The GPS circuitry in the iPhone 3G could be used to do more -- a lot more, in fact -- than it currently does, and it looks like Apple might have an eye on an angle most people wouldn't have considered (in other words, something other than
turn-by-turn). Digging through iPhoto '09's innermost sanctums has apparently revealed references to some sort of asynchronous geotagging capability, whereby selecting locations from an app on the phone (or iPod touch, as the case may be) could be transferred directly to iPhoto and associated with events -- perfect for shooting with, say, a real camera while toting your phone in your pocket. Of course, the capability is purely vestigial for now -- no announcement has been made, and there's no way for users to access this directly -- so Apple could've spiked it or has it queued up for a future firmware update. Time will tell.
[Via
iLounge and
Ars Technica]
posted Feb 23rd 2009 4:58PM
Need to pinpoint your girlfriend's myspace photos to see if she's lying to you about where she really was last night? There's an app for that.
The BB Storm does geotagging, it's really neat, although I've yet to find a use for it.
How about updating that sh!tty auto-focusless ancient iphone camera first?
How about just buying a camera?
I think the next iteration of iPod touch will have a camera, maybe this is a hint.
(if that happens then i'll just be holding out for friggin bluetooth built in)
Might as well put the radio antenna in it to make cell phone calls....Oh wait, they already have that.
I just discovered the Blackberry Storm does Geotagging by default!
Yeah, seriously. My pearl does too.
this isn't geotagging - they're talking about functionality where iphoto figures out where you are when you took a picture on your actual digital camera, via where the iPhone is located when the pic is taken - or something like that.
@DLeet
Umm... What you described is EXACTLY what geotagging is. It doesn't matter whether you use it to tag photos taken on the phone or with another camera, it's still called geotagging...
There is nothing innovative about this at all. All this does is turn on the GPS on your iPhone/touch and put the coordinates into your photos. Of course, if you aren't exactly where you /were/ when the pictures were actually taken, the coordinates will be straight-up wrong. It's still geotagging, and this kinda thing has been around for a while (though not nearly as well-integrated).
The iPhone geotags all the photos too. But what this feature is suggesting is you that you can use the iPhone to geotag photos taken by an external camera, like the Canon 5D Mk II (Oh, how I wish I had one!!)
I think there's already an App Store, err, app, that will do this for you. I don't have an iPhone, but have just bought a standalone GPS data logger to use with my (non-GPS) digicam and iPhoto 09 -- and one of the forums I was on certainly mentioned using an App Store app to create GPS tracks.
Incidentally, there's software that will do this for other GPS phones too, like GPSed.
A bit of OS X software called GPS Photo Linker does the matching of EXIF time stamp to GPS track time stamp. It sounds to me like this latter step (and presumably the bit where you pull the GPX track file from the iPhone) is the key to the iPhoto integration.
No kidding. My G1 already tags, like most good phones do. On top of that, you can use Pictorial (in App Market) to tag photos before shipping them off to Picasa. I thought that was a nice touch, but not hugely innovative (kinda like this).
I can't see how this is going to work!
Fair enough, you have your phone on you when you take the photo, but cameras have no way of reading GPS info off the iPhone and associating it with a picture or a selection of pictures.
The only way i can see this working is via a Mac's bluetooth/wi-fi/USB. Even then, 90% of the time the user uploads the photos off the camera onto his/her computer in a completely different location to where they were took, making in the opposite of useful, cause you'll actually get inaccurate geotag data.
i'm guessing it'll time sync with your camera when you upload your photos in iphoto (ie. matching the time when you took the photo using the exif data and where you were at that time using a gps app on your iphone).
Probably a variation on this software:
http://www.earlyinnovations.com/gpsphotolinker/
Or maybe Apple is negotiating the rights to the code.
There are SEVERAL products out there that allow you to take photos with a NON-GPS camera and later merge the EXIF and GPS data from a GPS device to the photos you took via the device itself (Think SD slot in a GPS unit) or via the computer later. I believe both units must have a synced time stamp.
Here is one:
http://photofinder.atpinc.com/
There are many others.
As mentioned above, there is lots of software that does this with any gps device that can output track data and any digital camera.
