Status-Q

My friend Phil Endecott has just released a rather interesting iPhone app: Panoramascope.

It can identify the various peaks visible from your current location, which, if you start to think carefully about what that involves, is actually quite clever. And, if you take a photo with your phone, you can overlay the app’s view on your photo.

If, like me, you live in a place where peaks are things you dream of going to see on holiday, it can have more prosaic uses, like telling you where nearby pubs or tourist attractions can be found. You can also save locations, so you can look fondly back at the view you had last summer from the top of the Matterhorn.

Start by loading some overlay sets – in my case, European placenames, peaks, and pubs – and then you can search for a location, which is generally much easier than entering latitude and longitude. Here’s part of the view from Coniston Old Man:

This will work on an iPod Touch, but you really want an iPhone for the GPS and camera facilities.

Available from The iTunes store, of course, but there’s a lot more information available at Panoramascope.com.

Update: Ha! If the thought of viewing all those glorious peaks makes you feel exhausted, and you’re more interested in the pub-finding options, Phil also has something just for you!