Augmented reality is rapidly becoming the new buzzword of the software industry. The concept is to overlay information on a real-world image using, or instance, the camera on the iPhone 3GS.
The augmented reality system makes heavy use of a combination of other features too, such as GPS tracking, the Internet and - perhaps most importantly of all - the new digital compass built into the iPhone hardware upgrade.
Examples of an augmented reality would be looking at a street through the iPhone's camera while the application were always the location of friends, or bus stops, other geographical information as you move the handset around, adding a digital layer to the real world around you.
Developers are apparently itching to start putting this concept to use in their iPod applications, though Apple apparently isn't quite so keen. According to LA Times, the iPhone manufacturer has told developer Acrossair (which created the Nearest Tube train finder application) but it won't be approving any augmented reality applications until version 3.1 on iPhone software has been released.
The update is expected around September, and in the meantime, here's a video demonstrating the sort of applications augmented reality could be put to.
Didn't 3.0 just get released? I think this is another anti-Jailbreak attempt...
Apple needs to jailbreak about 30-40 iPhone 3GS's, give them to interns/testers, and incorporate about 85% of the stuff that is on Cydia.
Its funny how extremely useful the hacked programs are. That's hacked not illegal/stolen.
SBSettings, quickSMS, Winterboard, Poof (included in sbsettings), AppBackup, Cycorder (iPhone 2G/3G), and MxTube (soon to be obsolete because of a native YouTube add-on) are just some programs I use that should be included in the stock setup.
HECK! If SBSettings, quickSMS, Winterboard, AppBackup, and Cycorder were included with every iPhone out of the box there would be no reason to jailbreak!
OS 3.1 is going to include a proper public API for messing around with the live camera data, so it's not just about stopping jailbreaking.
Not that I think Apple care too much about jailbreaking - they didn't exactly try hard to stop it with 3.0. And the amount of money they earn from people daft enough to get an iphone + 2yr contract, they're hardly going to notice the drop in revenue from hacked devices.
Hacked devices? How would that cause a drop in revenue? The only reason Apple wants to stop jailbreaking is to keep an iron grip on its devices and how they are used.
True, a small portion of the hacking community uses an application that enables users to steal legitimate App Store apps. But that is a minority of the jailbreak community.
And yes, I still see 3.1 as an anti-jailbreak move. Have you read the list of updates that will be included with 3.1? Check out modmyi.com or ipodtouchfans for info.
And yes, the 3GS was a PITA to jailbreak - so much so that the "dev team" almost refused to release the jailbreak because they thought that 3.1 would fix the jailbreak exploit.
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