location

MotionX GPS Drive for iPhone

In the face of a few solid free navigation apps for the iPhone, such as Bing or MapQuest, MotionX GPS Drive would seem to have trouble justifying its price, even at only 99 cents. But it has proven a popular enough navigation app that Pioneer integrated it with the AppRadio head unit.

Two features of MotionX GPS Drive give it an edge over the free apps, its destination search capabilities and the ability to preload maps. MotionX GPS Drive is a connected navigation app, meaning it relies on an iPhone's data connection to get its maps. However, it is … Read more

Find friends easily with Space-time app

There are any number of apps that can help you pinpoint a friend's location, but they all have one thing in common: they require that friend to have the same app installed and running, and usually to sign up with YAS (Yet Another Service).

And don't forget, it's a two-way street: you have to run the app yourself, and leave it running all the time -- a pretty big drain on the ol' smartphone battery.

Enter Space-time for iOS, a clever cross-platform locator app that runs only when you need it to and requires no installation or … Read more

Wireless providers side with cops over users on location privacy

The nation's largest wireless providers oppose a proposed California location privacy law that would require police to obtain search warrants to track a wireless customer's whereabouts, CNET has learned.

They're criticizing a new state bill, S.B. 1434, that would require a judge to approve requests for location tracking except in certain emergency situations. S.B. 1434 would also require wireless providers to divulge "the number of times location information has been disclosed," and how many times they rejected police requests.

Their criticism comes as concerns about warrantless location surveillance, a practice that the Obama … Read more

1.5 million card numbers stolen

Links from Monday's episode of Loaded:

1.5M card numbers compromised Comcast, Time Warner don't allow access to HBO Go on Xbox and Roku Free Photoshop CS6 preview Angry Birds cartoon series Developer defends Girls Around Me app Subscribe:  iTunes (MP3) |  iTunes (320x180) |  iTunes (HD) |  RSS (MP3) |  RSS (320x180) |  RSS HD

Facebook closes down Gowalla

Gowalla has checked out.

Three months after Facebook acquired the maker of a location-sharing app for mobile devices, Gowalla has closed up shop.

Gowalla posted a note yesterday on its Web site informing users of the closure and letting them know they will soon be able to download their person data:

"Thank you for going out with Gowalla. It was a pleasure to journey with you around the world. Download your check-ins, photos and lists here soon."

The app, which launched in 2009 at the South By Southwest conference, reportedly had about 600,000 users a year ago. … Read more

How to troubleshoot a 'stuck' location indicator on iOS

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iOS 5 brought along with it the capability for apps to access your location in the background. An indicator is present when an app is pulling your location, but sometimes that indicator is on for no apparent reason. In this short video I cover how to figure out which app is causing the indicator to be present, and how to fix it.

If you aren't a video type of person, here's what you need to do.

Open the Settings app. Select Location Services. Find an app with a purple indicator next to the toggle switch. This … Read more

iOS security loophole lets apps grab user photos

An iOS security feature that lets users share information about their location can also be a conduit for those applications to surreptitiously grab user photos, according to a new report.

The New York Times' Bits blog today details how developers can gain access to a user's entire photo library through the same user dialog window that requests access to a user's current location. When users click the OK button, the report says, the developer can then copy photos--complete with GPS metadata--to a remote server, without alerting users to the fact.

Before wrapping your iPhone in tinfoil and throwing … Read more

Localmind gooses location-advice service by broadening focus

Localmind is an intriguing little mobile app that has big potential.

It's a live Q&A service (see Quora, Answers, the departed Aardvark) about locations (see Foursquare, Facebook). If you want to know how crowded a bar or restaurant is, you pose the question on Localmind. People (but not all of them) who have checked in at that location on Foursquare get an alert and can reply to your query. Hopefully, you get your answer back quickly enough to matter.

The app was launched at SxSW last year, and it's great for arenas like that; a lot … Read more

HipGeo weaves travel pics, maps into collage

If you love sharing your travel stories and photos, road-tripping app HipGeo recently got a redesign that lets users document and share their experiences with remarkable ease.

The free iPhone and iPad app from Los Angeles-based HipGeo passively records your location as you travel. It can then mash your pics and comments into an animated map and travel diary for sharing.

The app tags photos, adds captions, and pinpoints its location on a map. You can share by logging on to the HipGeo site and clicking on "create and share trip." Dead simple. … Read more