Andy Rubin, VP of Engineering at Google and head of the Android project has revealed an updated version of Google Maps this week, version 5.
GM5 will be released “in a matter of days,” and most Android users should be able to download it, free, at that point.
Coming with the Maps update will be the end of tiling, which Unwired explains “essentially involves stitching several flat images or maps together and can wreak havoc on map loading times.”
GM5 will use vectors, which brings the ability to see maps in 3D. For anyone who has used Google Earth on their Android device knows, Maps will now let you tilt and rotate any map with your fingers.
Equally as notably is the addition of offline caching, making those long trips to areas with data deadzones less scary. Besides keeping the map/route on file, the offline cache will also be able to reroute if you miss that exit and don’t have continuous data.
The update will be available for all Android devices with 2.2, and possibly for all with 2.1, as well.
Result for: offline
At the end of October, Applidium released an updated VLC for iOS, finally giving iPhone and iPod Touch owners a chance to use the popular media player on their devices.
The move followed Applidium’s 1.0 version of the software which runs on the iPad.
Today, it has become clear that a possible licensing conflict may force the app offline.
PCWorld explains:
In addition to being free in the sense that it costs nothing, VLC is also open-source software developed collaboratively under the GNU Public License (GPL), which is designed to promote the creation of software that can be freely modified and redistributed by anyone, as long as they do so in compliance with the license.
In order to maintain the freedom of the software it protects, the GPL imposes several conditions under which redistribution may take place; in particular, the redistribution of the software must be unrestricted under any circumstance, allowing any user to give another user a functional copy under the same original terms.
Regular VLC contributor Rémi Denis-Courmont has said, however, that the iOS App Store violates the aforementioned terms because it uses proprietary DRM to make sure users do not redistribute apps obtained through the store. Denis-Courmont says he has now filed a copyright complaint with Apple, asking the software be removed from the store.
Apple has yet to respond but the software is still available and if you want it, chances are you should download it now.
Result for: offline
Yesterday, AT&T announced new data plans for their smartphone line, including the iPhone and iPad tablet, which will be less expensive for customers, but will also limit data use. The carrier also eliminated its unlimited plans for new subscribers starting June 7th.
Slacker, the online radio service, has announced today that iPhone supported offline playback is now available, giving Slacker Radio Plus subscribers the chance to download up to “thousands” of audio tracks from custom stations then listen to it later without the need for an active Internet connection.
The music caching feature has been standard on Android and BlackBerry devices since earlier this year.
Slacker’s announcement is great news for future iPhone owners, who may be fans of streaming music but will be trapped with capped 3G data thanks to the new data plans. Slacker subscribers can now download the music they want while connected to a home wireless network or a Wi-Fi hotspot, and then play it back later while saving bandwidth.
All that is needed for current Slacker subscribers is to download the updated Slacker 2.0 app.
