Latest auto iPhone app: Augmented reality parked car finder
About a dozen years ago, this blogger drove his father's Buick Regal Gran Sport Coupe to a Pink Floyd concert at the 80,000-seat Pontiac Silverdome. After the concert was over, said blogger spent two hours trying to find his old man's ride in a sea of tie dye shirts and strange-smelling smoke. We've all misplaced our cars in mall parking lots, at airport garages or sporting venues before, but iPhone 3GS owners now have a device that can stop it from ever happening again.Car Finder uses the newest iPhone's GPS hardware to keep track of your vehicle's locale, and when it comes time to get back to your car or truck, the app points you toward its location. Car Finder seems easy enough to use. Whenever you park your vehicle, open the application and mark your position. The 99-cent app will then tell you if you've got an accurate GPS position along with the margin of error. You can also name the spot or provide a parking spot number or letter to help you find your car later.
When it comes time to find your car, simply open Car Finder and your iPhone camera will be activated and an arrow will appear to point you in the right direction. The app will tell you how close you are to your car by giving you a meter readout that will let you know if you're getting hotter or colder.
Since the jammed packed parking lots of the holiday shopping season are right around the corner, we're thinking Car Finder may be worth a try. Few things suck more than losing your car in the parking lot when it's 25 degrees outside and you're holding four shopping bags.
[Source: TUAW]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
DaveO 8:18AM (11/06/2009)
I can use a used tennis ball on my aerial and save $0.99 thanks.
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Aeromax 9:13AM (11/06/2009)
Yeah but then you have to have a tennis ball on your antenna.
Rick 10:00AM (11/06/2009)
I have a mast and I can maybe lay the tennis ball next to it, but the wind will blow it off. So this app works for me.
Hamud 8:50AM (11/06/2009)
Could be useful to me. Last time I was at a mall parking lot, storey type. Arrived in a great hurry locked the car and went away running, didn't even look at what sector I was in. Took me 25 minutes to find my car again...
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amnigo 8:59AM (11/06/2009)
There's also some Windows Mobile programs out there like this, although I don't know if any use the camera. Some of them use their own mapping, and some can save a position in Google Maps. I also believe there's a hanful of other iPhone parked car apps. My guess is the difference is those do not use the camera.
Can't speak for Palm, Blackberry or Android.
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Brett P. Cooper 9:00AM (11/06/2009)
Cute app, but I thought the point of being able to drop a pin on the Google Map on your iPhone was for this purpose and it is built in, thus free.
It doesn't have the nifty camera-augmented reality capability, but it solves the problem nonetheless.
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Aeromax 9:14AM (11/06/2009)
I have a "where's my car" app for my iPhone that was free. Not quite as "nifty" as this one, but same principal nonetheless.
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shlompsen 9:15AM (11/06/2009)
I'm guessing it can't handle elevation differences, like if you're in a multi-level parking garage (?)
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Casper 9:29AM (11/06/2009)
Please tell me iPhone users aren't this stupid.
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theSAWzall 9:41AM (11/06/2009)
The augmented reality thing is cool, but the crux of the problem is stepping out of your car and forgetting that you may have trouble finding it again. This does nothing to solve that problem, your still going to forget to activate the app and save your parking location.
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fenix 10:04AM (11/06/2009)
Do not want to sound like an @@@ but what in a case of multi storied parking lot
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Ben 10:19AM (11/06/2009)
I shop online, thank you very much!
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jsinkwich 10:45AM (11/06/2009)
Very cool use of available technology. Useless. But can just imagine other applications that will spawn from this idea.....this is the cusp!
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mario 11:03AM (11/06/2009)
This app is not really new.
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mario 11:07AM (11/06/2009)
Perhaps iPhone-users who like an automotive app should take a look at carspy. It has lots of spyshots of new cars to come.
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Shiftright 1:37PM (11/06/2009)
I get around this problem by driving a fluorescent lime green Hummer H2 with a lift kit.
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fmwso 1:51PM (11/06/2009)
I think the idea is cool, at least you don't have to spend minutes or hours looking for your car.
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danny 2:13PM (11/06/2009)
Hello,
Yesterday i unlocked my 3gs 3.1.2 iphone and i was wondering if that is safe to do ? The iphone is unlocked but is it safe to use ? I used www.unlock-iphone.org . Please tell me if is safe.
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Nightcrawler 3:21PM (11/06/2009)
So Chris how much of that 2 hours to find your old man's ride was due to the size of the lot and how much was related to your mental condition upon leaving said Pink Floyd concert?
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Joe Papierz Jr 9:29PM (11/08/2009)
Or, you could notice the Parking Lot Name or Number and the Aisle Number when you drive in. Works for me. If memory is untrustworthy in all the excitement of the event, jot this information down on a piece of paper and put it in your pocket/wallet as you walk to the entrance.
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