It's just a case of matching the time stamp on the photo to the time/location data on the gps.
Even if the times on the two devices aren't synced, you can use a suitable offset when comparing the exif and gps data and get the correct geotags on photos.
Assuming this data is stored/made accessible on the iphone I don't see why an app (on a computer or on the iphone) couldn't be made relativity easily. It would hardly be ground breaking though.
OnLocation on my iPhone used in conjunction with GPSPhotoLinker has worked just fine for me with several non-GPS cameras. Of course the best solution is when it's built in, which is why i'm enjoying my nikon p6000, which has its own gps and geotags its photos, though you have to initiate a "fix" first and that's not always accomplished quickly or easily. I think we'll be seeing GPS better implemented, and in more digital cameras, as the year progresses.
there is devices that do this already, having the iPhone will be a convenience for sure.
How about a link to the ACTUAL SOURCE OF THE STORY rather than the previous two places that republished it before you did?
http://db.tidbits.com/article/10083
Speaking as the author of that article, thank you for the comment. It would have been professional of Engadget to credit TidBITS by name as the source of the article, rather than linking to other sites, which, I may add, did credit TidBITS clearly.
yes. to the author, and engadget: you DO have readers who understand attribution, and would like to see sources properly credited. It rewards them for their efforts, and it lets readers judge the credibility of what they read here.
For that matter TidBits could have searched online and found that I had already written about discovering the same thing via the iPhoto database.
http://craig.stanton.net.nz/2009/02/18/gps-tracks-in-iphoto/
Hey Craig, In fact, I did look to see if anyone had found the same thing, but didn't see your article because you discovered it in an entirely different part of the program - the SQLite database versus the nib files and strings in the binary. Good sleuthing on your part too - I'll have to remember to look in the database in the future too.
This is exactly the idea I had for the iPhone since they announced the SDK. Unfortunately, since they don't allow for background apps, it wasn't really doable. I hope they do it themselves.
The iPod touch doesn't have GPS...or a camera!
not this generation.... ;) wait until june 29th i suppose
But it doesn't need a camera.. though it does need a gps... the idea is your digital photos from other cameras can now be tagged, with gps from your phone that you had with you when you took the picture....
The camera isn't the issue here. I suspect the iPod Touch can/could produce pseudo GPS Track data using the WiFi trangulation. Granted, this rather requires being in an urban environment; but I have to say that around London, my Touch is pretty damn accurate.
Excuse me, but this came from tidbits. Give credit where credit is due.
This is my favorite post on Engadget due to Chris Zieglers use of the word vestigial!
I have iPhoto 2009, and I would have sworn it's already doing it. How else would iPhoto know I was in Arkansas when I took a particular picture with my 3g iPhone???
Oh, nevermind. I see I misread "Asynchonous"
what are you, vestigial?
I have a serious longing for an effective, one step method for geotagging photos. Has anyone implemented a method yet where you can shoot and geotag at the same time, no internet required?
Why would you need internet? The tagging works by keeping a log of where you were at what time, and then correlating that with the timestamp on the pictures from your normal camera. There is no need for internets.
-taylor
The only think I've ever seen that does kind of what I want is the Eye-fi cards. I just want like a hotshoe addon with a GPS sensor that, whenever I shoot, will write the tag onto that shot, just like that. The Eye-fi cards do that with internet location or whatever, so its not what I'm looking for.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&sku=593916&is=REG&A=details&Q=
Let me clarify, since it has been pointed out that the image and "read" link are links to TidBits.
Why would you clearly link to iLounge and Ars, which reprinted the information which TidBits first published, but relegate TidBits to two links which never mention TidBits?
Why not include a link to TidBits in the main body of the article? i.e. instead of
"Digging through iPhoto '09's innermost sanctums has apparently revealed references to some sort of asynchronous geotagging capability"
which could lead one to believe that engadget did the digging,
"[TidBits](http://db.tidbits.com/article/10083) dug through iPhoto '09's innermost sanctums …"
Sure, there's a "Read" link at the end of the article. But you've taken all of the value of that article and republished it on your site, without making it clear where the information came from.
Why would I click on the "Read" link to re-read what you've just told me?
