Google Maps

You can do a lot with smartphones these days, but unless you're downloading the best apps for your device, you aren't really using it to its full potential. So if you aren't sure what to download, just make sure you have these 10 apps on your iPhone or Android device. Google Maps This app comes preinstalled on Android devices and should be the first app downloaded on iPhones. Besides top-notch design, the app is the best free voice navigation app for driving directions.

Google Inc. upended the Internet with its search engine. It launched its own email service, made roads and highways easier to navigate, developed the world's most popular operating system for mobile devices and took a shot at Apple Inc.'s iTunes with its own Google Play store. Now the technology giant is cranking up the volume with the debut of a subscription music service that provides access to millions of songs for a monthly fee, taking on the likes of Spotify and Pandora and going after the next big wave in digital music: streaming on mobile devices.

AT&T has begun selling what could be the first refurbished versions of the iPhone 5, and they're going for as much as $100 off the regular price. The Texas-based carrier lists its refurbished iPhone 5 models as $99 for the base 16 GB model , $199 for the 32 GB model and $299 for the 64 GB version of the smartphone. The phones are available in black or white versions. To get the price, you must be eligible for an upgrade or be a new customer and sign up for a new two-year contract.

Google has just added its 49th and 50th country to its popular Street View feature, enabling Web browsers to check out locations like the Hungarian Parliament building , the European country's Chain bridge or the largest medicinal bath in Europe, the Széchenyi thermal bath . Street View, available with Google Maps, gives users 360-degree views of millions of locations around the globe, now including those in Hungary and Lesotho....

Google Maps recently made its long awaited return to the iPhone, and although it's received positive reviews, finding some of the apps' coolest features can be a bit difficult. That's why earlier this week, Google released a tip sheet explaining features of the new app. Here are several of those tips, along with a few others that should help you get well acclimated with Google Maps. Use Google Maps with Siri Typically when you ask Siri for directions, she'll give them to you but will use Apple Maps.

Superstorms that slammed the East Coast prompted many Southern Californians to take a hard look at their own emergency preparedness plans, including how to keep cellphones charged when the power goes out. With a flurry of battery-boosting devices landing on the market, I tested eight of the latest and most novel designs on a recent ski trip to Colorado, reasoning that besides a storm, earthquake or blackout, the last place you'd want to be stranded with...

Google updated its Android Google Maps app this week with new features, but the most noticeable change is a new icon for the app. The new icon, which you can see in the picture above, shows the Google "g" subtly added on top of a map that also includes the iconic Google Maps pin. Previously the icon only showed a blue dot on top of a bland map (you can see the old icon here ). The icon is not only cleaner and more attractive, it pushes the Google brand more. Besides the new look, the app also has some cool new features.

A company that serves up advertisements for thousands of Apple mobile apps has seen a 29% jump in the number of devices running iOS 6 since the release of Google Maps for the iPhone. As you may recall, iPhone users that updated their devices to the iOS 6 operating system in September were stuck with an Apple Maps app rather than Google Maps, which came with previous versions of the iOS. Many complained that Apple's map app was inferior to Google's, leading to an apology from Apple's CEO Tim Cook.

Google Inc. upended the Internet with its search engine. It launched its own email service, made roads and highways easier to navigate, developed the world's most popular operating system for mobile devices and took a shot at Apple Inc.'s iTunes with its own Google Play store. Now the technology giant is cranking up the volume with the debut of a subscription music service that provides access to millions of songs for a monthly fee, taking on the likes of Spotify and Pandora and going after the next big wave in digital music: streaming on mobile devices.

Google is bringing its mapping technology to the great indoors. With the launch of Google Maps 6.0 on Tuesday, users of mobile devices running Android OS 2.1 and up will have the ability to use Google Maps not just to get directions to an Ikea, Macy's or one of several airports but also to figure out how to find housewares, ATMs and their airline boarding gates. Google's inside mapping will work like its outside mapping. A little blue dot will move along with users to show where they are, and the technology is even able to know what floor they are on — what Steve Lee, director of product management for Google, called "the third dimension of mapping.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Google Inc. is under fire from a coalition of companies including Microsoft Corp. which have called on European antitrust authorities to launch an investigation into the Internet giant's dominance on smartphones. The FairSearch group alleges Google is violating European antitrust laws by giving away its Android mobile operating system to device manufacturers on the condition that its applications such as Google Maps and YouTube be prominently displayed on devices. Android mobile software is installed on about 70% of new smartphones, making it the dominant mobile software platform around the world.

