In my ongoing series on novel uses of the iPhone and iPad camera, here's yet another: an app that lets you take a picture of a leaf and then gives you information about what type of tree it as. Leafsnap (free) returns the likely species name, as well high-resolution photographs of and information about the tree's leaves, flowers, fruit, seeds, and bark. The app was funded by a $2.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation and was developed by the Smithsonian Institution, University of Maryland, and Columbia University.
Jim Karpen
Jim Karpen holds a Ph.D. in literature and writing, and has a love of gizmos. His doctoral dissertation focused on the revolutionary consequences of digital technologies and anticipated some of the developments taking place in the industry today. Jim has been writing about the Internet and technology since 1994 and has been using Apple's visionary products for decades.
CaMeasure -- use your camera to measure size or distance
By Jim Karpen
I'm always amazed by all the novel uses of the camera on iOS devices — from taking your pulse to helping those who are colorblind determine colors — and wrote an article about that in a recent issue of the magazine. And I just received a press release for another. CaMeasure lets you use your camera to measure size or distance. It does this in one of two ways. For smaller objects such as furniture, the app asks you to put an object of known size, such as a sheet of paper or a credit card, by the object.
The iPhone camera engendered a huge range of apps that used it for many things other than as a camera: from bar code readers to a heart rate monitor to an aid for those who are color blind. I suspect that the iPad will broaden that range even further. This demo video shows how a developer is using the front-facing camera for head tracking to create a cool 3-D effect.
Speed.Dial ($0.99) is a simple app that lets you add contacts to your home screen. It puts an app-like icon on your home screen that includes the contact's picture and name. If you want to call the person, you just tap the icon. The app makes it quick and simple to add a contact.
New Google ebook app and ebook store
By Jim Karpen
Google today launched their new Google ebookstore and Google Books app (free). They say that the store has over 400,000 books available for purchase and over 2 million free ebooks. As is typical, the app lets you change the font and search inside the book. It also has night-reading mode and offline reading mode. Your books are stored in the cloud. Read more about the using the iOS app on their website.
Thermos -- app lets you use your iPhone as a thermometer
By Jim Karpen
Today's batch of press releases brings yet another app for my in-progress article on creative uses of the iPhone camera. Money Scan x2 ($0.99) is an app that helps you detect counterfeit money. What will they think of next? The description says that it works with all currencies. It appears to simply magnify and illuminate the currency, rather than itself detecting counterfeit bills.
Price Check by Amazon -- free app lets you find prices via voice, bar code, photo, or product name
By Jim Karpen
If you're shopping and wonder whether the item you're considering could be more cheaply purchased via Amazon, a new app helps you do just that. Price Check by Amazon (free) lets you search for the product you have in mind in four different ways: you can say the name of the product, use the iPhone's camera to read the bar code, take a photo of the item, or enter the name of the product. The app uses the same voice recognition technology that powers the popular Dragon NaturallySpeaking. (iPhone 4 and 3GS only)
Heart Rate - Free is a newly released app that actually measures your heart rate using the iPhone 4 camera. (The app only works with iPhone 4.) You simply put your finger over the camera lens, and the app measures the minute changes in skin color caused by the ebb and flow of blood in your finger. They say that the app isn't intended for medical use (standard disclaimer) but that it provides an accurate measure of your pulse. This is one more app for my forthcoming article on the innovative uses of the camera.
Classic board games for iPad -- 10 for $1.99
By Jim Karpen
Board Games — All in One ($1.99) now has an English version. You get 10 classic games for your iPad: checkers, chess, Chinese checkers, backgammon, tic tac toe, peg solitaire, Ludo, and more. I like the idea of having all of these games in one app for the iPad. They're attractively designed, and can accommodate up to 6 players. These are pretty basic. You won't be able to play against your iPad, though, as in other chess apps, for example. And to have access to the instructions, you'll need an Internet connection, since it simply accesses the info on Wikipedia.
