Technology

Technology

It’s here. Google Maps for iPhone

13 December 2012 6:32 PM

Get the new Google Maps and say hello to Google search, voice guided navigation, transit directions, Street View, and much more. The new Google Maps application for the iPhone became the most downloaded free item in Apple‘s App Store on Thursday, just hours after its launch.

The long-awaited app launched in the early hours of Thursday morning, finally bringing relief to the millions of iPhone users forced to rely on Apple’s own much-maligned mapping system.

The popularity of Google Maps provided an insight into the unpopularity of Apple’s own attempt at providing a map service. Its launch came after Apple ditched its partnership with Google ahead of the launch of iOS6, the most recently launched operating system for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

“Starting today, we’re pleased to announce that Google Maps is here – rolling out across the world in the Apple App Store. It’s designed from the ground up to combine the comprehensiveness and accuracy of Google Maps with an interface that makes finding what you’re looking for faster and easier.”

Early reviews of Google Maps were overwhelmingly positive. The New York Times described it as “free, fast and fantastic,” concluding that “Google Maps for iPhone is an astonishingly powerful, accurate, beautiful tool“.

The Next Web said the new tool was “pleasantly responsive and feature-rich,” although noted “a few rough spots that suggest it’s been rushed ahead to market“.

The early response to Google Maps is in stark contrast for the widespread despair provoked by Apple’s own attempt at building a mapping system.

Users reported that railway stations had been imagined, the Sears Tower in Chicago had been mislabelled, Paddington Station in London had ceased to exist and searches for ‘London’ directed UK iPhone users to the Canadian London in Ontario, rather than Britain’s teeming metropolis.

Google Maps had been an inbuilt part of the iOS operating system until this year’s update. Apple decided not to renew its licence with Google, reportedly frustrated that Google had refused to allow it access to its voice-directed turn-by-turn navigation and vector graphics for mapping.

The app looks wonderful. It’s easy to navigate and has a very clean interface and it’s free on the App Store.

* You must sign-in with a Google account to bookmark places.

Requirements: Compatible with iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPod touch (3rd generation), iPod touch (4th generation), iPod touch (5th generation) and iPad. Requires iOS 5.1 or later. This app is optimized for iPhone 5.

Instagram web profiles begin to roll out

6 November 2012 8:15 PM

Instagram is to start rolling out a web version of its photo-sharing service, for those who want to share pictures they’ve taken beyond their mobile phone.

In a move that will surprise many that it didn’t already exist, Instagram, now owned by Facebook, will be rolling out Instagram profiles on the web.

“Your web profile features a selection of your recently shared photographs just above your profile photo and bio, giving others a snapshot of the photos you share on Instagram,” says the company, explaining the new feature.

“In addition, you can follow users, comment & like photos and edit your profile easily and directly from the web. It’s a beautiful new way to share your Instagram photos!”

Users can check out other people’s profiles by adding a username after instagram.com – here’s mine.

The company warns that not all users will get the new feature straight away.

“If you don’t see your profile yet, be assured that you’ll see it in the next few days. We’re rolling out profiles to everyone on Instagram over the course of this week.”

Users will be able to share their own profile with anyone they want to see their Instagram photos, while anyone will be able to comment and like photos you’ve shot.

Users worried that the sudden move will mean all their secrets will be shared by everyone shouldn’t be.

“If your photos are set to public, anyone will be able to see your profile by visiting instagram.com/username on the web,” says instagram. “You do not have to be an Instagram user to view a public user’s profile on the web…”

“If your photos are set to private, your photos will be visible only to logged-in Instagram users you’ve allowed to follow you.”

Follow me on Instagram @JordanTBH

Via, pocket-lint

Pirate Bay Blocked? Try 4 Free* VPN Services

4 May 2012 7:50 AM

As you may be aware more than four million subscribers were cut off from www.thepiratebay.se/.org on Wednesday evening. The Pirate Bay has been blocked for Virgin Media after they cut Pirate Bay access for millions of users, (and soon many other Internet service providers such as Sky, O2, Everything Everywhere and TalkTalk) Virgin Media has taken the step of being the first ISP ordered by the High Court to enact the block order placed upon it and the four other big UK providers. Despite this however, the news and publicity generated by the story has caused the torrent linking website to have its biggest ever surge in UK traffic.

The block of TPB looks likely to make little impact in the overall scheme. There are many sites running proxies that allow a simple bypass and anyone serious about accessing it can simply take out a very affordable VPN service, or begin using Tor software. We’ve listed the top 10 free VPN services.

More news on The Pirate Bay being blocked by VirginMedia and shortly by Sky, O2, Virgin Media, TalkTalk and other Internet service providers can be found by clicking here.

