An 11-year-old girl from California has bagged a $20,000 prize for creating an app designed to stop drivers texting when behind the wheel.

Though not old enough to drive herself, 11-year-old Victoria Walker is still aware of the dangers posed by texting while behind the wheel. Take a journey on any busy road and you see plenty of drivers checking for new messages on their mobile device while occasionally glancing out of the windshield to see where they’re going. The consequences for some unsuspecting pedestrian, or driver of another vehicle, can be disastrous.

Attending AT&T’s ‘It Can Wait’ hackathon in Los Angeles recently, Walker decided to enter a competition to design an app that would make people think twice about texting while driving. Judges were so impressed with her creation that they awarded her the top prize of $20,000, some of which will go towards bringing the app to market in the coming months.

According to the LA TImes, Walker developed the app, called Rode Dog, with help from David Grau, creative director of an interactive agency called WLDG.

The idea is that smartphone owners with the app link up to form a ‘pack’ – getting friends or family to sign up would be the easiest way to get started. Members of the pack can then check on each other to see if they’re texting while driving. If they are, an audible “bark” can be sent to the texter, which won’t stop until they acknowledge it and turn it off.

Grau confirmed that the continuous barking noise can get “really annoying,” hopefully forcing the driver to discard their handset and get their eyes back on the road. Let’s just hope they don’t have an accident while they’re dealing with the barking noise.

Sixth-grader Walker told the LA Times she got the idea for the app after remembering the racket created by her three dogs when they all kick off together, thinking that the noise they make would probably be bothersome enough to get drivers to think about what they’re doing and stop texting.

Walker and Grau are currently looking at ways to further develop Rode Dog, with plans to create a virtual pet store allowing users to buy other animal noises – like a roaring elephant, perhaps. On second thoughts, a sudden noise like that might be enough to send a startled driver careering off the road. Best stick with the dogs.

If you’re interested in getting hold of the app, head over to its webpage where you can sign up for updates regarding availability.

[Image: lightpoet / Shutterstock]

Following widespread criticism of its new Maps app, an Apple spokesperson said Thursday that it's "just getting started" with its Google Maps replacement and that "the more people use it, the better it will get." The app was rolled out on Wednesday as part of the Cupertino company's latest mobile operating system, iOS 6.

After reading about Steve Jobs’ robust management style in Walter Isaacson’s biography of the late Apple boss, one can well imagine that if he were alive today the walls of the Cupertino campus would be shaking violently as he vented his anger regarding the iOS Maps fiasco, with a tirade of abuse directed at the team responsible for the new app. The words, “it just doesn’t work,” would probably be bellowed somewhere along the way.

Within hours of iOS 6 launching on Wednesday, tweets, blog posts and news articles started appearing criticizing Apple’s new Maps app – which replaced Google’s equivalent offering – for being, well, not particularly good.

There was mention of an entire city ending up in the sea, a farm being labeled as an airport, and the Sears Tower being shrunken down. And Shakespeare’s home city, Stratford-upon-Avon, had somehow been replaced with a hospital. That’s right, a hospital the size of a city. The Guardian called Maps Apple’s “first significant failure in years.”

Responding to complaints about its new app, Apple spokesperson Trudy Muller told AllThingsD, “We are excited to offer [Apple Maps] with innovative new features like Flyover and Siri integration, and free turn by turn navigation. We launched this new map service knowing that it is a major initiative and we are just getting started with it. We are continuously improving it, and as Maps is a cloud-based solution, the more people use it, the better it will get. We’re also working with developers to integrate some of the amazing transit apps in the App Store into iOS Maps. We appreciate all of the customer feedback and are working hard to make the customer experience even better.”

So there you go, the excuse is that it’s early days. But did they launch it too soon? No doubt at some point in the future, Maps will be a great product and will have little difficulty telling the difference between a farm and an airport, but the question is, how long will it take?

DT’s Molly McHugh outlined the main fixes Apple needs to make with Maps that might allow users to start saying, “It just works.” At the moment, it seems that “it only just works.”

The advice is that if you have an Apple device and rely heavily on navigation in your daily life, don’t make the move to iOS 6 just yet. If you do, the more useful Google Maps app currently on your device will disappear and at the time of writing, Google has no Maps app in the iTunes app store – though this could be about to change. When it does, you’re clear to upgrade to iOS 6.

[Second image: The Amazing iOS 6 Maps]

The soccer season is already underway and Konami’s longtime championship contender, Pro Evolution Soccer 13 aka PES 13, is back and looking to reclaim its throne.

A strange thing happened to me while playing the review copy for PES Production’s PES 2013. As a longtime fan of EA’s FIFA series, and an even longer time fan of soccer, I always get excited this time of year when the new FIFA demo launches on Xbox Live and PSN. That’s because at this point in the year we are already three weeks into the European soccer season, and my excitement is at an all-time high to recreate the wonder and magic of the respective leagues in the virtual world. Except, this year was different. This year I was too captivated by PES 2013 to stop playing it for 10 minutes and give the FIFA 13 demo a go, and this, my friends, has never happened before.

Alright, so we have a new football king then… right? All hail PES, may it reign for many years to come! Whoa, slow down there. While PES is good, great even, it’s too early to tell which soccer-sim (if either) will come out on top. Plus, we haven’t even played the full version of FIFA yet so the jury is still out. Needless to say things are looking very promising though, and PES 2013 without question marks a true return to form for the franchise.

Welcome back old friend.

Nearly pitch perfect

It all starts on the pitch. The singular most important improvement made to PES 2013 is by far its gameplay. Konami has taken the magic and wizardry of a real match and faithfully recreated it on your TV screen.

