Interested in helping redefine the way the iOS Maps system works? Want to work in an office with perhaps the coolest address ever? Then you should apply for one of two ‘iOS Maps Application Developer’ positions Apple is currently seeking to fill. The postings are here and here.

Even if you’re not in the market for such a job, it’s worth paying attention to the fact that Apple is seeking to fill these positions, because if they’re looking for people to improve the quality of the built-in Maps application, that means Apple’s in the market to up the functionality of Maps in iOS, and that’s a good thing, because they’re seeking to make “sophisticated user experiences.” It’s impossible to say when the fruits of this job posting will make it to customers, but it’s clear that they’re still actively working to improve the iOS experience.

via AppleInsider

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Today’s weekend deal is one of the top netbooks on the market, the HP Pavilion dm1z.

Featuring a dual-core AMD Fusion, this Editor’s Choice winner packs a lot punch for a low price. Originally retailing for $549.99, you can now get the dm1z for $412.00.

HP is also throwing in 3GB of free RAM, a 320GB Hard Drive, and Free Shipping.

This deal will only last for a few days. So get it while you can.

Base Specs: CPU: AMD Fusion platform (includes Radeon HD 6310M discrete-class graphics), weighs 3.5 pounds and is just 0.8? thick, 92% full sized keyboard, Wireless-N, webcam, card reader, 3 USB 2.0 ports, HDMI output, Windows 7.

Purchase the HP Pavilion dm1z from LogicBUY.

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In case you missed them, here are the most important ten stories from the last 7 days on laptopmag.com.

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Samsung has just confirmed the price of its brand-new-and-attractive Series 9 notebook, and it’s pretty good: $1,199 will get you a laptop made with something called Duralumin, which Samsung describes as “the New Definition of Lightweight.” It’s certainly a nice looking laptop, both inside and out: it’s got an Intel i5 380UM processor, Intel’s HD Graphics 3000, and comes standard with a 64GB Solid State Drive (SSD).

The SSD will give the Series 9 a nice speed boost, but it’s not a lot of space. Users will pretty much have to maintain their media collection in external drives, but the trade off for that is a much peppier, and more power-efficient system.

via Engadget, Samsung

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Mobclix has a nice infographic showing the current penetration of Verizon into the U.S. iPhone market. Their goal was to see if Verizon was making much traction against AT&T, as the consensus leading up to the release of the Verizon iPhone had been that there would be a mass exodus of AT&T users to Verizon, once the iPhone became available.

The infographic lays out some surprising (and some unsurprising) information: The cities with the highest Verizon usage were San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago, New York and Boston; Verizon iPhone Owners are on Wi-Fi 38% of the time (compared to 53% for AT&T customers); and 2 in 3 AT&T iPhone Owners who switched to Verizon paid the termination fee.

Also of note were the top 3 reasons for existing iPhone owners to switch to Verizon were: reception issues, the personal hot spot feature, and reputation.

Be sure to read our review of the Verizon iPhone 4.

via intomobile.com, moblix.com

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D.C.-based band Bluebrain has just announced the pending release of a fully location-aware album, titled The National Mall. Part musical experience, part experiment, the album/app requires you to listen to it while physically in The National Mall in Washington; your iOS’s GPS device tells the app where it is, and depending on what that location is, different segments of the music play, like your own personal soundtrack.

Though the specific album is landlocked to an area that most potential users won’t get to, it’s a fascinating idea. As the band states on its web site:

It is truly the first location-aware album in the sense that it is a work of authored music-different melodies, different rhythms, different instrumentation, and different songs entirely are to be heard at their designated locations. For instance, a listener may chose not to visit the Sculpture Garden and his or her experience with the album might not include those musical sections

Bluebrain is hard at work on an album for Prospect Park in New York, with a third location-aware album taking place along the totality of California’s Highway 1.

via TheNextWeb

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According to MG Siegler over at TechCrunch, the next iteration of iOS, the operating system that powers the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad, won’t be announced this spring to coincide with the year’s iPhone model. Instead, iOS 5 will start making its way onto the iPhone and iPad sometime in the fall. There’s no need for doom and gloom, however, because the reason iOS 5 is being delayed is that Apple’s potentially rolling out some important new features that it needs more time to develop.

iOS 5 is rumoured to be a “major revamp,” and its launch will likely coincide with the release of a new type of iPad. It will be heavily cloud-based, and several new services may launch with this new iteration, including a “music locker” service which could allow for remote storage of your songs, and “a location service that focuses on finding friends and family members.”

Siegler speculates about the unannounced-but-likely iPhone 5, saying that even if iOS 5 isn’t ready for the standard iPhone launch window, it should itself be announced on schedule, with a summer launch date.

via TechCrunch

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Things are getting serious now, with just four smart phones left in the running. Today we have the BlackBerry Torch facing off against the Palm Pre 3. Fans of the BlackBerry OS and champions of webOS will have to duke it out to see which handset makes it to next round to contend against TK.

Though it was released last summer on AT&T, the BlackBerry Torch beat out the recent Editor’s Choice-winning Samsung Galaxy S 4G by more than 200 votes. The handset runs BlackBerry 6, the latest version of RIM’S OS, which sports a sleek interface with multiple home screens. There’s also a convenient Social Feed app that aggregates your Facebook, RSS, and Twitter updates. On the hardware front, the Torch has a 3.2-inch, 480 x 360 touchscreen, a microUSB port, and a 5-megapixel camera that shot crisp images in our hands-on time.

In another upset, the Palm Pre 3 (which is not even out till this summer) defeated the Motorola Atrix 4G. Raking in almost 500 more votes than its competitor, the Pre 3 sports a 3.6-inch, 800 x 480 screen, dual cameras, and a large, comfortable keyboard. Though a carrier has yet to be announced for this phone, webOS fans are certainly anticipating the device’s arrival. If you haven’t already, make sure to check out our hands-on gallery of the Pre 3.

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