“The Pirate Bay’s founders said that users can set up anonymous connections using a virtual provate network (VPN). Alternatively, they can use a closed private network of computers, known as a darknet, or change their DNS settings with OpenDNS.” – Read more on The Pirate Bay’s blog [Proxy Link]

2. OpenDNS – Free VPN
OpenDNS.com – OpenDNS is probably the best and easiest option, by changing your DNS settings follow How do I use OpenDNS and Manage Internal Resources and Virtual Private Networks? for more details.

2. OpenVPN – Free VPN
OpenVPN.net is a SSL/TLS based VPN, it provides high security and privacy. The biggest difference between PPTP VPN and OpenVPN is you need install OpenVPN client software to use OpenVPN service, and OpenVPN DO NOT work on mobile devices such as iPhone, iPad, Windows Mobile and Android. But OpenVPN works on Windows and Mac.
5. CyberGhost – Free VPN service

3. CyberGhost – Free VPN
CyberGhost – is a free VPN service from Germany which helps you route you through a German IP. The free service is limited to 1GB traffic every month, which is more than enough for surfing on websites, chatting and email. The paid service is also affordable.

4. ProXPN – Free VPN
ProXPN – A free VPN service designed for use with Windows and Mac computers. ProXPN works by downloading a small free application from which to connect. The service is also compatible with the iPhone and other mobile phones that support VPN. Interestingly you can use the iPhone setup instructions to make a connection from your PC, useful if you’re a Linux user.

5. It’s Hidden – Free VPN
Its Hidden – Originally established as a safeguard for filesharers, Its Hidden offers a competitive free service as well as paid solutions offering better contention (less users per server), professional support and dedicated IP addresses. Registration is required, and once you’ve signed up you can connect to the service directly through your operating system by following the set-up guide, with no additional software required. The service is compatible with any operating system you happen to be using that supports VPN.

Free things are great, but they’re also subject to a lot of use by the community. If you’re encountering problems with any of the above then you’re just better off moving on and trying another.
If you’re really serious about security (and accessing your home PCs from anywhere) then you’ll probably want to invest in a paid VPN service.

Do you use VPN? Had any luck with free services, or have you gone paid? Let us know in the comments below!.

Google Offers App Comes to Android

3 November 2011 4:18 PM


Google has released an app for its daily deals site Google Offers, making it more convenient for U.S.-based Android users to discover, purchase, and redeem online coupons.

The app offers the same deals as its Google Offers beta Web site; today’s deal is $15 for $25 worth of REI outdoor gear. You can purchase the deal through the app and flash your phone to redeem it at the merchant. The app also stores all your offers and alerts you when they’re about to expire.

An iOS version will come … eventually. “iPhone users, stay tuned because Offers is coming soon to the App store” Google said.

Download Google Offers version 1.0 at the Android Market. It requires Android 2.1 and 1.4MB of space.

Last week, Google Offers announced cross-promotion deals with 14 other daily deals sites, and will send an email of offers from partners like Gilt City, Dealfind, DoodleDeals, GolfNow, HomeRun, Juice in the City, kgbdeals, Mamapedia, Plum District, PopSugar Shop, ReachDeals, Active.com Schwaggle, TIPPR, and zozi.

Yesterday, Google faced some heat when its highly anticipated native Gmail app for iOS was launched with numerous problems, forcing the company to withdraw the app.

iTunes 10.5 – Now available for download

11 October 2011 7:01 PM

Summary: Full of iCloud goodness.

Ahead of tomorrow’s release of iOS 5 and iCloud, Apple has released an update for iTunes.

iTunes in the Cloud
iTunes now stores your music and TV purchases in iCloud and makes them available on your devices anywhere, any time, at no additional cost.

Automatic Downloads
Purchase music from any device or computer and automatically download a copy to your Mac and iOS devices.

Download Previous Purchases
Download your past music, TV, app, and book purchases again, at no additional cost. (Previous purchases may be unavailable if they are no longer on the iTunes Store)

Sync More
Sync with your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with iOS 5.

Wi-Fi Syncing
Automatically sync your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with iTunes any time they’re both on the same Wi-Fi network.

iTunes 10.5 brings with it compatibility with iOS 5 and iCloud, and adds support for the iTunes Match part of the iCloud service.

iTunes Match is a $24.99/year subscription service that allows users to have their entire music library synced with Apple’s database of over 20 million tracks, making those songs available for use on any iCloud-enabled device. If a particular track isn’t available on iTunes, don’t worry, it can be uploaded so it too is available to all your devices.

If you’re going to be upgrading to iOS 5 tomorrow then you will need this update, so get it now rather than having to fight it out tomorrow.

Updated (07:01PM) with information on Windows-specific elements of iTunes 10.5
ITunes 10.5 requires Mac OS X 10.5 or later. On the Windows side, iTunes patches a slew of vulnerabilities, including several that could allow a remote attacker to execute malicious code. iTunes 10.5 also marks the first time an iTunes installation on Windows doesn’t include (or require) QuickTime.