tracks in a bunch of different formats and can be used with a bunch of different 3rd party software packages, ie: Garmin Connect.

iTunes Link – EasyTrails GPS

On deck: KidWords Spanish Learning Game (Education)

Ok, before you dismiss this app as another run-of-the-mill GPS locator, think about the difference between what you see on a typical Google map vs. what you’ll find on one of those map boards you encounter before hitting the trail in a national park. Google maps are awesome, but they don’t always tell you where the ranger station is or the nearest crapper for that matter.

YOU R HERE’s purpose is to use the map board for your GPS instead of the default Google map! I haven’t tried this app so I don’t know how accurate it is, but it sounds like a cool idea in theory.

iTunes Link – YOU R HERE

There are billions of mapping apps that let you track a course, but this one also lets you add notes, photos, share the path with others, and go searching for paths that others have saved. Looks pretty cool if this is what you’re into!

iTunes Link – MapBook

The iPhone is far from perfect. But perhaps its greatest appeal is its ability to replace several separate cumbersome and expensive gadgets with one simple device. With Garafa’s GPS Kit, even the most ardent GPS enthusiasts may be able to set aside their dedicated GPS units and reach for their iPhone instead. I took version 3.2 out for a spin, which works well with OS 3.0 on my 3G S.

For those who don’t own dedicated GPS units, you may be wondering if you need anything more than the basic functionality that the iPhone provides out of the box, especially for an app priced at $9.99. The iPhone by default comes with an application which pulls up Google maps. It can find your current location, show you maps around the globe, and provide directions by car, bus or foot.

If you want to mark your current position, or any number of positions and recall it later, the basic map app likely won’t be enough. GPS Kit allows you to store unlimited locations to pull up at any time. You can name waypoints, and even place waypoints together in a set. You can also discover nearby waypoints that others have saved, download sets, and share your own. For example, I can download approximately 12,000 Panera Bread locations.

Likewise you can download or create an unlimited series of tracks. For an outdoor hobbyist who wants to find trails on vacation, a good bike route, or even get into geocaching, GPS Kit is the app for you. Both the waypoints and tracks are exported in GPX format.

A compass will help direct you to your desired waypoint if you get turned around. If you want traditional directions, GPS Kit will pull up the iPhone’s built in map application with your destination already set.

Obviously, a big part of the value inherent here is in the data created by the community and hosted on Garafa’s website. As more users add their waypoints, it will be easier to find new destinations to explore. If you want to wander off to new routes of your own, simply pull up the map, double-tap to drop a pin, or pull up the ruler and stretch between two points to gauge the distance. In addition to the traditional map view, and the street image view, GPS Kit adds a topography view that is especially useful when exploring less urban locales.

While en route, the dashboard tracks the trip time, speed, overall pace, GPS accuracy, direction and distance traveled. On the fly you can change any of the readouts to display in the units of your choosing. Feeling nautical on your next fishing trip? Set your speed to display in knots. It isn’t guaranteed to help you grow sea legs however. I recommend a Dramamine for that.

GPS Kit will also let you cache your data which is an important feature. If you lose signal along the way, you can still pull up information on your destination. Leave the app, bring it back up, and it will ask you if you want to restore the track you had open, or start fresh.

It would be nice if I could add waypoints by entering in an address or GPS coordinates as opposed to sticking pins directly in the map. And ideally I’d love to see turn-by-turn directions that update based upon GPS locations. However, that functionality currently only exists with the AT&T Navigator service. I’m not sure competing products will find their way into the App Store.

A proximity sensor, dashboard lock, adjustable settings and clever coding help optimize battery life to make GPS Kit a viable alternative to dedicated devices on your next expedition. Garafa’s website also provides several videos and user guides. A clean, responsive interface rounds out the professional polish on this feature rich app. The $9.99 price tag might scare off a curious buyer who isn’t sure they need a GPS app. But Garafa has pulled out all the stops in putting together an impressive product for the serious enthusiast in GPS Kit that could save you hundreds over a competing dedicated device.

AT&T Navigator is one of the first apps to fill a HUGE gap in the iPhone’s app catalog: Turn by Turn GPS navigation. This app, which is “powered by Telenav“, is one of the first apps that I know of that does not bill directly through the iTunes App Store. Instead, the monthly charge of $9.99 will appear on your AT&T bill.