First and foremost is the pace, which has been slowed down considerably from past PES titles. Even when compared to my brief time with FIFA 2013, PES feels much more deliberate in its build up play as opposed to FIFA’s run-and-gun approach. And while some will find it too slow — I kinda did at first — others will find it just right, adding more balance and nuance to each subsequent match.

Of course, what good is slowing down the pace of the game if the characters still control and act like a mass of overpaid mindless slack-jaws? Thankfully that’s not the case with PES 2013. A major overhaul has been implemented. That means you are finally granted the freedom to choose exactly how your player reacts in any situation. Trapping the ball, passing, and shooting have all been refined. Skill moves are carried out with various flicks and motions of the right and left analog stick. And while they can be tough to master, especially due to the sheer number of them, thankfully a robust tutorial is on hand to help you out.

Players can execute slick and skillful first touches, or perform precision passes via the manual pass controls, which also carry over into the shooting mechanics. Simply press the left trigger and an arrow appears under your player that you control with the left analog stick. Adjust your angle and power and you’ll be delivering passes that would make David Beckham nod in approval.

Speaking of shooting and passing, part of the benefit to slowing the game to a more natural pace is how much more fluid and realistic ball movement feels. Whether you’re parking the bus like Chelsea and employing the longball, or using the tiki-taka approach favored by Barcelona, it all feels realistic with zippy and weighted ball physics. More importantly though is the unpredictably it provides. With PES 2013, ball movement doesn’t feel scripted, making things all the more dramatic.

Unfortunately, where PES 2013 stumbles offensively is with its headers. On the break, crossing a ball into the box isn’t so much the problem, but once there getting the ball into the back of the net, or even on target, is a difficult endeavor. Sometimes it manages to work well, but most of the time it doesn’t. The same can be said for corners. Whipping a ball from the byline isn’t the issue, but getting your player on it creates the biggest stumbling block. This is really a shame and hinders what is a strong offensive experience. In fact, this is where FIFA 12 did a superb job. Set pieces are supposed to be unnerving experiences. Even a provincial team like Grimsby Town can slip one past old Peter Cech during these dead ball situations. But because the mechanics are so hit or miss, it ends up diluting an essential, and for many teams, tactical advantage.

That said, it’s not all about your offensive abilities. Defending has been given some much needed love and attention, with a bigger emphasis on breaking up play of your opposition. Slide tackling feels more precise, while player strength and balance can mean the difference between shoving that attacker off the ball just enough before he can fire off a blistering net-buster or drawing a whistle.

Cheer up Ronaldo, you look fabulous

After a few high profile losses, Cristiano Ronaldo might be going through a bit of the moody blues lately — all he has now to keep him company are his Ferraris and stunningly beautiful girlfriend — but once he takes a gander at what an amazing job Konami did in recreating his likeness on the pitch he’ll be winking, jinking, and smiling once again.

With previous cover-boy Lionel Messi defecting to the FIFA franchise, Konami was smart to snap up Ronaldo. Not only is he easily one of the greatest players to ever play the beautiful game, but his unique mannerisms have been placed perfectly onto the virtual pitch. Everything from the way he runs, takes his free kicks, and even his overbearing confidence are all here to bask in or loathe. Transporting a real-life figure into a game can’t be easy, but doing it so well that you get a sense of their actual personality can’t be either. Konami has managed to do both.

It’s not just Ronaldo who gets the close-up treatment. Your veritable Van Persies, Neymars, Rooneys, and even little Lionel Messi himself, all look great. Graphically, PES doesn’t contain that plastic sheen that FIFA’s past and present exhibit; it’s a much more grounded, gritty, and realistic look, one that fans of the series will appreciate. The lack of tattoos on players, however, is still annoyingly absent, and I was embarrassingly distraught by the omission of Italian midfield maestro Andre Pirlo’s new beard. That may just be me though. 

Soccer is full of emotion, and more than any other sport it evokes great regional, political, and cultural pride, so it’s nice seeing those aspects displayed on the pitch. A great deal of that comes from the fans, but the athletes themselves can be counted too. For PES 2013, players exhibit different situational facial animations, smile when they score, look frustrated when they don’t. Individual character animations have also been beefed up for 2013. Konami says it worked with real goalkeepers to improve goalkeeper logic and overall animation quality so that keepers actually behave and react the way they would in real life. And while player animations are miles better than previous iterations, there is still an unfortunate tendency for more generic players to look a little stiff and wooden when running.

License for fun, not flair

Of course, the big elephant in the dressing room (even bigger than Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s Eiffel Tower-sized beak and salary) has always been PES’ lack of licenses when compared to rival FIFA’s. Sadly, that’s not changing for PES 2013. Konami have done an admirable job snapping up the licenses to some of Europe’s bigger leagues: Italian Serie A, French Ligue 1, Spanish La Liga, as well as the Dutch Eredivisie and Portuguese League, but noticeably absent are the Barclay’s Premier League and German Bundesliga. In the past, Konami has done deals with specific teams and that’s still the case here, so as a small consolation the likes of Bayern Munich and Manchester United end up being the sole representatives of their respective leagues.

I don’t want to get into the licenses debate too much, especially since obtaining those rights are probably easier said than done thanks to the legal cage match-like brawl that must exemplify the negotiations, but it’s certainly disappointing not to have what is arguably the world’s most popular league (BPL) in the game. Will I ever get to play as a proper Arsenal team and not simply “North London?” I sure hope so, just not this year.

It’s not all doom and generic gloom though, because PES 2013 does carry the exclusive rights to the UEFA Champions and Europa League. Although, it is a little bizarre seeing a host of generic team names and unofficial kits make their way into the tournament. Does it take away from the excellent gameplay? Not in the slightest. Does it ruin the authenticity and feel of the UEFA’s elite competition? Absolutely.

