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Yell.com is building on the success of its number one business App with the development of an Augmented Reality version, available free on the App Store. The free Augmented Reality iPhone Beta App has been designed by Yell Labs, a group of technicians and strategists dedicated to making Yell the best way for local companies to advertise themselves and the best way for local people to find them. The App allows users to ‘see’ local shops, offices, restaurants and other useful services through the iPhone’s camera viewer – even if they’re round the corner or in the next street.
As you move the iPhone around, yellow boxes are displayed over the live feed of the world directly in front of you. If you touch one of these boxes, information is displayed about that specific business such as address, phone number, opening hours and website. It’s a combination of the iPhone’s GPS and compass, which combine to pinpoint exactly where you are, and the way you’re facing. Yell then seamlessly overlays the relevant information, taken from its database of two million businesses.
The App, which requires an iPhone 3GS, features:
- Radar: shown at the top of the screen, indicates which businesses are around you, 360°
- Categories Bar: swish your finger to the right and a display with popular searches appears allowing you to get to the information you want quickly
- Range: swish your finger to the left and you can set the distance that you want to see, therefore allowing you to reduce the amount of information on the screen
“We’re pleased with the result of our first experiment with Augmented Reality and are now working on fully integrating AR with our mobile service later in the year.” – Matthew Bottomley, director of new media product marketing at Yell.
Sounds cool doesn’t it – I need to download and play with this 
Yell Labs (£free) [iTunes link]
About The Author
Ben Robinson
Ben is a 10+ year veteran of the Mobile industry – starting his career when SMS was a still a relatively new concept for most people (!), he has now consulted on everything from bleeding-edge Mobile content, to the next-gen accessories you might view it on. As a result he has a broad and deep knowledge in numerous areas of Mobile – from network operators to device vendors, to infrastructure and middleware vendors (not to mention content delivery) – and has worked for companies in all of these areas! He is based in the UK, a hotbed of activity for mobile, and recently became a father for the second time – as oppose to in his younger years when he was happy spend time tweaking all manner of mobile devices to 'nth' degree, he now looks for services and hardware that provide the most efficient, compact, and reliable improvements to his already manic life! It’s his opinion that Mobile solutions should be there to help to make your life better – if a particular solution (be it service or device) isn’t doing this, he believes you need to ask the very important question of why you continue to use it... His focus at IntoMobile is mainly on Mobile content, services, and infrastructure, particularly as regards the UK market – and with the occasional look at devices. Additionally, using his extensive experience in the industry, he will provide commentary on the industry at large, with regular (and hopefully thought-provoking) articles.