If you're going to republish TidBits work and findings, you could be a bit more upfront about it and give them (and others) a little more credit.
Burying it in a "Read" link is inadequate.
This is non-news except that maybe Apple is finally getting on board with something that's been done before (again).
Are you insinuating that Apple is claiming on making an innovation with this?
As far as I can see this article is just saying is that it appears Apple may introduce some form of Geotagging on the iPhone.
This isn't even an official announcement anyway. I guess we'll see what this really is when the iPhone 3.0 comes out.
.
How is the iPhone going to know where you are when you take a picture with a completely unconnected device? Unless you also take a reference shot withthe iPhone's camera, you won't have a location record to match with your other digital camera.
Unless Apple plans on keeping the iPhone's GPS on all the time...which would completely kill the battery.
Or perhaps there will be a "location log" application or setting, though there are already existing apps that do that (like GPS Tracker), which someone could probably use to write a program or iPhoto plugin that would merge that data with photo timestamps.
BTW, agree with the TidBITS link comment--TB rocks!
jackal = fail at reading previous posts... it's quite easily explained in one or two conceivable (simple) manners - and the batt issue - i dont think that one gps refresh every 5 min will kill your batt..... oh wait, it's the iPhone - yeah, suxxors for that battery......
What's awesome about this is that it means that somewhere in the bowels of your iPhone, it is now (or will soon) not only know your location, but track it and log it. What happens when someone gets their hands on your phone for a few minutes. Log downloaded!
To borrow a punchline from the first poster:
"Want to track the movement of your girlfriend, every minute for the last few months? There's an app for that."
lol that'd be creepy
One thing that is nice about this is that the iPhone's GPS seems to be MUCH quicker than the little GPS device I previously used. It would take something like 15 mins for the device to acquire the satellites. The GPS assisted tech of the iPhone speeds this up considerably (the few times I have used my former BF's phone). If this could then be automatically synched via iPhoto it would be wonderful. Previously, I would have to feed the GPS data from the little device (forgot its name since it was a birthday present for the same BF a couple of years ago) into a program called HoudaGeo (or something like that) and then open the photos that i uploaded into iPhoto in HoudaGeo and then write the data. For some reason (perhaps because it was SUCH a hassle that I hardly bothered to use it much) I never really got the hang of it. This should smooth things along. Now all I have to do it get an iPhone 3G for use on my T-Mobile acct! SIGH!
Been there done that.
FootPrints for Windows Mobile, by HTC.
Arriving late as usual again Apple.
hah, the Apple hater is at it again!
...and he's right again.
Incorrect. FootPrints does not geotag photos taken with a non-gps equipped dedicated camera.
1) All FootPrints does is geotaggs pictures taken with the phone itself, that's it. Unfortunately once you take your geotagged pics you're pretty much stuck with viewing their geotagged info in your phone or with Flikr. FootPrints lacks a sophisticated, user-friendly, dedicated photo management application such as iPhoto to to categorize photos by location and convert GPS location tags to common, user-friendly names.
2) The other thing is, FootPrints is limited to newer HTC handsets. If you have an older phone that is not compatible with the ROM flash needed to get this feature, then you're out of luck. Likewise with non HTC users.
3) On top of that, it looks like FootPrints is still under development! Quote straight out of XDA Developers:
KNOWN PROBLEMS
**LANDSCAPE VIEW DOESN'T FIT THE WHOLE SCREEN**
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=478088
4) In contrast, when Apple makes this feature operational, every iPhone in existence will have this capability. It will only take a quick software update via iTunes and/or update to iPhoto '09 and voila. Instant geotagging sharing capability for all iPhone users (wether via 3G's GPS or 2G's cell phone triangulation/Wi-Fi).
5) Lastly, development of this feature is being done by Apple itself so the feature will be tightly integrated with iPhone OS X. In contrast, Microsoft, maker of WinMo, has left it up to 3rd party developers to figure it out on their own, thus creating huge gaps in providing a unified WinMo experience.
Arriving late again as usual Microsoft? or arriving at all?
@Hamidxa
Oh dear. A swing and a miss...
Incorrect. FootPrints does not geotag photos taken with a non-gps equipped dedicated camera.