You do have other options though. South America’s prestigious club competition, the Copa Santander Libertadores, makes its way into a videogame for the first time ever. Here, players are given the chance to take on the role as one of Latin America’s top clubs and vie for the opportunity to be crowned copa kings.

In addition to the Champions League and Copa Libertadores, PES 2013 features a handful of other modes both online and off, including Football Life, which incorporates the ever so robust Master League mode — where you guide a team from relegation zone rejects to table-topping champions — as well as Become a Legend mode, where you’re tasked with playing as a single player, either created or existing, and guiding him to glory for both club and country.

The World Awaits

A quick note: Our review copy lacked the ability to go online, so we can’t speak to its quality, and unfortunately we didn’t get to take Master League mode online, but the time we did spend with the offline component was thoroughly pleasing and similar to last year’s outing. We will check it out post-release and update this post where necessary. For those unaware, Master Mode charges you with day-to-day running of the club of your choice. Everything from training regimes, squad transfers, and meeting sponsorship obligations is left to you. You can hire new coaching staff, manage contracts, and even pluck players from your youth team then hand them their first professional contract. Just be careful not to run your club’s finances into the red.

Without a doubt, Master mode has always been the bread and butter for PES players, so new and returning gamers will be happy to know it’s the best version yet. There are a few gripes to point out though. First, it’s silly to see your youth team populated by random players with varying nationalities. I began my season as Palermo from the Italian league and the youth team on hand should be filled with an overwhelming amount of Italian players; I counted just one, and little blips in detail like this are what threaten to destroy any and all sense of immersion the game does so well to create on the pitch.

Second, and more importantly, the presentation featured in PES 2013 is still far behind that of FIFA’s. Menus are convoluted and difficult to navigate. Simple managerial tasks such as subbing and monitoring your players fatigue is unintuitive thanks to a touch drag and drop system. And finally, the game’s commentary provided by ESPN UK’s Jon Champion and former Irish footballer Jim Beglin is dull, repetitive, and simply passable at best. Also, with only eight licensed songs, PES’ music is light years away from reaching FIFA’s routinely excellent and diverse soundtrack.

Conclusion

And yet, despite all its shortcomings, PES 2013 is a brilliant game. It’s certainly rough around the edges and won’t stand toe to toe with FIFA production-wise, but it doesn’t have to. All PES needs to is focus on what has always made PES standout: excellent gamplay. From a true fan of football this is the title I can see myself playing all year long. This is the game that even during the narrowest of victories and landslide defeats has me smiling ear to ear because of its killer mechanics and astute attention to realism on the pitch. There simply isn’t another soccer game past and present that instills such a true and vibrant feeling of a real match. Player animations are the best I have seen yet, and the sheer amount of technique and control the offensive and defensive games both afford is simply mouthwatering.

Truthfully, I’m not so sure there will be a clear-cut leader this year. The line in quality has been blurred so much that the gap that formerly existed between PES and FIFA has been virtually severed.

That said, there are those that won’t be able to get over the game’s sub-par presentation and limited licenses, and that’s a true shame because PES 2013 is by far the best entrant in series I’ve have played in over a decade. It seems we finally have our beloved PES back, and that’s something all footie fans can cheer for.

Score: 8.5

(This game was reviewed on the PS3 on a copy provided by Konami)

Facebook's latest update to its standalone Messenger and main app for Android users, adds in-app SMS messaging and updates to the user experience.

Facebook is hitting its mobile stride with several new feature announcements today. In addition to offering photo syncing for Android devices, the social network is rolling out an additional update to both the Android Facebook app and Android Facebook Messenger app. Among the updates included is an in-app texting feature.

For Android smartphone owners, the Facebook Messenger app now has the option to text friends directly from within app itself. It’s the latest in a recent line of steps that Facebook has taken to house all forms of communication under its own roof. Now on Facebook Messenger, users can send or receive SMS messages, native Facebook messages, and even emails using the @facebook.com addresses that were allocated to every user months ago.

It’s no secret that Facebook has been trying hard to transform it’s platform into the destination for communication; users already spend hours upon hours doing using it for these means as is. Of course the motivation for Facebook here is that the longer users spend on the site, the higher the chances that Facebook has to earn advertising revenue from its users. Of course, migrating all things to mobile is priority number one over at Facebook, so this new implementation makes all too much sense. 

Before you get ahead of yourself, this specific feature won’t be available on every phone. Currently the list of supported phones, according to TechCrunch, includes the HTC One X, HTC EVO 3D, LG Optimus Black, LG Optimus Hub, Samsung Galaxy Ace, Samsung Galaxy Nexus, Samsung Galaxy S3, and Samsung Galaxy Y. Facebook is working on bringing the in-app texting feature to other Android phones.

You’ll recognize some user experience design updates on the Android Facebook Messenger including the ability to quickly access your Friends list simply by swiping your finger anywhere on the left side of the screen. And the look of the Messages page has been updated to a more conversational interface, similar to what you’d see on a native iOS SMS app or any other messenger app.

If you have a handful of Facebook friends that you regularly talk to, you can also now add them to a “Favorites” list.

Facebook’s main Android app has been updated to reflect most of the changes that users would find in the Messenger standalone app.

Facebook has also announced that an update to the iOS version of Facebook Messenger will arrive for Apple users shortly, but it’s highly unlikely that iOS device owners will use Facebook’s in-app SMS feature. Currently it’s not possible for developers to create scripts to read SMS messages from Apple’s native SMS app and display the messages in a third-party app.

The Last Guardian at Tokyo Game Show? Not in 2012. The game's absence doesn't mean it's cancelled according to one Sony developer.

Another year, another no show for The Last Guardian at Tokyo Game Show.

