Recent Stories with tag gps

Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo.

The Woodland Park Zoo's new iPhone app ( iTunes app store ) costs 99 cents to download, but the proceeds go to support the zoo and its animals, so who can say no? It acts as a guide for your visit to the zoo--you can see where you are and where you want to go via GPS, learn more about the exhibit you're standing in front of, and time your arrival to feedings and talks.

• GPS-enabled zoo map with “Near Me” recommendations for animal exhibits, play areas, concession stands and restrooms
• daily schedule of zoo activities including zookeeper talks and children’s programs
• educational animal fact sheets
• special promotional offers redeemable at concession stands
• “Friend Finder” to locate other iPhone users in your party on zoo grounds
• zoo news and happenings
• easy access to Facebook and Twitter so you can share your zoo experience

Some of the features (not GPS) are available just by visiting http://www.zoo.org with your smartphone. The site should now serve up a mobile experience automatically.

By coincidence, the same morning I sat down to discuss the success of private bus guides like One Bus Away with King County Metro's general manager Kevin Desmond, One Bus Away released its iPhone application.

The question I had was this--given Metro's well-documented budget woes, was there more than customer convenience to be gained from letting private software developers take on a larger role?

OBA is the brainchild of Brian Ferris, a grad student in Computer Science & Engineering at the UW. Ferris is studying human-computer interactions, so in a sense, Seattle's bus riders are living inside Ferris's experiment.

"What he's done is terrific," said Desmond, who is thin, monologue-prone, and data-driven. In fact, data is the next thing he brings up, pointing out that OBA runs on top of Metro data. "The issue for us with the private developer world is how can we better meet their needs. What standards should we use? We're planning a developer's workshop, probably in late October."

OBA's website and iPhone...

(more)