1) All FootPrints does is geotaggs pictures taken with the phone itself, that's it. Unfortunately once you take your geotagged pics you're pretty much stuck with viewing their geotagged info in your phone or with Flikr. FootPrints lacks a sophisticated, user-friendly, dedicated photo management application such as iPhoto to to categorize photos by location and convert GPS location tags to common, user-friendly names.
Incorrect.
Geotagged photos can be viewed within Windows as well, and shared with other users (as per the upcoming udpate, which will incidentally be out before Apple's ever late to the game arrival with their me-too app)
2) The other thing is, FootPrints is limited to newer HTC handsets. If you have an older phone that is not compatible with the ROM flash needed to get this feature, then you're out of luck. Likewise with non HTC users.
Not true.
FootPrints has already been ported to older phones as a separate app that does not require TF3D nor TF3D tabs.
3) On top of that, it looks like FootPrints is still under development! Quote straight out of XDA Developers:
KNOWN PROBLEMS
**LANDSCAPE VIEW DOESN'T FIT THE WHOLE SCREEN**
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=478088
Oh, the irony here.
As if Apple's geotagging app is not under development.
Give me a break.
At least HTC has released an extremely functional version of theirs already that gets the job done quite adequately.
4) In contrast, when Apple makes this feature operational, every iPhone in existence will have this capability. It will only take a quick software update via iTunes and/or update to iPhoto '09 and voila. Instant geotagging sharing capability for all iPhone users (wether via 3G's GPS or 2G's cell phone triangulation/Wi-Fi).
Once again, therein lies the beauty if WinMo in its customizability and by the same token, therein lies your ignorance.
Unlike Apple's draconian and restrictive policies as to what can and/or can not go on their phones, on WinMo phones, new and old alike, many are getting this feature ported over to them without MS or HTC meddling in the affairs of the community developers.
I would know, I've gotten it to successfully work on both a last gen phone (Mogul) and a current gen one (Touch Pro), and as we all know, future gen phones will support it too.
5) Lastly, development of this feature is being done by Apple itself so the feature will be tightly integrated with iPhone OS X. In contrast, Microsoft, maker of WinMo, has left it up to 3rd party developers to figure it out on their own, thus creating huge gaps in providing a unified WinMo experience.
If you ever used FootPrints, you would come to realize how ignorant that statement of yours makes you sound.
FootPrints when integrated within the shell (as in the case of the HTC Iolite and all of the phones with are having that version ported over to them) becomes a seamless part of the interface.
It becomes its own tab within TF3D and it also has the ability to integrate itself with the latest TomTom, Garmin, iGo, Google Maps, and a few other GPS Turn-by-Turn Voice navigation apps.
Wait, what's that?
You guys don't have GPS Turn-by-Turn voice navigation apps?
Still talking about features?
Still talking about being user-friendly are we?
Stole my idea! .. but oh well, I can still do this for android...
Pictorial does this for Android. :-(
GPS should be integrated into cameras. Why use 2 separate devices to get the job done?
I think the idea is that, as you use your dedicated camera to take pictures you can whip out the iPhone and snap a pic. Since the iPhone 3G already has geotagging built-in, once you transfer pics to iPhoto, you can simply match the pic taken with the iPhone to the ones from your dedicated camera and populate their empty geotagged attributes with the hidden feature shown in this blog. That way there's very little left to adjust by hand.
The iPhoto page doesn't mention this feature but I suppose Apple may release the added feature at some point later.
http://www.apple.com/ilife/iphoto/#places
As much as I like iPhoto, is there any chance of this working with Aperture 2 as well? The Geotagging and Faces functions from iPhoto would be damned useful in Aperture as well, although Maperture can be used to manually geotag pictures.
I'm doing this on my iPhone already for some time now. I geotag photos taken with my Nikon DSLR using the iPhone app GeoLogTag http://www.galarina.eu/GeoLogTag/News/News.html
The app acts as a geologger (it exports GPX files) and also as a geotagger for Flickr photos.
So for my Flickr photos GeoLogTag is all I need and for the photos on my Mac I use the exported GPX file in combination with HoudahGeo before I import my photos into iPhoto '09.
whee