Voice guided turn by turn directions are finally here!  No more hitting the “next” arrow on the Maps app while you rear-end the car in front of you.  So what is the deal with this app?  Does it deliver?  What is the experience like?  Are the directions solid?  What about the business listing database?  Real-time traffic?  How can you use this as a GPS device without multitasking (background running apps)?   Read on for the full review.

AT&T Navigator is currently available on most of the current handsets in the AT&T lineup.  Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon Wireless also have similar navigation services available for about the same price ($9.99 / mo) as well on selected handsets; Some of them also use Telenav as the backbone.    

Entering in the destination:

First, you need to tell the app where you are going.  There are a number of ways to do this.  The most common way will be to either manually type in or use the “call in” feature to load the address.  This app does not currently work with the contacts that are stored in the iPhone, which is a HUGE miss on my opinion.  It should give the option of scrolling through the contacts and select a destination address that way.   AT&T Navigator for BlackBerry for instance, will interface directly with the address book on the device.    The good news here is that the iPhone 3.0 software update allows for cut, copy, and paste, so you could paste the address into the field on the app.  You can also speak the address using a call in feature.  This comes in handy when it is not safe to type on the phone.  The voice recognition worked extremely well for me, it saves the address spoken into the “Recent Places”.  Since it exists the app to make a call for the voice recognition, I thought I would need to re-launch the app manually,  but to my surprise the app re-launched on it’s own and loaded the address that I just spoke as the destination.  “My Favorites” allows you to save frequently used addresses (like home or work) so you can access them quickly and easily.  “Recent Places” keeps an ongoing list of the last destinations for easy access, and you can also enter an address from a web browser at www.navpreplan.com and it will show up directly in the app.   You can also do a business listing search from the app and start your route that way, which is very convenient.  Also, the business listings are updated and current since the app accesses the internet to pull the listings in real time.   Point of intrest (POI)  and business listings can be a huge issue with standalone  GPS devices apps that don’t have an internet connection, since these databases can become outdated quickly.  Since frequent travellers often are going to and from airports, “Airport” is also an option from the first level of the “drive to” screen and works well.   While all the destinatination options are nice,  I still can’t ignore the glaring omission of not being able to access an address from your iPhone contacts. 

Voice Guidance and Routing:

Like G-Map (UPDATE: G-Map’s Western USA voice guided update launched July 2nd, 2009 at $34.99 – one time fee), AT&T Navigator supports true voice guided turn by turn Navigation.   Once the route loads (which happens surprisingly quick compared to other versions of AT&T Navigator) The route starts guiding right away.  The maps look great on the iPhone’s large display, and it is easy to see the street names.    The voice guidance worked and gave plenty of notice before the next turn.  I noticed that the volume of the voice can become a little distorted at the higher settings, but in general it was fine once I dialed it in.  I really liked using this app with my Stereo Bluetooth (A2DP) hands free kit, as the voice guidance sounded much better through my car kit.  You can also play iPod tracks and have the app running at the same time.  It will pause the music or podcast briefly when the app “speaks” to you.  One annoyance is that the volume of the app’s voice was not matched up with the volume of my iPod music, so I had to keep the volume a little lower so the voice guidance wouldn’t be too loud when listening to the iPod at the same time.    The directions were accurate and well done.  The main routing screen gives all the essential information. Next turn is displayed in the upper left, while total distance and ETA is displayed in the upper right.  I found the ETA to be pretty accurate, unless some unexpected traffic slowed me down.  Speaking of traffic, AT&T Navigator supports real-time traffic alerts and offers to avoid if possible.   This is a very nice touch and can come in very handy.  Every few minutes the voice will say “checking route for traffic” and it re-scans the route for possible delays.    If you miss a turn, the re-routing happens quickly. 

Maps:

After seeing the Tom Tom demo at Apple’s recent developer conference, I really liked the way maps and navigation looked in landscape on the iPhone.  AT&T Nav only supports portrait view, so that is a bummer.   As far as the maps themselves, they are downloaded through the cellular data network in real time and not stored on the device,  which has some specific advantages and disadvantages.  For starters, you don’t need to worry about updating the maps like a standalone GPS unit or an app with locally stored maps.    For those who are approaching the memory limits of your iPhone, locally stored maps can also take up HUGE chunks of memory.  G-Map, for instance will take up over 2GB of memory on the device for the entire USA (both East and West apps).  One drawback of loading the maps in real-time is when you are out of AT&T’s coverage area.  With no data connection, a route can’t be loaded.   Once the map is loaded, it can still provide turn by turn directions using GPS if you happen to drive out of coverage AFTER the route is loaded,  but the map will disappear and large arrows indicating next turn will pop up instead.  Once a data connection is restored, the map will re-appear.  I drove into a known AT&T dead-zone in the area (a 4 mile stretch of road with little or zero coverage), but the map didn’t disappear in this instance.  It seems as if this app has a pretty large buffer to store the next few miles of mapping data in case of lost coverage.  On the BlackBerry Bold using the same app, the map would disappear right away when leaving coverage, but not on the iPhone.  Another nice touch is the way the map will show business listings.  They will appear on the map in a similar way that they show up on the default iPhone “Maps” app.

