iPhone 2.2 beta to add public transit & walking directions

[AppleInsider]

The next version of Apple's iPhone software will not only introduce Street Views to the handset's Maps application, but also provide bus, train and walking directions, a series of new photos reveal.

Public Transit Directions

iPhoneYap has posted an extensive screenshot gallery from iPhone Software 2.2 beta 2, released Friday, which offers a walkthrough and detailed descriptions of the new features.

When set in Directions mode, Maps now offers three icons -- car, public transit, and walking -- centered at the top of screen, in between the "Edit" and "Start" buttons. Selecting the transit icon provides a list of transit choices that can include subways, buses, or a combination of the two.

A list of departure times and estimated commute times accompany each transit option. Once you select a particular method of transit, the Maps application will serve up step-by-step directions from your current location, usually directing you to your chosen departure subway or bus stop on foot. During commutes, Maps will specify when you should board or disembark from a bus or train.

Screenshots of iPhone 2.2 beta 2 showing public transit directions | Source: iPhoneYap.com

Street View

Meanwhile, Street views on the iPhone will let you view street-level photographs, just as they would at maps.google.com. To activate the feature, iPhoneYap reports that you simply need to "drop a pin or click a searched location to get the tooltip to popup from the pin." The tooltip popup then serves as a gateway to the Street View interface.

Once in Street View, you'll notice two options in a bar at the top of the screen: "Report" and "Done." A small navigation circle showing your current location (on a map) overlays each Street View photograph.

Screenshots of iPhone 2.2 beta 2 showing Street Views | Source: iPhoneYap.com

Location Sharing

One final feature noticed in the new version of Maps is location sharing. Selecting the "Share Location" option of an address will auto-fill an email with a hyperlink to the location, which will automatically launch and load in Maps application of the recipient, assuming they too have an iPhone.

Screenshots of iPhone 2.2 beta 2 showing Share Location | Source: iPhoneYap.com

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[SpamSandwich]

Dammit. I would have paid another $100-150 for my touch if Apple had included a real functional GPS in it. Still not getting the iPhone until others carry it.

[dagamer34]

I've been wondering if those metro icons were actually useful or not. And does anyone know if Google is just supporting a few Metro systems are actively advocating getting information from all Metro bus systems? Limited or wide-spread support would be the difference form novelty to must-have.

[Xian Zhu Xuande]

Public transit sounds awesome! For them to include it the system must be reliable enough for the information to be meaningful, one would think. Now this is something I am really looking forward to.

[jeeper]

zzzzz. Apple please wake me up when you get around to putting something significant, something 80% of users are waiting for since version 2.0

PUSH technology.

[Virgil-TB2]

Originally Posted by Xian Zhu Xuande

Public transit sounds awesome! For them to include it the system must be reliable enough for the information to be meaningful, one would think. Now this is something I am really looking forward to.

I predict that (like pretty much all "location aware" iPhone software), it will be accurate in California and New York, reasonably so in the rest of the USA and absolutely useless for the rest of the world.

Just sayin.

[nagromme]

I assume the "Report" button is for use in the event that you see a naked man or crime-in-progress in Street View?

Originally Posted by Virgil-TB2

I predict that (like pretty much all "location aware" iPhone software), it will be accurate in California and New York, reasonably so in the rest of the USA and absolutely useless for the rest of the world.

Just sayin.

You can probably judge it by Google maps, since that's the service Apple's using. I don't live in CA or NY, nor any huge city, but my maps functionality is accurate and detailed. Street View even (medium-sized city).

[Virgil-TB2]

Originally Posted by nagromme

... You can probably judge it by Google maps, since that's the service Apple's using. I don't live in CA or NY, nor any huge city, but my maps functionality is accurate and detailed. Street View even (medium-sized city).

The maps are pretty accurate, although street view is certainly not everywhere yet.

I was referring more to the plethora of apps that tell you what movie theatres, restaurants, or those that tell you what's on TV in your area etc. They don't seem to work outside of the USA (or work well anyway), and they form an absolutely huge percentage of apps in the app store.

The comment about the accuracy of the transit info in the previous post was what I was focussing on. It would be nice, but I am not counting on it being accurate or indeed even available in my area for years.

Sometimes when you live in a large US city, you lose track of the perspective the rest of the world has on these sorts of things. I think Apple and Google employees are no different in that respect.

[rei_vilo]

Well...

