First Light

By Rene Ritchie, Tuesday, Aug 30, 2011 | TiPb’s developer spotlights are like DVD/iTunes Extras for the App Store — a weekly look behind the scenes at the programers and designers that bring you the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad apps and games you love. This week Rene talks with Mike Smithwick of Distant Suns. What’s your name? Mike Smithwick What’s your company’s name? First Light Design, LLC, I was hoping to name it something like “Apple,” I know, dumb name, but someone already had it. Where are you located? San Jose, CA. Within walking distance of Cisco (really!), Intel, eBay, and only a few miles always from the Mother Ship. What’s your website address? www.distantsuns.com What’s your Twitter name? @distantsuns for any hot breaking news about, uh, Distant Suns (duh!). And @lazyastronomer for general space and astronomy geek stuff. Why @lazyastronomer? When people ask me why I wanted to write Distant Suns, I just told them I was way too lazy to haul a telescope up a mountain and freeze off the stuff I wouldn’t really want to have frozen off just to see something I could create on my iPad while I am watching Lassie reruns on Nickelodeon and eating Cheeze Whiz out of the can. I’m sure your readership can relate to that. What apps do you make? Distant Suns-Lite, the freebie, Distant Suns 2, the iPhone only version, and Distant Suns 3, the super-double-maga-licious universal version. Then there is WeatherPlanet, Grand Tour-3D and the Live365 music client and a Cisco client for their Pulse software that helps people large companies connect based on specific experience tech expertise needed at the time. What apps, other than your own, are currently among your favorites? I am a sucker for clock and weather apps. My favorite clock apps are CloqWork, one of the most charming apps I have ever seen, and one of the hardest to describe. You just gotta get it to “get” it. Then also in clocks, there is Observatory. It is just a stunningly beautiful piece of art to look at. Weather HD is just nice to look at and have running all day In the game department, I don’t own many games as I am just too busy, but I had to get this one: Ancient Frog, for the shear force of the artistry on part of the designer. Plus it is a very charming game. Read More

Posted 06/23/2011 at 2:00pm | by Susie Ochs Some people venture into the outdoors to “unplug.” To leave technology behind…to stop and smell the roses, if you will. And if that’s your thing, that’s great. But some of us are allergic to roses and break out in hives if you try to pry our gadgets out of our hands for a minute, let alone for a whole weekend in the woods. That said, we’re not suggesting that you bring an iMac camping, and thanks to the power of iPhones and iPads, even toting a MacBook Air seems like overkill. With the right case, some portable power, and some other goodies, you and your iDevice along can have a blast in the great outdoors. Geocaching will help you identify nearby geocaches and then lead you right to them. See that blue box in the picture? That represents a geocache, which is a hidden outdoor treasure you find by locating its GPS coordinates. This used to require a dedicated GPS device (see our how-to), but now you can do it with your iPhone. The gold standard is a $9.99 app called Geocaching, which works on iPhone 3G, 3GS, and 4…and technically iPod touches too, although they need a Wi-Fi hotspot, which aren’t exactly prevalent in the woods. The app integrates with the granddaddy of geocaching websites, Geocaching.com, and lets you search for a geocache nearby or by address. Then the fun, easy-to-use mapping feature helps lead you to it, and you can post a log that you found it from within the app, as well as on a paper log book traditionally kept in the geocache itself. Along with the log, you’ll typically find trinkets or toys—keep one as a souvenir and add a new one you brought from home. It’s the coolest thing to happen to hiking since trekking poles. When you take along your iPad or iPhone and a field guide app to help you identify the flora and fauna you encounter, you’ll bask in the glory of nature while learning something too. Our absolute favorites are the universal apps from the Audubon Society. Audubon Guides ($29.99) is the all-in-one, containing Audubon Birds (available separately for $14.99), Audubon Mammals ($9.99), Audubon Trees ($9.99), and Audubon Wildflowers ($9.99). Audubon Butterflies is another great app for $9.99. Audubon Guides can keep a list of every critter, flower, and tree you encounter on your Read More

