As the month of April comes to an end, the App Store continues to grow steadily within a range of 100-250 new location based applications weekly. Some of the coolest apps came from the Social Networking Category this week.

Tubulous Global Social Podcasting is a social network created exclusively for iPhone and iTouch users to import all previous podcasts and sync them with Tubulous to reach a whole new audience.  The app features WPS-based channel viewing, built-in Twitter support, on-the-go audio entries, comments, private messaging, friend lists and favorite channels.

Knektr is a social networking application that combines geo-location with Facebook.  This application shows the location of all the user’s Facebook friends and shows the latest profile pictures and status.  It also updates location in real time so you can be found and your friends can easily be found too.  Facebook is one of the most downloaded applications in the app store, adding location to the mix of social networking without having to join another social networking site makes the potential for this application to blow up, huge.

Cocktail Compass comes to us from the Lifestyle category.  This application finds the happiest happy hours in the area along with a countdown to how long you have until happy hour is over. The app also features reviews, listings on extras such as if the bar has wifi or patio seating, and a Cabs icon to call a cab home at the end of the night. The application is only available in Portland and Seattle, but would be a welcome addition in other cities as well.

Finally, iPlanet! was released this week and it will be interesting to see if it perhaps will echo the popularity of Sonic Lighter from a few months prior as both are a social experiment using location based services.  The difference with iPlanet! is it is an application that not only lights up your location on a map for all other iPlanet! users to see, but it also serves as an environmental statement by those working to make the planet greener. In addition, other developers within the app community can benefit by using the application to make more informed decisions about the geographical distribution of iPhone and iTouch users for future efforts in local markets.

By Courtney Teeling

Apple has officially reached its 1 billionth application download from the App Store this month, a huge milestone considering the store opened in July 2008, just nine months ago.  These 1 billion downloads span an impressive 35,000 applications available for download with 2,000 of these, almost 6% of the store, being location aware.

Plenty of new applications are using location in fun and exciting ways this week.  UpNext 3D NYC is an interactive 3D map to explore Manhattan.  UpNext allows the user to glide easily through Manhattan while along the way exhibiting restaurants, shops and nightlife that are highly rated or local favorites.  Tap a building to see all the stores inside or tap a train station to see all the trains passing through.  Search through 50+ categories to find the best of everything in the city.

On the collegiate level, B.U. Bus and Rover are both brand new applications in the Travel category.  B.U. Bus is ideal for Boston University students to locate the closest bus stop on campus and the estimated departure time of the next shuttle.  Night and weekend schedules are also available as well as the option to translate less known cross street names to more recognizable B.U. names, making stops easier to find.  Rover: The Unofficial Guide to Life at Harvard takes reviews on restaurants, bars and stores in Cambridge and Boston and packages them into one application that displays the reviews based on location.  There is a live feed on local deals and discounts and a one tap step to ensure easy dining reservations.

Drizzle and WeatherStick are the two newest location-aware applications in the Weather category.  Drizzle keeps track of weather all over the world and also the user’s current location.  Drizzle can report 10 day forecasts, switch between imperial and metric units, and display a 24 hour or 12 hour clock.  WeatherStick is based upon an ancient system used for centuries by the Abenaki Indians to accurately predict the weather using sticks crafted from a balsam fir tree.  It is said the stick will turn upwards when weather is good and down when inclement weather is approaching.  While the application obviously does not use an actual weather stick, it uses a fun graphic to add an extra bit of entertainment to viewing the local weather report.  The application will display weather conditions closest to the user’s location.

By Courtney Teeling

Location-aware iPhone apps are booming the App Store. In just three months, the number of location based iPhone apps has doubled from 1,000 to 2,000. And now over 75% of location-aware apps are paid.

Lucky At Your Service is the first shopping application of its kind.  Shop Lucky Magazine’s favorite products on the iPhone and then the app will track down the product closest nearby, check availability, and place them on hold to try on or to pick up same day.  The apps’ main feature is the concierge service that checks the availability and then gets back to the user within ten minutes via email or text!  The app currently features only handbags and shoes, but will most likely expand in the future.

I♥Concerts is for music enthusiasts everywhere or anyone looking to discover new music in their area or while visiting a new city.  This application searches concerts and shows within 50 miles of current location.  The application also shows listings up to two weeks in advance and allows the user to click on each band listed to find out more information about them prior to the show. There are also maps to over 11,000 venues in 4,500 cities worldwide with more being added.

StaySafe takes a note from websites that allow one to enter their address and look up all sex offenders living in close proximity by doing the same thing using location awareness.  This application tracks sex offenders in all 50 states and analyzes the risk at a user’s precise location. StaySafe shows pictures and descriptions of every offender and tells what offenses they have committed.   This application is ideal when searching for a new home or apartment, figuring out a new jogging route, and knowing the safety of local parks.

By Courtney Teeling

Today Skyhook released results of a survey of location-based mobile application developers, revealing that less than 10% of LBS developers plan to port apps to Palm and Symbian.  On the contrary, over half (58%) of non-Android developers will port to Android, and 40% of non-iPhone developers will port to iPhone.  The differences between interest in the four major platforms are stark.  Compared with the high percentage of interest in the iPhone and Android platforms, Palm and Symbian seem to be off the radar altogether.

While in the past location has been limited to navigation apps, these developers are using location in 21 different types of apps like games, business, photography, education and even healthcare.  Today, nearly every app available can find good use in the addition of a location feature.

The survey also detailed developers’ need for high quality and exact positioning location results.  Today’s LBS app developers require location platforms that quickly and precisely determine user location: 73% require very fast location results, and 73% require exact positioning.  Additionally, location performance is most important in metropolitan areas and indoors: only 3% want results at a broader city level.

These statistics speak volumes in that they show the desperate need for all platforms to provide developers with the best location available.  Developers understand that their users are no longer satisfied with location results that are not instant and exact, and are therefore only porting to the platforms that can provide this.

The Travel category has continually increased in popularity over the past few weeks, with the majority of this increase coming directly from location based applications.  There were almost 100 new applications in Travel this week and nearly 200 new location apps overall.

Potholes not only uses location to reveal all those pesky dips in the road that wreak havoc on your car, but it also reports them so repair crews know where to find them so that they can be fixed.  The application sends longitude and latitude information anonymously and also has the option to include a photo of the pothole and a brief description.  It also shows all potholes within seven miles of current location.

Sooshi is a brand new social networking tool that allows the user to stay up-to-date with friends, contacts, and those close by.  It is slightly different than other social networking applications that use location because it features an option to select the distance you can be seen or that you want to see. Instant messages can be broadcast within a chosen distance and the app can be directly linked to Twitter, Flicker, Face book, LinkedIn, Tumbler and Del.icio.us sites.

MeetWays helps people find a halfway point between two locations.  If meeting up with far away friends, business clients or organizing a Craigslist purchase meet-up point, MeetWays will find the location exactly in the middle and give listings of local nearby businesses.  Furthermore, there is an option to enter type of interest to streamline the search, favorite searches can be saved, and the application currently works in more than 25 countries.

By Courtney Teeling