Point of Interest and Business Listings

This is one area where the app really shines.  Food by category is extremely helpful when in an unfamiliar location.    It can find Gas by price, WiFi Hotspots, Bars, Post Offices, all sorted by distance from current location. You can type in a business name directly like the default “Maps” app, but the detailed categories allow the user to discover new places in an easier way.  There is a user ratings system for restaurants, but I didn’t find that particularly helpful since there weren’t a lot of reviews in the database. 

Multi-tasking

So the BIG elephant in the room for me is this:  What happens when you need to make a call?  What if you want to respond to a text message?   What if you need to send a quick “tweet” or update your Facebook status while you are in the middle of a route?  This is a fundamental Apple iPhone OS issue, but it needs to be in the conversation when looking at an app like this.   When an INCOMING call comes in during  a route on AT&T Nav, the app and route will automatically resume when the call is ended.  If the user hits the home button to go to another app during the route, they will need to relaunch the app manually if they need to resume their route.  When re-launching the app, it will first offer to resume any route that wasn’t completed before the app was existed last.   If you need to make a call, one should definitely take into account mileage until next turn so nothing is missed.  It is easy to resume the route by simply launching the app, but frequent users of this app will want to put it on the 1st home screen for easy access to resume the route.   For someone who need to be on frequent calls or accessing data from other apps while on a route, a standalone GPS solution would be much better for them. 

Performance

The app launches relatively quickly and locks onto a GPS signal surprisingly fast when compared to other mobile phone navigation apps.  A window mount and car charger are essential accessories when using the iPhone as a turn by turn GPS solution, and they definitely will make the experience better.   Battery life takes a HUGE hit as expected. 

 Price

For someone who travels frequently in unfamiliar areas, the $9.99 monthly price is a no brain er.  The always updated maps, the real-time traffic, and up to date business listngs are all part of the value of this app. The car rental companies charge almost that much on a DAILY basis to use their standalone unit.    $120 per year is a tough pill to swallow for someone who using this app only a few times per month.   It is important to note that deleting this app will not cancel the $9.99 feature with AT&T.  You must call AT&T or use online customer service to cancel the billing.  The fact that is a monthly feature is nice for someone who is travelling for a couple months.  They could add the feature and remove it at any time, which you can’t do with the standalone GPS units with the large one time hardware costs.  It will be interesting to see how Tom Tom prices their upcoming iPhone app.  Will they offer unlimited  map updates (if they are locally on the device)?  Will they offer real-time traffic alerts and re-routing?    Tom Tom is known for an ultra slick user interface, and from the developer preview at WWDC it looks like the UI will surpass AT&T Navigator.  The ultimate question: Will users pay the premium? 

AT&T Navigator does a very good job with the core functionality of voice guided turn by turn navigation.    I would love to see the iPhone’s contact’s addresses be selectable from within the app, independent volume control of the voice guidance, and  landscape view.  AT&T should also offer an accessory kit with a window mount and car charger in their retail stores.  This is by far the best turn by turn navigation experience available on the iPhone today, but we all know Tom Tom is coming soon.  iPhone users are used to apps costing FREE to  $.99 to $4.99 on average, so this pricing model may be a lot for them to swallow.  The month by month nature of the pricing, however,  makes this app easy to try at any time.   I would give this app a 7.5 out of 10.   Check out the gallery for some screens

Reviewed with:

iPhone 3G 8GB  / OS 3.0

• The shortest/fastest route is not always the best (especially if you already know the area) though this is a minor gripe only as typically you wouldn’t be using G-map in familiar areas
• How long will the map data be viable before going stale?  I’m not sure but am assuming periodic map data updates are planned.

