Location Based Applications on iPhone Review

With the iPhone2.0 just a couple of days away here's a quick overview about some location based applications. I added the direct link to the iPhone app page in brackets if there is one.


1. unlike.net (iunlike.net): location based city guide, focused on events but also featuring other urban lifestyle categories like bars, clubs, restaurants, art and thrills (loved Carlo's Vespa Rent)

+ small horizontal map showing the item's location
+ locate me! functionality showing nearby items
+ usability and design is excellent
+ thrills category
- map is static
- missing "add to my tour" on mobile
- vCards downloadable only in web app

2. Toughturtle's Pinpoint: a location based search (standard categories like businesses, restaurants or gas stations but also Wifi) pulling data from Yahoo (U.S.) and Google (rest of the world), updating location via Wifi or the mobile network

- I don't really see the purpose of this application: it seems to just use data of one search engine without really adding anything. I'd probably rather use GMaps.

3. Open Landmark (iPhone): a "photo landmark bookmarking site" as they call it. Take a photo of something and share it with the community

+ radar functionality is nice
- no interaction from iPhone app: you can only search landmarks
- dated info ("recent" page shows items from two months ago)
- no geolocation, just addresses

4. Trip.mobi (iPhone): very basic .mobi site with information on major cities from 8 countries. Information on museums, attractions, youth hostels and tourist info

- could not find the reviews and maps they were advertising on the description page.
- not making use of advanced functionalities at all, basically very condensed yellow pages and nothing that I would trade for a search engine or GMaps

5. GoLark (iPhone): list-based view of events ("fun things to do") in your vicinity. Possibility to change search radius, time period and starting times. U.S. only.

+ clutter-free site
+ tags instead of categories
- visualization could be better, e.g. on a map

6. Outalot: a 4 category guide to (at the moment) NYC and the SF Bay Area: cuisine, bar style, movie theater and shops. The app lets you set your location on a listing, check-in via Twitter, rate it and bookmark it

+ great interface, the map integration and navigation is awesome
+ approach from neighborhood to check-in location is good. Having checked in it shows the other listings in relative distance to it

Summary: this list is far from being complete (see e.g. more reviews over at GPSObsessed or There Goes Dave) and there's a wide range in terms of quality of the application (my favourites were iunlike and Outalot who are showing both a slick UI and well thought out navigation paths). I don't see much of a future for neither Pinpoint nor trip.mobi - search engines and their maps already deliver better results.

What's your favourite?