So those helpful people at the Met Office (weather forecasting, for our non-UK readers) have delivered an App for the iPhone that lets you check out the weather in lots of lovely detail. Well actually, the work was outsourced to a mobile developer, but that’s fine – because all the content is there, and that’s what we need to see!

In this case the content is weather data, including:

• 5-day weather forecasts
• National severe weather alerts
• Daily national and regional weather maps
• UK rainfall radar and satellite imagery
• Save and access your favourite locations

The best part, I suppose, is that the App is free – not always a good indicator of quality, but I think in this case it should be pretty reasonable.

Met Office Weather Application / £free [iTunes link]

[Via: TechDigest]

O2 has announced an exclusive sponsorship deal with Shazam which will allow it to deliver highly targeted ads for its Priority Tickets service to Shazam users. Customers will be served relevant ads for O2 (NYSE: TEF) Priority pre-sales based on the music they have tagged through Shazam’s iPhone application. The dynamic ads will be delivered using 4th Screen Advertising’s ad serving platform, Mpression.

In case you were wondering what O2 Priority Tickets is, its a unique offer for O2 customers which gives them the ability to purchase tickets for gigs at The O2 and O2 Academy venues up to 48 hours before they go on general sale. O2’s sponsorship of Shazam’s iPhone app means that customers will only see adverts for pre-sales which they might be interested in based on the artists or tracks they have tagged using Shazam. For example, if a Cheryl Cole pop song is identified and she’s performing at The O2 or one of the O2 Academy venues, the ad will promote the gig.

These relevant and contextual ads will be delivered using a variety of formats including standard banners and integrated links. Shazam’s iPhone app is free to download via the App Store.

It all seems fairly reasonable, and I think could be quite potentially, as long as the targeting is accurate, and not too intrusive.

Sygic Mobile Maps for iPhone has got a major update. It is bringing a whole UI reworking to its users free of charge – sweet! It is traffic-ready and the traffic info system will be gradually launched to the regions during this quarter. Additionally, it supports speed camera or road incident sharing between the app users and much more – such as:

• Fresh new look and feel of the whole application
• Natural scrolling through menus with no buttons needed
• Pinch to zoom the map
• Dynamic menu animation
• Optimized music playback during navigation
• iPhone-like keyboard
• Contacts integration enhanced by means of utilizing 1400 common abbreviations for address segments across 24 languages
• Policetraps community – share mobile and static speed cameras and get warnings updated in real-time. Sign up on policetraps.com or report anonymously. Tap the bottom part of the navigation screen to report speed cameras or incidents
• Traffic info icon is already present in the main menu – it will be activated at the moment of launching the service, availability and launch time depends on region
• Useful indicators – network signal, battery status, GPS signal strength icon and time – now present throughout the menu on top right panel
• New instruction voices added
• The address input within the country simplified by means of skipping the country name input field – the user can still decide to take the step back if he/she happens to be in different country compared to the last route
• The app is ready for Google (NSDQ: GOOG) Local Search and Sygic is awaiting the green light from Google. The weather information feature is also ready and awaiting activation

Sounds good, doesn’t it? Well I know I’ll be checking it out in my Local iTunes store (the UK)!

Sygic Mobile Maps (UK & Ireland) / £29.99 (but update is free if you already have the App) [iTunes link]

Attention all BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) App Developers… Looks like RIM is having another informational and educational webcast. This one is titled ‘Small Screens, Big Dreams: a Detail-Oriented Approach to User Interface Design‘. Translation: Learn tips, tricks and methods to get the most out of your user interface. The webcast will run on February 16th, starting at 2PM EST. Presented by Brian Zubert (Senior Application Development Consultant), he’ll discuss everything from colors and fonts, to layout, alignment and other details often overlooked in UI design.

For more information or to register for free, hit up this link.

NAVIGON, developers of the MobileNavigator have introduced a significant update to their feature-rich navigation app. New key features include the following:

• in-app connectivity with Facebook and Twitter
• Panorama View 3D with 3D terrain views provided by NASA
• Personalized route delivery via NAVIGON MyRoutes

While I haven’t got my hands on this app (yet), I’m intrigued by the 3D terrain view. It promises to ‘deliver an accurate depiction of surrounding environment, and what lies ahead with digital landscapes that include elevations, shadows, and geographic images’. Neat-o.