As someone who has been waiting since the launch of the iPhone for turn by turn Navigation support, I was extremely excited to have a look at G-Map for the iPhone.  I recently took a road trip from Southern California all the way up to Seattle Washington with many stops in unfamiliar places along the way, so I thought this would be a great opportunity to put the app through its paces.  If I had to sum up my thoughts of this app into one word: Potential.

Pros:

1. Maps stored locally on the iPhone (not wireless network dependant like services like AT&T Navigator (Telenav) – GREAT for areas with spotty coverage – Maps never lagged
2. The maps looked very good on the iPhone display – with many streets visable and lots of POI (Points of Intrest)
3. COST:  $24.99 for US West (East is also $24.99) with support for future upgrades  (most cell based solutions are $9.99 per month (appx $120 per year) and decent portable GPS running well into the $150 range and beyond)

Cons:

1. No distance until next turn (XRoad GPS has stated that this will be in future versions)
2. No voice directions (XRoad GPS has stated that this will be implemented around the time Apple releases iPhone 3.0 software in June) UPDATE: G-Map’s Western USA voice guided update launched July 2nd, 2009 at $34.99 - one time fee – for new customers, FREE for existing.  Still waiting on a update for the US East version.
3. Only 1 audible tone (beep) before the turn, and the tone does not give enough warning before the turn in many instances (mainly on Freeway junctions) to make the turn.
   
4. An easy to read route summary view is currently not available in this version  – Currently, the route preview is the user watching a fake marker make the trip on the device.  This can only be played at 5X speed so you can imagine how long this would take on long routes! XRoad GPS has stated that a Route Summary list view is coming.

Luckily, I have more than one word to describe G-Map.  To start, finding an address or a city to navigate to is quick and easy.  The route calculates pretty quick as well.  After the route is loaded, there is a lag of a few seconds before the correct mileage to destination and time remaining are displayed.   One drawback is that initially the distance data is based on where the user was the last time they used the application, so it can be misleading for the first few seconds of the route if you are not careful.   A benefit of having maps stored on the device itself is that your route calculates fast and is not dependent on a cellular data connection.  The one price that is paid is in storage space on the phone: This app weighs in at a hefty 943 MB!  It made me wish I had the 16GB iPhone so I wouldn’t need to delete my Dark Knight  movie to make space.   As expected, this application drains the battery VERY QUICKLY.  A car charger is essential to have with this app.

Once you are driving the route it tracks the vehicle relatively well.  One feature that is on the route map is the speed (MPH).  The annoying thing about the speed on the screen is that it jumps back and forth within a 15 MPH range constantly, even when I had the vehicle set at a constant 70 MPH.  It they can’t make the MPH accurate, they should just remove it. Another normally standard feature is next turn preview (which is there) and distance until next turn (which is not)  I found it extremely frustrating not having distance until next turn; this feature should be STANDARD on any GPS Nav.   When I went to look for a route preview to see distance until next turn – it wasn’t there either.  The route preview currently consists of a fast forwarded view of the trip (up to 5X speed)

The application does a good job of recalculating routes when you miss a turn, but I really missed having voice guided directions in busy downtown Seattle.  Having to look at the iPhone every time the app beeped for a turn got to be dangerous on busy unfamiliar freeways.

I didn't actually exit the freeway here in Seattle

I did like how easy it was to pull up the 10 most recent locations that you had found and route to them.  I also found most of the routes efficient and accurate.  There is also a game which gives rewards (special icons) when you arrive at each turn; which  I did not find this helpful at all.   Sometimes when there was a street under of very close to the freeway I was on it would put me on the wrong road then Display an “Oops Sorry”

message on the screen.  Usually, it would get back on the right track relatively quickly.  The POI information was relatively accurate in the areas that I was driving (California, Oregon, and Washington) – It groups food and retail locations into categories to assist in finding what you are looking for.  A feature that used the iPhone’s data connection to give traffic alerts would have been nice.

In summary, XRoad GPS’ G-Map application has a great foundation for success if they address the concern of voice guidance, distance until turn, and a decent route preview.  I was encouraged when I contacted the XRoad and they assured me that all of the above features would be added around the time the 3.0 software update hits in June.   If those features are added, this would be an outstanding portable GPS Nav solution.

July 3 2009  – UPDATE: G-Map’s Western USA voice guided update launched July 2nd, 2009 at $34.99 - one time fee – for new customers, FREE for existing.  Still waiting on a update for the US East version. 

The entire planet knows about Urbanspoon since Apple recently featured it in an iPhone commercial, but what if you’ve already eaten and just want to get wasted? Enter BarSlot… it’s Urbanspoon for boozers!