The Last Guardian is still in production, Sony swears, crosses its heart, hopes to die. The company has on three separate occasions this year gone out of its way to insist that Fumito Ueda and Team Ico’s follow up to Shadow of the Colossus and Ico is still in the works for PlayStation 3, despite the fact that it’s entering its seventh year in production. With the game a no show at E3 2012 and at Gamescom, expectations were that Sony would finally show a glimpse of the game at the Tokyo Game Show. The company’s conference came and went with nary a peep about the game. Is it dead or not?

An anonymous source inside Sony tells Kotaku that work on The Last Guardian continues apace, with Ueda still hard at work. “I give you my word that it exists,” said the unnamed developer, “We are working on it.”

What is the hold up then? The Last Guardian hasn’t been officially shown to the press or to retailers since 2010. “[It’s] a very ambitious project,” said the developer, “There are lots of pieces to the puzzle. It’s a matter of getting them to fit together.”

The Sony dev also said that Sony feels it showed the game too early. The Last Guardian made its public debut during Sony’s E3 2009 press conference, just days after a similar trailer to the one shown was leaked to the press. That leaked trailer was allegedly shown to select press and other developers as early as 2007.

Sony Worldwide Studios chief has addressed the long delay a number of times this year. At Gamescom, Yoshida said that earlier versions of the game were scrapped and restarted. “We had the game playable. At one point we felt that it would be produced for a certain time period. That was the time we prematurely talked about the launch window. But it turned out the technical issues are much harder to solve. So the engineering team had to go back and re-do some of the work they had done.”

“The team is still on it very hard. There are certain technical issues they’ve been working on. That’s the period of time when the game, looking from the outside, doesn’t seem to be making much progress. But internally there is a lot of work going into creating the title.”

Does it really take so long to make a game about a boy and a griffin exploring a massive, decaying castle, their emotional bond growing stronger with each ledge climbed?

Actually, that does sound pretty complicated. Carry on, Mr. Ueda.

The Bluetooth gaming controller, Moga, offers Android mobile gamers a new way to play on October 21 for $49.99.

If you ask any developer or industry analyst what the future of gaming holds, one thing that they will all point to is the growth of mobile gaming, especially through the rise of cell phones and tablets. Although still in in its infancy in many ways, mobile gaming is already a lucrative industry. It will only get bigger as smartphone technology gets better and more widespread, so it makes sense that gamers will need better ways to interact with that platform. That’s where Power A’s Moga comes in.

The Moga is a Bluetooth enabled peripheral that connects to Android devices and allows you to play Moga-friendly games with an actual controller. It clamp onto a smartphone or physically small tablet, or it can be used remotely via the Bluetooth connection if you connect your device to a TV, or you have insanely good eyesight and don’t mind playing from a distance off your phone.

Originally announced at CES the Moga device now has an official release date of October 21 with a price tag of $49.99. That price includes a case and two free games: Sonic CD and Pac-Man.

The controller itself features dual analog sticks, a standard four button configuration, and two shoulder buttons. The front section can open up to offer a sliding clamp, which cradles the smartphone or tablet. It is powered by standard batteries, so beyond the normal drain of Bluetooth, it won’t affect the phone or tablet’s battery.  

The Moga will require that the games be developed with Moga compatibly built in, which will limit its use at first, but Power A has announced a fairly impressive lineup of developers, including: Atari, Gameloft, Namco Bandai, Remedy Entertainment, and Sega. More are sure to follow.

If you are a member of the beleaguered Android nation, looking for games to rival the increasingly impressive library that is available in Apple’s iOS store, the Moga is something of an equalizer. Google operating system is home to hundreds, even thousands of titles, but it hasn’t earned the reputation for games that Apple’s mobile devices have received. The Moga won’t help bring Infinity Blade or The Walking Dead over to Google, but it could encourage developers to try new things, things that weren’t even possible just last year.

Moga will be compatible with Android 2.3 Gingerbread when released. 

Nintendo's Wii U console is set to be a serious online gaming machine, complete with high-fidelity gaming headsets courtesy Turtle Beach.

Though past Nintendo consoles have offered online functionality, they’ve always paled in comparison to similar offerings from Microsoft and Sony. In an effort to ensure that gamers see the upcoming Wii U console as a truly viable online gaming platform, Nintendo has signed an agreement with peripheral maker Turtle Beach to develop two separate headsets specifically for the console that will allow Wii U owners to experience the same sort of gameplay experience they might find on other consoles. Specifically, 360 degree sound and the ability to shout taunts at whoever just shot your avatar in the head.

The less expensive of the headsets is dubbed the Ear Force NLa, and is expected to hit store shelves in time for the 2012 holiday season. It features a $35 price point, and according to Turtle Beach, offers “high-fidelity stereo game audio and crystal-clear communication in a sleek, lightweight and durable design.” It’s designed to plug directly into the Wii U’s GamePad controller, though helpfully Turtle Beach also made the device compatible with Nintendo’s 3DS and DS handhelds. 

Unlike the NLa, which can be purchased in both black and white, its big brother, the Ear Force N11, is only available in black. It too should hit shelves in time for the holidays, but at a slightly higher $50 price point. The N11 features all the accoutrements of the NLa, except that its “acoustically angled 50mm speakers” offer superior sound, and its “lightweight headband and breathable mesh ear cushions” allow for comfortable play even during extended gaming sessions.

While these both seem like quite solid devices, the real news here is that Nintendo is making a direct move into territory that has been foreign to it for years. Microsoft and Sony have allowed players to chat back and forth while playing their games via headset for the majority of the past decade, and this deal with Turtle Beach appears to be an attempt by Nintendo to even the playing field a bit. Unfortunately, as both of these headsets are third-party devices that must be purchased separately from the Wii U, they won’t have the ubiquity of the Xbox 360′s headset, but it’s certainly a novel move for Nintendo. 