And what about sync-ed notes and to-do list? Are there coming at last

[8CoreWhore]

Wow! I'm all over this! Love it!

[Feynman]

The Walk feature is huge, since I do not have a car and all

[smokeonit]

Originally Posted by Virgil-TB2

I predict that (like pretty much all "location aware" iPhone software), it will be accurate in California and New York, reasonably so in the rest of the USA and absolutely useless for the rest of the world.

Just sayin.

location services is very accurate in the E.U., europe that... for americans it has to be spelled out... otherwise comments like the one quoted above would not be made... LOL...

[smokeonit]

and google is scanning for street view in europe in germany, UK, france, spain and italy right now...

in australia, japan, new zealand, singapore as well...

flickr group about street view: http://www.flickr.com/groups/googlestreetviewcar/

just look @ the group map or the discussion area...

[techno]

Originally Posted by Virgil-TB2

The maps are pretty accurate, although street view is certainly not everywhere yet.

I was referring more to the plethora of apps that tell you what movie theatres, restaurants, or those that tell you what's on TV in your area etc. They don't seem to work outside of the USA (or work well anyway), and they form an absolutely huge percentage of apps in the app store.

The comment about the accuracy of the transit info in the previous post was what I was focussing on. It would be nice, but I am not counting on it being accurate or indeed even available in my area for years.

Sometimes when you live in a large US city, you lose track of the perspective the rest of the world has on these sorts of things. I think Apple and Google employees are no different in that respect.

I think this may have been true 6 months to a year ago. But not so much any more. I live in Montreal, Canada and have no problems at all with locating restaurants, theaters, etc in google maps, or other specialized apps. "Now Playing" is a great a movie theatre app that is accurate here.

[smokeonit]

and google already supplies tram and bus info in many european cities! the info i checked was very accurate...

even in cities that are 300-500k... threshold is 100k i think, @ least in germany...

[techno]

Finally, the Maps app is showing some signs of maturity.

[smokeonit]

Originally Posted by techno

I think this may have been true 6 months to a year ago. But not so much any more. I live in Montreal, Canada and have no problems at all with locating restaurants, theaters, etc in google maps, or other specialized apps. "Now Playing" is a great a movie theatre app that is accurate here.

i think the movie theater thing is north america specific... there's nothing like that or a working API for movie theaters to use and share their data... also the highway traffic data is not easily accessible by private parties... the traffic feature in google maps does not work in europe... huge bummer...

i use "exposure", "aroundme" and "trapster" all work in germany and all over euroe, and they deliver very accurate info...

i use twinkle for twitter on iphone and there's a ton of people using twinkle in my area...!!!

[smokeonit]

i think street view will be huge in the coming years... i wonder what cool apps will take advantage of it;-)

[Slewis]

Null.

[el3ktro]

Originally Posted by Virgil-TB2

I predict that (like pretty much all "location aware" iPhone software), it will be accurate in California and New York, reasonably so in the rest of the USA and absolutely useless for the rest of the world.

Just sayin.

Ah come on, don't pretend the US is the only developed country in the world. Google Maps is accurate and has lots of information also in Europe. In Cologne where I live even the smallest shops and cafes can be found using the Maps application. I'm really looking forward to these news features.

[JeffDM]

Originally Posted by Virgil-TB2

Sometimes when you live in a large US city, you lose track of the perspective the rest of the world has on these sorts of things. I think Apple and Google employees are no different in that respect.

So far, I think the top 50 US metropolitan areas are on Street View. Street View is available for some parts of Japan too, there was a bit of a fufurah about it a couple months ago.

[smokeonit]

Originally Posted by JeffDM

So far, I think the top 50 US metropolitan areas are on Street View. Street View is available for some parts of Japan too, there was a bit of a fufurah about it a couple months ago.

france is online now, paris, toulouse, marseille and nice.