Just like its food-oriented counterpart, BarSlot lets you shake your iPhone to get a surprise watering hole suggestion. You can also browse local bars by distance or search by name, and most results will provide you with the establishment’s phone number, address, nearby public transit lines or intersections, and business hours. A quick tap will launch the iPhone’s default map application and there’s also tap-to-call.

I wish I could say there’s more to BarSlot, but right now that’s about it. No customer reviews, no sorting by category, and no way to confine your search to an area where you’re not physically located. Hopefully this will all change with some future updates, but for now this app is limited in a lot of ways.

On the plus side, BarSlot does have info on a LOT of places to get bombed. It doesn’t have absolutely everything… there’s a preppy sports bar down the street from me that isn’t listed (aww boohoo)… but thanks to BarSlot I’m just now realizing that there are tons of places within a mile of my apartment that I haven’t been kicked out of yet! If I were living in the suburbs I’m sure it would be a slightly different story, but I could see this app opening up new possibilities for city-dwelling drunks all over America.

Due to its limitations I’m not quite ready to dub BarSlot “the drinker’s best friend”, but right now I think it would qualify as a “good friend” if your plans include vomiting on a very nearby sidewalk (my signature move, btw), and in that sense it’s worth paying a buck to get. If Whatever Software could let us post our own reviews, give us ways to find crappy dive bars that don’t require shoes or class, and let us manipulate the location services, it would be a pretty complete app.

Well this is a first! I’ve been meaning to review this app for a while and, now that I finally get around to it, it looks like the app is up for sale. According to tap tap tap’s blog there’s been some internal stuff happening which has led to Where To? being voluntarily pulled from the App Store (for now) while they look for someone who wants to milk this cash cow.

Even though you can’t go to the App Store and get Where To? right this second, I’ll give you the skinny on it anyway:

It’s good.

I wouldn’t call it “great”, but it certainly qualifies as good. Chances are you’ve seen ads for it right here on this site or elsewhere, and its big claim is that it makes your iPhone act more like a GPS locator, or something like that.

What Where To? really does is give you shortcuts for mapping out the things you want to find on your iPhone’s map application. For example, to find a Thai restaurant in your area (or somewhere else, like near a friend’s house), you would normally have to open the map app, type “Thai restaurant” into the search box, and wait for it to spit up some results.

If you’re trying to find Thai food near your friend’s house across town, you’d have to put in that address first and then do your search. Yeah, pain in the ass.

Instead, with this app you tap the fork & knife icon, scroll down to the ‘T’ section of Food & Drink types, and tap on Thai. At this point you’re given some choices on where to search:

• Where I Am Now
• Current Location in Maps
• One of My Contacts…
• Some Other Location…

If you’re always jonesing for Thai food you can also add this search to Favorites for fast access in the future.

When you finish selecting your search option you get switched over to the iPhone map app and you’re looking at the results for “Thai restaurant”.

Some of you might be thinking pffft I don’t need to pay $2.99 for THAT… but never underestimate the power of suggestion. Where To? includes a lot of categories that might not occur to you when you’re trying to find this or that, kind of like when you flip through the Yellow Pages. These are the major categories included in Where To?:

• Food & Drink
• Entertainment
• Travel & Transportation
• Health & Medical
• Organizations
• Emergency
• Attractions
• Government Offices
• Education
• Services
• Shopping

I don’t know that Where To? lives up to the GPS claim, but it will definitely save you time and maybe even point you in a direction you wouldn’t have thought of on your own. The Food & Drink and Entertainment categories have a “Surprise Me!” option that will choose a subcategory for you just in case you’re tired of the bar scene and would be open to playing racquetball or bingo instead.

Would I pay $2.99 for Where To? If I were one of those people who’s always traveling on business, absolutely. I’d also pay for it if I found myself frequently trying to drive and search at the same time… seriously, this $3 app could save your life if you’re one of those people! Where To? would also be good for anyone who’s incredibly lazy, wants to minimize iPhone typing as much as possible, has an active social life, or all of the above.

I can see why this app has been so successful in the App Store… it may not be very GPS-ey, but it definitely has its uses and can save a lot of people a lot of time.

I hope tap tap tap finds a suitable buyer who will continue to develop Where To? and expand its usefulness, and if a buyer doesn’t surface then hopefully they’ll find a way to keep it alive. It’s a quality app that’s worth the price tag it carries.