Planning, traveling and sharing a vacation with apps that have geography at their heart is no longer just a futuristic idea. Dated guidebooks, tattered maps and finding a place to eat may have been part of the travel headache in times past, but new technology and mobile applications have eliminated many of those hurdles. Here are three of my favorite online and mobile applications to help you plan, enjoy and share your vacation without getting lost or guessing whether the hotel you hope to stay in is close to the ocean.

In a move that could improve the quality of Apple Maps, the Cupertino tech company has purchased WiFiSlam, a Silicon Valley start-up that specializes in indoor mapping. Apple paid $20 million for the acquisition, saying it “buys smaller technology companies from time to time,” according to the Wall Street Journal . Apple, however, did not disclose its plans for the start-up. The 2-year-old WiFiSlam has developed technology that makes it possible for phones to detect users' locations inside buildings by using Wi-Fi signals.

You can do a lot with smartphones these days, but unless you're downloading the best apps for your device, you aren't really using it to its full potential. So if you aren't sure what to download, just make sure you have these 10 apps on your iPhone or Android device. Google Maps This app comes preinstalled on Android devices and should be the first app downloaded on iPhones. Besides top-notch design, the app is the best free voice navigation app for driving directions.

Google has made it easier to find different types of places and look up saved friends' addresses in the first major update to its Google Maps app for the iPhone. The Silicon Valley company released the update Tuesday morning, and it can be downloaded now from the Apple App Store . When users tap the search bar at the top, they'll be presented with icons for restaurants, coffee shops, bars and gas stations, which they can tap to quickly look for those types of shops. They can also tap a three dot icon to pull up other types of places, including hotels, movie theaters and ATMs.

On the Map A Mind-Expanding Exploration of the Way the World Looks Simon Garfield Gotham: 464 pp., $27.50 Here's what I like about maps: They offer a clarity, a shape, to the world. They suggest routes and boundaries, allow us to explore widely, even (or especially) if we don't leave home. They speak of possibilities, both in terms of places we may visit and those we will never visit, while supporting the comforting illusion that our surroundings are contained. I look at them nearly every day - not just to get to where I'm going but also to look back at where I've been.

Google Maps is back on the iPhone after a nearly three-month hiatus. The map app became available in the Apple App Store late Wednesday night. However, the app offers a far different experience than what users had before Google Maps was removed from the iPhone as a pre-installed app when iOS 6 launched in September. The new Google Maps is similar to the version available for Android phones, and it offers a flurry of new features. Among them are Streetview and photos of the insides of some businesses, such as restaurants and bars.

After a long wait and more than 50,000 signatures on an online petition, cyclists will be happy to know that Google Inc. has finally added bicycle routes to Google Maps. In Google Maps, users can now find "Bicycling" in the tool's "Get Directions" drop-down box. After choosing the option, bikers can input two addresses and find the bike route that will get them to their destination. The mapping tool provides turn-by-turn directions and an estimated travel time. The new Google Maps bicycling feature is available in 150 U.S. cities, including Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York.

Apple, whose own map app was a disaster, is reportedly in talks to acquire Waze, a smartphone map app startup. TechCrunch on Wednesday reported that the two companies have entered negotiations but are hung up on the price. According to the report, Waze is looking for $750 million while Apple is only offering $400 million plus $100 million in incentives. The top 10 embarrassing tech flops of 2012 The Waze mapping app is for both the iPhone and Android. It crowd-sources data from its users to keep them updated on the latest traffic information.

As 2012 comes to a close we take a look back at the biggest "oops" moments of the last year. Whether it was an advertising misstep (Facebook's "Chair" commercial), or a product released before it was ready (Apple Maps), or just an idea that was ill-received (homeless men as Wi-Fi hotspots), we tried to compose a list of the times when the major players lost control of the narrative.  It's also a reminder that everyone makes mistakes--even exacting tech companies.  1. Apple Maps fiasco How bad was it when Apple replaced Google Maps with its own mapping system on iOS 6?