NY subway arrival times: in new iOS app shows

For the first time, New York City's Metropolitan Transportation Authority has release an iOS app that shows train arrival times on seven subway lines.

New York City's Metropolitan Transportation Authority finally joined the smartphone era today by releasing an iOS app showing train arrival times for seven subway lines.

Available for the iPhone, the iPod Touch, and the iPad, MTA Subway Time will display train arrival times for 156 stations on the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 lines and the S shuttle line. Though officially in a test version for the time being, the app will use the same arrival times shown on station countdown clocks and on the MTA's Web site.

"The ability to get subway arrival time at street level is here," said MTA Chairman and CEO Joseph J. Lhota in a statement. "The days of rushing to a subway station only to find yourself waiting motionless in a state of uncertainty are coming to an end."

According to the statement, the app can handle up to 5,000 incoming requests per second. The information comes from a feed that can be accessed by developers for other mobile operating systems.

Though the MTA has existing apps for bus arrivals and the drive times on its bridges and tunnels, this is the first time that the country's busiest transit agency has developed an app for subway service.




Source:
Cnet

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Google plans: Cheaper Nexus 7, report claims

Google is planning a Nexus 7 that could eventually go as low as $99, an Asia-based report claims.

Google is planning low-ball itself with an even cheaper Nexus 7, according to an Asia-based report.

Google and Asus wowed consumers with the $199 Nexus 7 and now they're aiming at price points below $150, ultimately going as low as $99, according to Taipei-based Digitimes, citing sources at display component maker O-Film Tech.

The lower-priced Nexus 7 should be released by the second quarter of next year, said the technology site, which covers device manufacturers and component suppliers in Asia.

O-Film started shipping components for the lower-priced Nexus 7 in December, the report said. The company's touch-screen glass-glass film technology will contribute to lower production costs and make it thinner, Digitimes said.

The cost-reduction measures could eventually lead to a $99 Nexus 7 but this may not happen initially. The cheaper Nexus 7 may first be priced in the $129 to $149 range, according to the report.

Shipment estimates of the new Nexus 7 are in the range of 500,000 to 600,000 in the first quarter of shipments.

Needless to say, a Nexus 7 priced below $150 and eventually going to $99 would make Google's tablet even more competitively priced against the $329 iPad Mini -- even allowing for the high-quality build that Apple typically achieves with its tablets.

And, as always, this Digitimes report is coming from the supply chain, which can be very unpredictable. Orders for an unconfirmed new component or new product can be canceled at any time. Also note that there are rumors already about a $99 Asus tablet that could be a forerunner to an upcoming Nexus 7.

Google and Asus are currently shipping about one million Nexus 7 devices per month, according to recent statements from Asus executives.






Source:
Cnet

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