Still, given the company’s long-standing attempts to sanitize its online experience, we’re curious to see how widely employed these devices might be. If Nintendo decides to prohibit free speech in online multiplayer games, they may effectively become merely nice pairs of headphones.

New characters, stages and gameplay options are coming to Tekken Tag Tournament 2 on October 9.

Tekken producer Katsuhiro Harada loves Twitter. In the past 24 hours alone the man has tweeted 42 times, but more important than the volume of words is what he’s been telling us. Specifically, this gem from last night:

We will update TTT2 on October 9. Adds some characters & stages, enhancement of an on-line function & customization feature are included.

While Harada’s words are light on details, they do coincide with this new Famitsu report which claims that starting October 9 Namco Bandai will begin rolling out new characters and stages for its latest fighter. The Japanese gaming magazine claims that these additions will be made available over a specific, yet currently unknown amount of time, but that additions would include classic Tekken characters like Violet and Unknown, and a number of bizarre “joke” characters like Tekken 3′s Dr. Boskonovitch, a slim version of Bob and Lili’s butler Sebastian who, until now, has only appeared in a single Tekken 6 cinematic cut scene. In sum this will bring the Tekken Tag Tournament 2 roster to 59 total characters, and it will include every fighter to ever appear in a Tekken game, with the exception of Tekken 3′s hidden dinosaur Gon (who is likely off-limits due to IP rights issues).

Additionally, Famitsu lists four new stages coming to the game dubbed “Russia,” “Chile,” “Saudi Arabia,” and, bizarrely, “magic show.” While Harada has long promised that any additional DLC characters for Tekken Tag Tournament 2 would be available free of charge, Famitsu claims that these stages will also be totally gratis.

Intriguingly — especially for anyone who has repeatedly tried and failed to beat Tekken Tag Tournament 2′s Arcade Mode thanks to its crazy-hard final boss — those miscellaneous balance changes Harada alluded to also seem to extend to the single-player portion of the game. When informed by one of his Twitter followers that he was unable to finish Arcade Mode, even on its easiest setting, due to the aforementioned boss, Harada replied simply, “We will fix that.” Whether that’s just idle talk or not remains to be seen, but if anyone has the power to change something like that it would be Katsuhiro Harada, and we’ve heard enough complaints about the final boss since publishing our review that we’re sure he’s well aware of the issue.

The reaction to Apple Maps replacement of Google Maps has been harsh and quick — and for good reason. We categorize the many ways in which iOS 6 Maps are letting us down.

Yesterday, the world was finally officially introduced the Apple Maps. We first caught word of the impending change months ago, with glimpses and peeks at what’s surfaced since. And now it’s here. Google Maps is gone. And everybody is angry.

The backlash has been swift and determined, and for good reason. As pretty as Apple Maps are – and they really, really are – their function has yet to prove itself as anything other than mediocre to bad. Instead of waxing eloquently about how Apple is sacrificing user experience in order to rid itself of all things Google, let’s review the sins of Apple Maps.

1. Goodbye, public transit

The first and arguably most-obvious problem with Apple Maps is that there is no public transit function. Those three, familiar icons – car, walking, bus – that sit at the top of your directions might lure you into thinking you’re about to get from one place to another using city-paid-for transportation, but think again. Hitting the public transit icon will send you to the App Store, where you’re prompted to download a routing app, one of which costs $50 (the others range in price — but seriously, that’s shocking to see when Google’s been giving me the information for free for… what seems like forever).

A Google rep tells me that the public transit feature graduated from Labs all the way back in October 2007, and now includes more than one million public transit stops the world over, “…including buses, trains, subways, and trams in nearly 500 cities.” And iPhone uses don’t get than anymore. It’s a big loss. 

2. No direction editing

The best way to describe this particular fault is to run you through the process: I hit the arrow icon in the upper right hand corner, enter my start and end points, and hit route. Then I decide to change my starting point, or I realize I want walking directions instead (not public transit because, well, see above). With Google Maps, I’d hit edit and make the respective changes. With Apple Maps, however, there is no such option; you hit clear and start over from scratch. This is a tiny, tiny time-suck, but I already hate it and feel pigeon-holed by Apple into these new, strange gestures.

3. Dumbed down the data

Tech blogger Michael DeGusta summed it up best in this blog post – but to sum up: Apple simply doesn’t have the data set to accurately plot the world. Here’s a quick breakdown on what iOS’ new Maps are missing, via DeGusta:

• Transit: Removed from 51 countries with 4.9 billion people
• Traffic: Removed from 24 counties with 2.4 billion people
• Street View: Removed from 41 counties with 3.0 billion people.

In total, 63 counties with a combined population of 5 billion people will be without one or more of these features they previously had in iOS.

And there are plenty of examples of what precisely this looks like hitting the Web. Day-old Tumblr blog TheAmazingiOS6Maps has already curated quite the collection of Apple Maps follies. A favorite has to be the fact that Apple appears to have duplicated the disputed Diaoyu/Senkaku islands in the East China Sea – the territory is being fought over by China and Japan and causing mass protests. And Apple put them on its maps twice. (To be fair, I could only find them on Google Maps when searching for them by the commonly used term “Pinnacle Islands” and the results weren’t great – but at least they weren’t plotted twice.)

I know that the Internet was full of these Google Maps v. Apple Maps comparisons moments after the iOS 6 download was available, but it’s the type of thing that never gets old. Check out the differences here (three guesses which one is Apple Maps; hint: It’s the one with way less information).

Now, I do have to admit that Apple’s Yelp integration is a really nice touch. And for local search in metropolitan areas, it’s fantastic. Searching the Empire State Building surfaces icons for nearby restaurants and shops and immediately pulls the Yelp data. But the moment you aren’t in such highly populated areas, it’s a worthless feature.