It was 50 years ago today that the son of a Russian farmer rocketed into space and became the first man to orbit the earth. Yuri Gagarin's 108 minute trip in his Vostok spacecraft ushered in the era of manned space flight, as the US followed up with the Mercury, Gemini, and later the Apollo missions to the moon. In 1975 the US and Russia stopped competing and began the Apollo-Soyuz missions. Joint missions continue today on the International Space Station. To celebrate the event, Distant Suns 2 for the iPhone and iPod touch is free today only. The app is a pretty complete star map, with 130,000 stars, 88 constellations and the Messier catalog of galaxies, nebula and star clusters. I've reviewed the app in the past and found it a worthwhile purchase. It's even better for free. Author Mike Smithwick produced one of the first computerized star map programs way back in 1985 for the Amiga 1000. Mike also produced Distant Suns 3 for the iPhone and iPad, which is even more sophisticated. It's on sale for US$4.99 today only. A couple other astronomy app notes of interest. Star Walk, the award winning astronomy guide has been updated to include augmented reality. It activates the camera and superimposes accurate star positions over the portion of sky you are pointing to. It's very cool to use during the day as well because it will show you where the planets and other objects are that are made invisible by the sun. The iPhone version of Star Walk is on sale for $0.99, and that sale ends today. The app also now supports TV out on the iPhone 4. Finally, there's a newcomer called Sky View. It also has augmented reality features, has had really good app store reviews and is also, on sale for $0.99. So if it's clear where you are tonight, look up, enjoy, and take a moment to remember Yuri Gagarin who took that important bold, first step into space. Read More

Tonight is the first-ever International Observe the Moon Night. If you have an iOS device, you can get even more out of observing our nearest neighbor and learning about what its made of, how it came to be, and how to observe it. Free apps like Moon Globe will allow you to explore the lunar service in detail tonight, or any night. If you're a social, rather than a solitary backyard astronomer, then here's a map to help you find local public observing groups all over the world. Expect to find some telescopes to get you a live close-up view. Since you'll already be outside, don't forget some of the great astronomy apps that help orient you to the visible planets and constellations. I like Star Walk, Pocket Universe and Distant Suns. Happily, the author of Distant Suns has put version 2 of the app on sale for US$0.99 today only in honor of the lunar event. If you have an iPhone, or iPod touch, it's a good night to look up. Read More

Distant Suns 3: Space Travel for the Rest of Us is a universal iPhone & iPad application that puts the universe in your hands: In anticipation of the Perseid Meteor Shower on Thursday, August 12, the folks over at First Light have provided us with 14 promo codes to give away! Winners will be able to use the app to assist in their stargazing for the event. How do you win? Head on over to the forums and let us know your favorite planet/constellation. The contest begins now and ends Thursday, August 12 at 3 PM EST. (A US iTunes account is required to win. Apple’s rule, not ours!) Read More

With the news that the Sun has sent a blast of plasma towards the Earth hitting the headlines this week, thanks mainly to the prospect of the famed Northern Lights potentially being visible from parts of the UK and North America, we thought it was a good time to highlight the wealth of astronomy-related applications that are available for the iPhone and the iPad. Here are ten which standout: You can purchase an iPhone app for the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4, but we’ve linked to the iPad-specific version, simply because we think it benefits from the increased screen size.  The night sky is still rendered on your iPad, with the positions and names of stars and planets, plus outlines of constellations and lunar phase information.  It’s easy to use too.  $4.99/£2.99. Well-known and beautifully designed, this is perhaps aimed more at entertaining the casual user than the hardcore enthusiast, but that’s OK, it’s just means it’s slightly more accessible.  An iPad version is available alongside the popular iPhone version, which lets you watch the sky pass in real time, aided by your phone’s digital compass, identifying stars and constellations as you go.  $2.99/£1.79. A perfect companion app to Star Walk, this is an interactive learning application based on the planets in our solar system.  The 3D view is very impressive, there is a wealth of information in several different languages and a clever ‘Time Machine’ setting that shows how the planets were aligned at a given time.  Suitable for the iPhone and the iPad.  $2.99/£1.79. If some of the more expensive astronomy apps seem like overkill when you’re just a keen amateur, give Planets a try.  It’s compatible with both the iPhone and the iPad, has a 2D or 3D view of the sky, names of constellations, planets and stars and a database with moonrise times.  Free. One of the best ’suitable for all’ astronomy applications, which remains accessible for the hobbyist but contains enough information and detail to keep the experienced astronomer happy too.  Available for the iPhone and iPad, the app uses the digital compass, GPS or 3G connection to ensure the view on screen is the same view you see from the sky.  $9.99/£5.99. You can select this pay version or a free, cutdown Lite version of iEphemeris, which provides data related to the Sun and the Moon, with everything from sunrise/moonrise times, day length, maximum altitude Read More

