scout

Scout takes iPhone navigation offline

With the likely release of Apple Maps as part of iOS 6 next month, independent navigation app makers will have a tough time competing against this free, preinstalled software. But Telenav seems poised for the fight, as it made an update to its Scout navigation app for iPhone today that includes the option to download maps, making the app useful even where there is no cell phone connection.

This new version of Scout also brings in voice commands, which will mean drivers can tell it to find destinations by business name, as one example.

When we reviewed the previous version of Scout, it stood out for its excellent route guidance, as long as the free app was upgraded with the $10-per-year voice prompts. Although we have not yet seen Apple Maps' route guidance capabilities, it would do well to emulate Scout. … Read more

Scout by Telenav

In light of Apple's recent announcements about its maps app, the idea of another navigation app for the iPhone might seem redundant, but Apple's program will have a hard time matching the route guidance capabilities of Telenav's Scout.

This recent free navigation app builds on Telenav's extensive experience in mobile navigation. Telenav came up with a new interface design and made the app free as a way of competing in the increasingly cutthroat world of navigation software.

Scout's major drawbacks are that it is strictly an online app, and voice prompts require a $9.99-a-year … Read more

Hands on with Scout by Telenav's HTML5 navigation

Getting (or sending) turn-by-turn driving directions is now as simple as clicking a link in a text message or e-mail with Telenav's new Scout navigation Web app and your phone's HTML5 browser. OK, so there are more steps than just that one, but it's still a remarkably simple process.

Simply visit Scout.me with any browser and search the city of your choice for something to do, somewhere to eat, or somewhere to sleep. Destinations are organized into the main categories of Things to do, Food and Drink, Events, and Places to stay, with multiple subcategories for … Read more

The 404 1,015: Where we take Katie Linendoll to sleepaway camp (podcast)

Former CBS Early Show tech correspondent, HSN host, and all-around protogeek Katie Linendoll checks in with us today and brings gifts! She'll tell us about her long history with consumer tech and her new show on Spike TV's All Access Weekly, a show with a live audience that covers gaming, comics, and gadgets. Even cooler--they film out of the old MTV TRL studio!

We'll also cover the breaking news of the day: AirBnB bought its competitor Crashpadder in advance of the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, Angry Birds Space comes out tomorrow, and the Girl Scouts of America debut their new Netiquette Pledge.

Thanks again to Katie for joining us today, and be sure to check out All Access Weekly every Thursday at midnight!… Read more

Boy and Girl Scouts? Meet the hacker scouts

If you were ever a Boy Scout, you may recall earning an archery or camping badge. Girl Scouts offer athlete, naturalist, and many others. But what if you're a kid with serious 3D printing or laser cutting chops? Is there a badge for you?

There is now, thanks to the folks at Adafruit Industries, a New York-based open source hardware and maker products emporium. Starting in the next few days--timed to the 100th anniversary of the Girl Scouts on March 12--Adafruit will begin offering a broad set of skill badges that reward kids--and presumably others--for completing any of a … Read more

Telenav launches Scout navigation app, boasts Ford Sync AppLink compatibility

LAS VEGAS--Available as an iOS app in the iTunes App Store, accessible online at Scout.me, and coming soon to Ford Sync AppLink, TeleNav's new Scout service aims to help users discover and navigate to destinations whether on foot, at home, or in the car.

On the iPhone, Scout presents users with a dashboard that gives an overview of personalized, real-time commute times to work or home and shortcuts to local search and saved favorite locations. Digging deeper, the app also offers a search-and-discovery engine for finding, for example, a local bar or restaurant. User reviews are aggregated from … Read more

Bare-bones PDF converter

PDFs can be useful but they can also be a pain; at one time or another, most of us have encountered a PDF that we wished were in an editable format. ByteScout PDF Viewer is a basic program that lets you not only view PDFs but also export them in editable formats. It's nothing fancy, but it does work.

The program's interface is plain, with a few buttons across the top for its features. You can open and view PDFs, print them, and export them as HTML, text, or Word files. That's the extent of what ByteScout … Read more

Students build autonomous transatlantic boat

A group of students is preparing to launch an autonomous boat that will sail more than 3,000 miles across the Atlantic from Rhode Island to Spain in what it calls the first robo-boat crossing of its kind.

Built by four college students in the U.S. and Spain, Scout is an 8-foot-long propeller-driven foam shell coated with carbon fiber and Kevlar to withstand punishing conditions at sea.

Run by microcontrollers, it's equipped with a GPS system and digital compass for navigation and tracking as well as a solar-powered battery system that can operate the craft for at least … Read more

Girl Scouts create prosthetic hand device

Not to be outdone by Boy Scouts who can now earn a robotics badge, a team of Girl Scouts from Iowa has created a prize-winning prosthetic device to help a 3-year-old girl born without fingers on her right hand.

The Flying Monkeys robotics team developed the BOB-1 tool as part of the FIRST Lego League (FLL) competition, an international kids' robotics program.

The Monkeys are 11 to 13 years old, including one who has a limb difference that provided inspiration for the invention. The girls consulted a prosthetics maker and an occupational therapist and came up with a design that has a platform strapped to the arm as well as a cylindrical holder for writing implements or other tools.

The device helped 3-year-old Danielle hold a pencil with her right arm and write for the first time. It also netted the Flying Monkeys an FLL Global Innovation award of up to $20,000 to patent the invention, which they have applied for (PDF).

Danielle's family has worked with the team to improve the device and would like another for a 5-year-old boy it adopted who also has a limb difference.

FLL is part of the Girl Scouts' focus on STEM skills. The FIRST Championship, which just wrapped up in St. Louis, featured the Girl Scout GENIUS team, which installed a rear-view camera and sensor system on a wheelchair to improve visibility and navigation.

I can't imagine what these girls will be inventing 10 years from now. … Read more

The 404 797: Where we earn our podcasting merit badge (podcast)

Today's story rundown includes the Boy Scouts of America staying culturally relevant with a new robotics merit badge, Cisco saying goodbye to Flip mobile camcorders, a crowdsourced fundraiser poking fun at M. Night Shyamalan's dwindling film career, and Germany saying no to Google Street View.

The 404 Digest for Episode 797

Help M. Night Shyamalan get a real education. Cisco gives its Flip video biz the boot. Boy Scouts can earn a robotic merit badge as part of their new curriculum. No more Google Street View photography for Germany.

Episode 797 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more