And business search isn’t always flawless: One very popular restaurant in Portland, Serrato’s, never came up when I searched for it – instead I was given two different locations for Sheraton Hotels. Searching for Target brought up one location when there are several in the area; it also happened to be the farthest from me.

4. Inexplicable bugs

There really isn’t even much of an explanation to go along with this, except that there are some baffling glitches going on in Maps. I tried to search Canada, Mexico, and Australia, to the following results.

Only after I turned off Wi-Fi (and received the warning below) was I able find anything via search.

 

5. Street view and 3D are not the same

There is no denying that Apple’s flyover-created imaging for its 3D view is stunning. Like any Apple product, it’s beautiful and fun and engaging. But it doesn’t work: Looking at the 3D images is wonderful, but it isn’t effective for direction purposes. You know what is? Street View. Street View is an incredibly useful tool, especially when you’re trying to drive and navigate, or find some place on foot. But it’s gone, and we’re stuck with a gorgeous, useless replacement. 

So how do I get Google Maps back? 

Right now, there’s no word on when the Google Maps app will be making its iOS comeback. According to SearchEngineLand, this was Google’s official statement on the matter: 

“We believe Google Maps are the most comprehensive, accurate, and easy-to-use maps in the world. Our goal is to make Google Maps available to everyone who wants to use it, regardless of device, browser, or operating system.”

Whether Google’s just holding out or Apple’s blocking them is unknown, but it’s definitely in Google’s best interest to give the people — the iPhone-wielding people, that is — what they want. After Apple dropped YouTube from its native apps collection, it soared to the top of the App Store. Being wiped off the iPhone is just bad news for Google, so it makes you wonder what the hold up is. In the meantime, you can still access it via your iPhone’s browser and still get most of the features you’re missing — but fingers crossed, many of us can put Google Maps back on the home bar banner where it belongs very soon. 

Former Navy SEAL Matt Bisonette raised the ire of the DoD writing No Easy Day. Now his work on Medal of Honor: Warfighter is doing the same.

Former Navy SEAL Matt Bissonnette has had a busy year. Writing the memoir No Easy Day under the name Mark Owen, detailing his participation in the operation to assassinate Osama Bin Laden, was busy work. So too was dodging accusations from the Department of Defense, who claimed that, by publishing the book without first getting the department’s approval, Bissonette breached non-disclosure agreements he signed with the military. Somewhere in there, Bisonette had time to help Electronic Arts and developer Danger Close develop Medal of Honor: Warfighter. It would appear that the Department of Defence has one more bone to pick with Bisonette before the year is out.

Stars and Stripes reported on Wednesday that according to sources familiar with his involvement on the game, Bisonette was brought in by EA to help give Warfighter added authenticity. Military consultants require authorization from the DoD to work on projects like these so that classified information isn’t leaked to the public. DoD spokesman Lt. Col. Damien Pickart told Stars and Stripes that Bisonette made no request for authorization before working on Warfighter, and Col. Tim Nye of US Special Operations Command confirmed the same.

EA said that it didn’t check to see if Bisonette had received authorization because none of its consultants have required it in the past. “The Department of Defence has never asked to vet the games of the contribution of veterans and active service members,” said EA’s Jeff Brown. When asked whether EA had hired Bisonette to work on the game under either his own name or his pen name Mark Owen, Brown responded, “EA did not directly remunerate Mark Owen for his input on Medal of Honor: Warfighter.”

It’s standard procedure for shooter developers to hire former and current members of the military, as well as weapons manufacturers, as consultants. For example, convicted criminal Oliver North, an architect of the Iran-Contra affair, was hired as a consultant for Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. His participation was touted in early marketing for the game as a testament to the plausibility of its fictional war scenario.

Why take umbrage with Bisonette’s consultation on Warfighter when the DoD has happily let other games out into the market without finding out if the appropriate authorization has been acquired with the publisher?

Wake up, Mr. Freeman. Wake up and smell the sandbox. A source within Valve alleges that Half-Life 3 will be a Skyrim-style open world game.

Valve’s making hardware. Valve’s publishing crowd-supported games through Steam Greenlight. Valve’s hiring economists. Valve is designing a version of Steam that is installed directly into your brain and commands your most basic bodily functions. It seems that Gabe Newell’s company is doing everything a technology company can feasibly do except making Half-Life 3. Where, oh where, is Gordon Freeman’s next adventure in head crab crushing and crowbar wielding? New rumors say that it isn’t coming next year, but 2014 could introduce us to an altogether different adventure for Freeman.

Greek outlet Journaldugamer reported details about the next game in Valve’s signature series after speaking with a source within the developer. According to her, Half-Life 3’s development has been inconsistent, changing shape multiple times since work began following Half-Life 2: Episode 2 in 2007. What began as a linear first-person shooter was later scrapped for an exploration mixed with puzzles, already a signature part of the series and its descendant Portal.

While the final design is still in flux, the Half-Life 3 that’s currently in the works is actually an Elder Scrolls-inspired open world game. Rather than pure action and reflex-based gunplay, the game will take on numerous RPG elements, taking on quests doled out from residents of the world rather than proceeding to one pre-determined goal after the other. The source does say that the team making Half-Life 3 could scrap this version as well, but right now it looks like this is the game that will release after 2013.

A sandbox Half-Life 3 was certainly suggested by changes in Half-Life 2: Episode 2. That game’s sequences that had you racing around a field trying to take out giant tripod aliens was built specifically to give the series a break from its tight corridor layout.

It’s best to classify this story as pure rumor. Past leaks about the next Half-Life project—like this past summer’s Half-Life 2: Episode 3 concept art leak—have had the air of authenticity about them, but they all appear to be for cancelled projects, not a game that Valve will ultimately release.