Uk, germany, spain and italy will go online the next 1 or 2 months!!!

for a list of cities outside the US: http://www.flickr.com/groups/googles...7606121546238/

check out the pool map, since most photos have been geotagged;-)

Sightings in the EU were in (Opel Astra all of EU):


Germany:
Berlin (pool)
Bochum (pool)
Bodensee/Lake Constance Region (Südliches/Southern Württemberg, Landstrasse/Rural Highway)
Bonn
Bremen
Köln/Cologne (pool)
Darmstadt
Dortmund (pool)
Duisburg (pool)
Essen
Frankfurt
Gütersloh (pool)
Hamburg (pool)
Heidelberg
Hilden (pool) (near Düsseldorf)
Karlsruhe (pool)
Leipzig (pool)
Ludwigshafen
Mannheim (pool)
München/Munich (pool)
Nürnberg/Nuremberg (pool)
Potsdam
Stuttgart (pool)
Wiesbaden
Worms



France:
Aix en Provence
Burgundy (pool)
La Ciotat, Marseille, Cote d'Azur (pool)
Montbrison, Rhone-Alpes (near St. Etienne) (pool) (driver standing on top of Googlenetta)
Montpellier (pool)
Nice (pool)
Paris (pool)
Strasbourg (pool)
Toulon (pool)
Versailles (pool)



UK:
Beeston (pool)
Birmingham (pool)
Bristol (pool)
Brentford (pool)
Bury (pool)
Cardiff (pool)
Catherine-de-Barnes (pool)
Colwick (pool)
Coventry (pool)
Cwmbran, Wales (pool)
Edinburgh (pool)
Exeter, Wales (pool)
Forres, Scotland (pool)
Glasgow (pool)
High Wycomb (pool)
Inverness
Kensington (pool)
Leeds (pool)
Liverpool (pool)
Littleborough (pool)
London/Londres (pool)
Manchester (pool)
Norwich (pool)
Nottingham (pool)
Oxford (pool)
Plymouth
Portishead (pool)
Sheffield (pool) (3 Googlenettas and next to them their respective drivers on the side of the road)
Shepperton
Ullapool
York (pool)



Spain:
Barcelona (pool)
Madrid (pool)
Sevilla (pool)
Valencia (pool)


Italy:
Firenze/Florence (pool)
Milano/Milan/Mailand (pool)
Roma/Rome/Rom (pool)
Torino/Turin) (pool)

Netherlands:
Amsterdam (pool) (one of the Amsterdam photos shows the Google HQ with various Googlenettas getting ready for spain)
Apeldoorn (pool)
Den Haag/The Hague (pool)
Rotterdam (pool)
Zutphen (near Appeldorn) (pool)

Australia (Holden Astra):
Sydney (pool)
Albany
Brisbane (pool)
Kojonup (pool)
Perth

New Zealand (Holden? Astra):
Napier (pool)

Japan (Toyota Prius):
Kobe
Nagayo (pool)
Okinawa (pool)
Osaka
Tokyo (pool)

Mexico (Pontiac G6):
Mexico City (pool)

Singapore (Opel Astra):
Bishan (pool)

[satchmo]

No mention of text-to-speech?
Would be nice not having to buy a separate Garmin GPS.

[smokeonit]

Originally Posted by satchmo

No mention of text-to-speech?
Would be nice not having to buy a separate Garmin GPS.

yes, it's just ridiculous to know that tomtom has a solution ready, but apple is stonewalling them...

and to release a bluetooth stack that allows us iphone 2G users to pair a bluetooth GPS mouse... i would love to be able to keep using my tomtom BT GPS... and just buy the navigator package for iphone 2G/3G...they can charge for the BT stack, but apple, for god's sake, don;t leave the 2G users behind...!!! and the BT stack that would enable BT GPS for 2G users is not a big deal!!!!

[irnchriz]

Originally Posted by smokeonit

yes, it's just ridiculous to know that tomtom has a solution ready, but apple is stonewalling them...

And you know this how??

[shokk]

So
freakin
awesome!

[noirdesir]

Originally Posted by Slewis;1330282
[url

http://www.google.com/transit[/url]

For Switzerland, by far the best app for any kind of public transport is GottaGo!, it uses your current location to find bus stops, train stations and the like near you, finds all buses, trams, trains in all cities and villages (you can get everywhere by public transport in Switzerland). It provides a link to Maps to provide a path from your current location to the bus stop etc. It suggests while you type possible matches for your destination using both all names of cities and bus stops but also your address book.

Google currently only uses the national train network and the public transport in the biggest agglomeration in Switzerland (Zurich).

[smokeonit]

Originally Posted by irnchriz

And you know this how??

because tomtom made an official statement saying they have tomtom navigator running on jailbroken iphones... (beta, only for employees!!!)...

[smokeonit]

Originally Posted by irnchriz

And you know this how??

http://arstechnica.com/journals/appl...iphone-gps-app

that's what came up in google as #1 hit... but there also reports that quote the name of the tomtom person....

[skyman375]

Push? Is it September already?