12.15.09        App Score: 8/10    Distant Suns 2: Unleash your inner astronaut — Judging by the number of pocket planetariums and other astronomy apps in the App Store’s inventory, stargazing is not just for fans of Star Wars or astronomy nerds like me. My astronomy app of choice is Vito Technology’s Star Walk, a wonderfully entertaining and educational app tapped by Apple as one of the best apps of 2009. If you want to know what’s going on in the skies around you, that is a must-have app. I recently had some time to try First Light’s Distant Suns 2: Unleash your inner astronaut, which is another astronomy app with similar features. I had high hopes that Distant Suns 2 would also take up space on my iPhone 3GS. Distant Suns has an extensive pedigree in astronomy. The original Distant Suns was written in 1985 for the Commodore Amiga, a computer that never really went very far in the market despite its then dazzling, graphics handling capabilities. Right after you launch this pocket planetarium for the first time you’ll be looking at vast swath of sky and a row of icons along the bottom menu bar. You can read the App Store description just as well as I can, so I won’t burden you with details of what each icon does. Distant Suns 2 is aimed at casual astronomers and so I looked at it from the context of just how easy it is to use. It takes several evenings of stargazing to be comfortable enough with any app (or telescope, for that matter) to find your way around the sky without having to poke around for an owner’s manual. If the app makes it dead simple for beginners to find their bearings in the night sky, it already scores points with me. Distant Suns 2 gets two thumbs up for an interface that is inviting and intuitive. If you have an iPhone 3GS, the app goes a step further. Point your camera at an object and Distant Suns 2 will tell you what you’re looking at. Nothing could be simpler. Distant Suns 2 includes more than 130,000 stars making up 88 constellations, the Messier catalog of galaxies, nebula and star clusters and dozens of photos from the Hubble Space Telescope. And, if you just can’t wait to share your new heavenly discoveries, the app now offers a social media Read More

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In this International Year of Astronomy we're seeing a small explosion of astronomy apps updated both for the Mac and the iPhone. One of my favorites, Distant Suns [App Store] has updated the build that runs on the 3GS iPhone to include some augmented reality features. This means that if you point the phone up to the sky, the program figures out the direction you are pointing and your elevation and slews to the proper view of the star map, giving you a view that should match what you are seeing in the sky. This greatly enhances the usefulness of this program, especially for novices who want to get outside under the summer stars and quickly figure out 'what's up?'. This new version is only for 3GS iPhones, and an update with some additional features for all the earlier models is on the way. Of course older phones won't have the compass feature. Other changes include some UI tweaks, and setting the sound effects default to 'off.' Pocket Universe [App Store], which I reviewed last month, has a similar feature and also works very well. Pocket Universe sells for US$2.99 and Distant Suns is $5.99. Check reader reactions to both and go into details on the features to decide which one is right for you. Distant Suns has a long pedigree in the star mapping world. It first ran on the Commodore Amiga in 1987, then was ported to the PC, the Mac, and now your favorite cell phone. When you look up at the moon this summer to celebrate the Apollo 11 landing 40 years ago, be sure to investigate the thousands of other points of light with a software app that will literally point you in the right direction. Read More

When the fireworks stop and the smoke clears, it would be a great weekend to look at our beautiful summer skies. Pocket Universe [App Store] is a US$2.99 app that has been updated to make star finding easier for those that have a new iPhone 3GS. The app uses the position sensors and the compass to orient your phone to match the real sky. As you turn or tilt the phone, the sky map changes to give you a very accurate picture of where you are pointing, with lots of labels and links to more information. This is one of the first examples of an augmented reality app to hit the platform since the introduction of the 3GS. If you have an older iPhone or iPod touch running OS 3.0, you can tilt the phone to match where the real sky is, but you'll have to manually set the direction you're facing. This changes everything for the novice astronomer. I tried the feature and it worked really well, even though I was near a large metal building. As I turned my phone the display of the sky changed very rapidly to keep up with my movement. Other nice features from the last version are intact. You can tap the 'locate' button to find any object that is above the horizon. Select it and it centers on the map. Tap a pop-up for more info and you get a quick summary of the object. In the new version of the app a further tap gets you a Wikipedia entry. You also get a list of meteor showers, lunar phases and a very nice 'tonight's sky' feature that tells you right away what's up and worth seeing. Some things I'd like to see improved: The app could support finger-pointing to an object to identify it in addition to going to the locate menu, and the Virtual Sky feature is buried in an options menu. I'd like to see an onscreen button to turn it on and off. The 3GS features are similar to a Celestron product called the Sky Scout that is a dedicated astronomical instrument. The Sky Scout has a lot more information, and audio tours of the skies, but it costs $200.00. If you're really serious about the stars and planets I'd give it a look. Meanwhile, another favorite astronomy app, Distant Suns [App Store] has been updated recently, and is Read More