An open world game set in the same universe as Half-Life and Portal would be a whole hell of a lot of fun, but would that game really still be Half-Life? The series is defined by its taut narrative structure. A shift towards a more personalized, open-ended game would break that identity. Why not just make it its own game?

The iPhone Dev-Team has done it again, releasing a iOS 6 jailbreak just hours after the official release of the new Apple update.

Just under 24 hours since the release of iOS 6 and jailbreakers have already figured out a way to bring the modded operating system to Apple users who love their hacked apps. The functioning jailbreak is currently only available on devices running on A4 chips, meaning just those with an iPhone 4, 3GS, and 4th generation iPod Touch will be able to sample the modded iOS 6. To get it running, you will also need to perform a tethered jailbreak which requires a computer connection each time you reboot the device to get the jailbreak operating.

Of course, the swiftness of the iPhone Dev-Team to configure a jailbreak comes as no surprise. The group has been known to release jailbreaks no more than a day after new operating system updates come out, as we’ve previously seen in past iOS versions.

If you are interested in trying it out, instructions are fully available on Redmond Pie using the Redsn0w jailbreak. In our personal opinion, there’s really no need to jailbreak iOS 6 this immediately… but if you’re impatient and curious, then by all means give it a shot and let us know how it goes. In the mean time, we’ll sit back and wait for an untethered edition to make jailbreaking less of a hassle, and for more app options to appear on Cydia to accompany the iPhone 5.

Do you own a jailbroken iPhone? Stop by our best jailbreak apps and games list and see if anything there piques your interest.

In our second New Super Mario Bros U preview, we take a look at the Wii U adventure's novel take on co-operative, competitive multiplayer.

The last time I got my hands on New Super Mario Bros. U, I had nothing but nice things to say about it. The three level sampler Nintendo was demoing in the weeks after E3 was gorgeous, making the now too-familiar New Super Mario Bros. milieu pop in new ways thanks to an HD makeover and some subtly powerful background design. Mountains, starry skies, and flying squirrels—Maybe Super Mario Bros. games would start feeling like worlds to inhabit again, rather than glorified toy boxes like those in New Super Mario Bros. 1 and 2 on DS and 3DS?

We won’t know whether that’s the case until the full game is ready to rock on November 18^th. The new chunk of game on display at last Thursday’s Wii U event in New York didn’t give a wide look at new levels, but inside of NSMB U’s new Boost Rush multiplayer mode. It’s hard to stop and admire the scenery in these speedy multiplayer challenges, but I can say this: Backing up players by creating platforms using the Wii U tablet controller is a whole lot more interesting than you’d first think.

Boost Rush is similar to the competitive Coin Rush mode from New Super Mario Bros. 2 on the 3DS. Rather than collecting as many coins as possible in three stages without dying though, the goal is to survive through an ever-scrolling stage. Survival isn’t enough though. The levels are difficult to pass through since they’re constantly moving to the right, and all the players controlling Mario, Luigi and Miis need to be extra swift, but to get the best score, you have to make it scroll faster. You do this by collecting coins in the stage.

Here’s where it gets extra tricky. Like in the regular game, the person using the tablet controller can support four others by tapping the screen and creating new platforms. You can save them from falling into pits, helping them up to reach more coins or items, or even halt them in their path. You can only create four blocks on the field at a time. Picking who on the field needs assistance in Boost Rush is difficult because of how big the stages are and how spread out players can get. It gets even more frantic when you try to get players to jump on four consecutively placed blocks. Do that and the blocks you place spout coins, raising the boost meter, potentially make the stage go faster.

Coin Rush in New Super Mario Bros. 2 was very much a larval version of Boost Rush. Where that felt like a diversion, Boost Rush feels like a substantial way to play Super Mario Bros. with other people. Just how substantial depends on how many levels Nintendo decides to include in the game. Only three samples were demoed, and each was ranked according to difficulty. Boost Rush through a typically fire-filled Bowser castle was naturally harder than rushing through a grassy plain, but if they’re always the same levels, they’ll start to get boring, even if the goal is to improve your time. Nintendo is promising downloadable content for the Mario series going forward though, so there’s hope.

New Super Mario Bros. U has a lot going for it. The sprawling levels of NSMB Wii have returned and show hints of even greater scale, a remedy to the cramped doldrums of NSMB 2. The interconnected overworld, hinted Miiverse functionality, and Boost Rush could make NSMB U the star of the Wii U launch, but it needs a little something extra to bring it up to par with the classic 2D Mario adventures: Surprises. That’s what NSMB 2 needed more than anything else. Boost Rush is a pleasant surprise already. Let’s see what else it’s got.

Samsung says it plans to add the iPhone 5 to its list of patent lawsuits against Apple.

If you somehow thought the new iPhone 5 would escape the wrath that is the Apple v. Samsung patent war, prepare to be mistaken. A U.S. court filing uncovered by Reuters reveals that “Samsung anticipates that it will file, in the near future, a motion to amend its infringement contentions to add the iPhone 5 as an accused product.”

The filing comes a week after Apple announced the iPhone 5, which hits stores on Friday. Apple says it sold more than 2 million iPhone 5 units within the first 24 hours after the device became available for pre-order on September 14.

“Based on information currently available, Samsung expects that the iPhone 5 will infringe the asserted Samsung patents-in-suit in the same way as the other accused iPhone models,” reads the filing, which was submitted to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California late Wednesday. “Samsung plans to file a motion to amend its infringement contentions to address the iPhone 5 as soon as it has had a reasonable opportunity to analyze the device.”

Samsung and Apple are currently embroiled in patent lawsuits in 10 countries around the world.