Also, how about the stuff that should have been there from day 1?
*Cut and paste
*Video recording
*Continuous updating mode in Google maps (i.e. a moving map view)

How about fixing the ridiculous load times for contacts (still!!!) and maps?

And how about something really cool, like a Garmin or Tom-Tom interface for use as an in-car GPS?
Maybe a Gmail app too? Voice dialing?

[Tenchi211]

...and STILL no GPS Navigation...or voice dialing. The wait continues. Sigh...

[Donathius]

Originally Posted by skyman375

Push? Is it September already?

Also, how about the stuff that should have been there from day 1?
*Cut and paste
*Video recording
*Continuous updating mode in Google maps (i.e. a moving map view)

How about fixing the ridiculous load times for contacts (still!!!) and maps?

And how about something really cool, like a Garmin or Tom-Tom interface for use as an in-car GPS?
Maybe a Gmail app too? Voice dialing?

Isn't the continuous updating in Google Maps already there? I can walk down the street with my Phone in hand and watch the blue bubble move - or driving, does the same thing.

[jbella]

Originally Posted by rei_vilo

Well...

And what about sync-ed notes and to-do list? Are there coming at last

Want synced notes and to-do list?

Try Evernote and Zenbe Lists

[jbella]

Originally Posted by smokeonit

because tomtom made an official statement saying they have tomtom navigator running on jailbroken iphones... (beta, only for employees!!!)...

Notice that they said that they had it running on an iPhone.

They never said they had a finished product. "Having it running" can mean anything from: "the system comes up and I shows my position on a map without crashing too much" to "the system is feature complete and ready to go."

Given that this was early on.. I would more likely believe the former.

They also certainly never said that Apple was stonewalling them.

[slapppy]

So this is priority for Apple vs the really useful features asked since day one of the iPhone. What's next? An even new calculator?

[Gee4orce]

Originally Posted by Donathius

Isn't the continuous updating in Google Maps already there? I can walk down the street with my Phone in hand and watch the blue bubble move - or driving, does the same thing.

In order to do turn by turn navigation, the iPhone has to be able to tell the software what the current speed and heading is (so that the software can predict the course, and anounce the directions in good time).

Well, guess what's back in iPhone OS 2.2 b2 ? Yup - speed and direction.

So, I expect to see turn-by-turn GPS very soon after it's released

[smokeonit]

Originally Posted by Donathius

Isn't the continuous updating in Google Maps already there? I can walk down the street with my Phone in hand and watch the blue bubble move - or driving, does the same thing.

YES! since 2.0 the google maps "locate me" function does auto update your position... but the button has to be blue, once you move the map or hit the button and it turns grey the auto mode is off, you have to hit the button again, turning it blue, and auto follow mode is on again!

and you can check WPS (wifi positioning) coverage here: http://skyhookwireless.com/howitworks/coverage.php
or here
http://www.loki.com/support/coverage-map
coverage is very good in the US, canada, UK, germany, france, italy and most other E.U. countries... just check the map if you travel somewhere to find out if you will be able to rely on your iphone and WPS;-)

[smokeonit]

Originally Posted by Gee4orce

In order to do turn by turn navigation, the iPhone has to be able to tell the software what the current speed and heading is (so that the software can predict the course, and anounce the directions in good time).

Well, guess what's back in iPhone OS 2.2 b2 ? Yup - speed and direction.

So, I expect to see turn-by-turn GPS very soon after it's released

you mean that tomtom will be allowed to run their navigator on the iphone? or that apple/google will sell/offer their own solution???

i think the whole thing with turn-by-turn is about money!!! i think apple is catching up and does not allow tomtom/garmin to offer s/w for the iphone, they want to make those BIG $$$/€€€ themselves!!!

[nvidia2008]

Just wanted to mention for those with a Singapore iPhone 3G used in Malaysia with Maxis telco, you need to keep it at 2.0.2 for 3G connectivity. I ran into problems with the 2.1 update. Unless someone found a workaround/solution to this issue?

Notwithstanding, the iPhone 3G, is the best mobile phone I have ever used, of course... (yes call me a fan boy, etc. etc. etc... then go * yourself).

Bring on the 2.2 update, yeah...

[tmedia1]

Originally Posted by jbella

Want synced notes and to-do list?

Try Evernote and Zenbe Lists

Neither one of these actually syncs to do's with iCal to do's, THATS what we're all waiting for!