The NAVIGON MyRoutes system also takes directions to a higher standard. The route recommendations given are customized for you and your location based on driving data, driving habits, day of the week, and more.

So how much does it cost? Normally you would be asked to throw down $89.99 in the App Store for this bad boy. However, during MacWorld (Feb. 11-13) a special promotion price of $69.99 will be available (actually, the sale price ends on Feb. 15). If you happen to be heading down for Macworld, you can visit NAVIGON at booth #575. For more information, hit up NAVIGON.

[Via: BusinessWire]

In their latest version, WorldMate Live has included some new functionality with professional social network, LinkedIn. Basically, this would broadcast your travel plans to all of your connections so they have an opportunity to meet up with you if the opportunity’s there. Even if you don’t have the time to check your LinkedIn feeds to see who’s going where, mobile alerts through the app will now let you know if any connections are in town.

WorldMate Live is one of my favourite travel planning apps for BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM), hands-down. In plugs into Outlook, it’s easy to update your itinerary with new items (hotel, travel, meetings, etc.), and access flight info for peace of mind. The social networking aspect of travel apps isn’t entirely new, though – TripIt recently made its way to BlackBerry, and established itself initially for sharing location information with LinkedIn contacts. I’ll have to compare the two at some point, for Mobile World Congress next week, I’m going with WML. Hit up WorldMate Live for more info, or App World to download the free version – a premium Gold subscription provides a few extra goodies for the serious globetrotters.

Sprintboard is a neat little app, which I believe should come bundled with the iPhone/Mac OS. Basically, it allows users to swipe over the dotted area, right above the dock icons, to move between the screens faster. You can think about it as the alphabet bar within Contacts – sliding your finger over the dots will take you to the screen you want. It’s that easy, and as I said, it should come standard with the iPhone/iPod Touch now that we have so many apps (and therefore so many screens) installed on our devices.

The application requires a jailbroken device and can be downloaded from either Cydia or Rock.

[Via: JustAnotherIphoneBlog]

After the iPhone (AppStore link) and BlackBerry, Urbanspoon is “going Android.” The application keeps all the functionality (and UI) of the iPhone version, allowing users to find restaurants based on price, current location (nearby) and culinary style. Moreover, Urbanspoon users can rate and review restaurants, providing other folks with the real-life information that can be/is useful when picking a place to dine.

Probably one of Urbanspoon’s most popular features is the random local restaurant finder, and it’s of course included in the Android version. Simple shake the phone, and the application will suggest a place nearby.

As for the Android-specific features, I haven’t caught much. Actually, it’s fair to add that it takes advantage of the bigger screen found in devices such as the Nexus One and Moto Droid/Milestone to show more options.

And that’s about it. If you like it, simply search for “Urbanspoon” in the Android Market and take it from there.

[Via: mashable]

Walmart’s iPhone app has been updated recently (it’s in version 1.1 now) to allow users to access products from all departments at Walmart.com. That’s a major step forward, considering that the original app allowed users to browse products from the electronics section, only. Guess the thinking at that moment was that the iPhone is for the gadget freaks only. Now when Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) has shipped so many devices, it’s not only computer geeks who like the iPhone… and iPod Touch.

The application remains free and AppStore link unchanged.

[Via: JustAnotherIPhoneBlog]

If Guinness and Stella Artois can do it, so can Miller. Yap, they’ve made their own iPhone app called “Miller Lite Taxi Cab Finder” in conjunction with 1-800-TAXICAB, a national taxi dispatch service that automatically connects callers with a local-area taxi company.

As you can presume, the application is made for drunken folks who shouldn’t drive home, but get a cab instead. It relies on the iPhone’s built-in GPS capabilities to help users find a Taxi or Limo company nearby. In case you need a Limo, you’ll want to request a quite first before agreeing to pay for the service – that’s also possible from within the app.

In addition, there’s the “cab hailer” feature that flashes to help draw attention from the street, and a shortcut for calling 1-800-TAXICAB… AppStore link is here. (it’s a free download)