In a separate statement, Samsung asserted that “Apple continues to take aggressive legal measures that will limit market competition. Under these circumstances, we have little choice but to take the steps necessary to protect our innovations and intellectual property rights.”

Apple Korea responded to Samsung’s latest pushback, saying that the company values “originality and innovation,” and that it makes “products to delight our customers, not for our competitors to flagrantly copy.”

Apple won a sweeping $1.05 billion victory over Samsung at the end of August when a court decided that Samsung had violated a number of its design and software patents.

The court also ruled that Apple had not violated any of Samsung’s patents, a decision that has clearly not stymied Samsung’s commitment to fighting back against Apple.

Gun sight graphic via Atlaspix/Shutterstock 

Mobile technology has the capacity to liberate us from the punch clock, but instead, most of us elect to drag on our work days voluntarily. When is enough enough?

Technology is supposed to make our lives easier right? It should be bringing us greater convenience and saving us time. Mobile devices allow us to be connected everywhere. We can keep in touch with friends and family and find the latest news wherever we are, but the other side of the coin is that we are unable to disconnect. Our employers have a hotline to reach us. We are effectively always on call and the result is longer working hours than ever before.

Selling like hot cakes

Smartphones and tablets are leading the mobile technology charge. According to Flurry Analytics the Android and iOS platforms are the fastest growing consumer technology in history. Our adoption of smartphones and tablets is occurring ten times faster than the PC revolution, twice as fast as the Internet explosion, and three times faster than the social media craze.

If we look at smartphone penetration in the US, Nielsen reports that 55.5 percent of mobile subscribers now have smartphones. A staggering 74 percent of 25- to 34-year-olds now own smartphones. While the meteoric growth is showing signs of slowing slightly, those figures are still going up.

Blurring the work-life balance

Smartphones and, to some extent, tablets, are blurring the line between our social lives and our work lives. We use mobile technology for both. That means that there is no cut-off point when we leave the office at the end of the day. It has always been commonplace for certain professionals, like doctors, to be on call, but mobile technology puts us all on call.

Not only are we always reachable, but we can also easily take work home with us. The urge to check up on emails is virtually irresistible, and the worst part is that we are doing it to ourselves. Every time we struggle to switch off, check our inboxes during dinner, or send that “quick response that simply can’t wait” while lying in bed, we are create an expectation.

Good Technology polled 1,000 workers in the US and 1,000 in the UK on mobile work habits. They found that 93 percent of Brits and 80 percent of Americans continue to work after leaving the office. Of those, UK workers are doing an extra 183 hours a year on average and US workers are doing an extra 365 hours a year on average. That’s around 23 working days and 45 working days respectively.

Is your job that important?

Let’s face it: Things aren’t really going to grind to a halt if that email goes unanswered until the morning. Where does that pressure come from? What’s the source of that little voice that persuades you to have one last look at your inbox as you lie in bed ready to sleep? Why do you feel compelled to have a quick look at your work email first thing in the morning when you’ll be there in an hour or two?

According to that survey, 66 percent of UK workers check email before 7AM and 65 percent don’t go to sleep before a final inbox scan. In the US, 68 percent check it before 8AM and 69 percent won’t go to sleep without a last look. When do we switch off? Should work really be the first thing on your mind in the morning and the last thing at night?

Employers are rubbing their hands with glee

The expectation that we will be right on top of everything the second it happens is growing, even in jobs that aren’t really time sensitive. The BYOD (bring your own device) trend is a real boon for employers. We are buying our own mobile technology and using it to stay connected to work for longer each day. The productivity boost and hardware savings more than compensate for the increased IT headache.

According to the Cisco IBSG Horizons Study, 95 percent of the 600 US business and IT leaders polled now “permit employee-owned devices in some way, shape or form in the workplace” and 76 percent “categorized BYOD as somewhat or extremely positive for their companies.”

If employers are starting to provide more support for your personal mobile devices. there’s obviously an expectation that you’ll use them for work. Work-related apps creep onto your smartphone, your tablet may be subsidized, and before you know it, you can’t work without it. This mobile technology also enables another trend that is saving companies money – the rise of telecommuting.

The ultimate blurring of the line between work and the rest of your life is to work in your own home. Ditching the suit and the commute has its advantages, but it also tends to encourage you to work for longer. There’s a perception that working from home is a way for people to slack off, but employers are developing more sophisticated techniques for keeping tabs on remote employees.

Many preconceptions about telecommuting are out of date. This Stanford study focused on Chinese call center workers at a firm called CTrip and discovered that working from home resulted in a 13 percent increase in performance – people took fewer breaks and sick days, and they also performed better.

We bring it on ourselves

I love smartphones and tablets. I’m a strong advocate for mobile technology in general. I think it offers us a lot, but I’m also guilty of using it for working out of hours. The thing is, are we really being pressured to do this by employers, or are we tightening our own thumbscrews?

Many of you will be familiar with that last email check at night. The purpose is to ensure there’s nothing to worry about and then, in theory, you can get a good night’s rest, assured in the knowledge that you’ve done everything you had to do. Where that falls down is when there is something to worry about. Dealing with it as you lie in bed at midnight is often impossible anyway, so the result is anxiety and insomnia.

With the morning email check, you get to begin your strategizing while you shower and eat breakfast because you already have an idea what you’ll need to deal with in the day ahead. It also means you’re already mentally working long before you sit down at that desk.

Perhaps it’s time we imposed a cut-off. Resist that urge to check your inbox again, focus on your family while you’re at home, don’t let work encroach. If we aren’t careful then that voluntary extension of the working day will soon become an expectation.

[Image credit: Using smartphone: rangizzz/Shutterstock; Work/Life Balance: RT Images/Shutterstock; Smartphone & tablet: bloomua/Shutterstock]