Jack Sparrow is a legendary pirate captain (kind of). He is daring (sometimes) and romantic (with enough rum), an excellent swordsman (Best Performance Involving A Poker) and an inspirational leader (no). But what sets him apart from Barbossa and Blackbeard? Is it his rugged good looks, his dreadlocks and multiple piercings? His bizarre charisma and dogged persistence? What makes him such a successful buccaneer?
Why, to that we laugh and state the obvious: his GPS.
Ok, maybe not GPS per se – or at least, a model contained in a very, very old version of today’s smartphones – but if Jack Sparrow can find the Fountain of Youth with his outdated tech, then the good folks of the (hugely improved) GPS have contributed to your ability to do the same, with recommended side trips for your pleasure (although you have to pay extra to find the Fountain. Maybe.)
Meet the newest iPhone App that will make us thank G-d for GPS: the mTrip, companion to travelers in foreign countries and savior of those indecisive tourists who just don’t know where to go first. Created by travel guide publisher Sparks, mTrip combines GPS technology with the iPhone’s compass and internet services in order to provide users with a map to local points of interest. Tourists will be able to open this up on their iPhones and see pictures corresponding to different destinations they can visit at their leisure, with this handy dandy app pointing the way.
But the mTrip is STILL way more than that. More, you say? Yes! This is the GPS of the future, after all. mTrip is an augmented reality program, which combines real and virtual images to best serve users in a real-time setting. Through this technology mTrip provides the ability to view not only a customer’s chosen stopping point, but to simultaneously peruse the surrounding area. This option indicates other potential destinations, shopping areas, and restaurants, complete with store times and customer reviews. As follows with Sparks’ general tour-guide philosophy, the mTrip experience is a combination of administrator expertise and customer reviews, offering input from all ends of the spectrum to curious travelers. Further incorporating this audience-friendly attitude in the app is a comments section, allowing users to add their own insights to this collection of shared experience. The final tidbit of awesomeness in this beautiful GPS app is mTrip Genius. Similar to iTunes Genius, it looks at attractions you’ve already enjoyed and visited, and designs an itinerary to accommodate your sightseeing preferences.
Like any piece of technology, mTrip does have its limitations. While customers have generally reported satisfaction with the app, there is the age-old GPS complaints of barely-there battery life, as well as some dissatisfaction with precision in locating a path from user location to desired POI; we personally haven’t tried this out, but we’ll keep you posted on how strongly to consider individual complaints.
With twenty-two big cities on the docket, we aren’t too worried that everyone will be able to come across something to love about this app – good for both tourist and native, you can either find yourself utterly enmeshed within the life of your chosen vacation spot, or discover something entirely new in your own backyard. And, at the very least, you’ll know if cannibals live in the neighborhood.
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