iPad Maps

Here is a small selection of mapping tools available on the iPad. Some are from the Appstore, others simply from the web. These are screen shots that I took for my lack of screen capturing utility.

Mapbox has an iPad app downloadable for free from the Appstore. It also has a neat twist in files like KML & TileMill and feeds like GeoRSS and GeoJSON can be loaded straight from Dropbox. This is a KML of Amundsen's dash to the South Pole I looked up on the centennial to Scott's expedition. 

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The same can be done with Google Earth (139378.kmz), better rendered as it's a globe application.

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Giscloud.com on the other hand boasts that with HTML5 you need no App as it works perfectly as-is including fondleslabs. Here's a shot of my project on Medieval Fenlands (reds & blues in East Anglia) that includes BGS's onshore (pastels) and offshore (primaries) geology as web services.

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Maps I posted on arcgis.com also show well as-is, for example this real-time DIY weather map for the Middle East: post dust clouds and wind direction from NOAA to see the next storm before it comes!

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I think the coolest however is the wonderful Kuwait Community Map posted by Nishant Arora from OpenWare on arcgis.com, that shows streets and buildings in glorious detail.

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The upshot is that while there is a variety of apps available for iPads (and I haven't covered the paying ones or custom web maps that can be built for fondleslabs), web maps appear to work just as well. The advent of HTML5 will especially help in rendering vector maps on limited bandwidth.