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Apart from the name—which I personally approve of very much—Zenitum’s iKat app has another cool edge to it. It’s (we think) the first augmented reality phone app to work without a marker, or real-world prompt. The app itself is pretty basic, just a cartoon-like pet running around on whatever surface you aim the phone at

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iKat Augmented Reality App Works Without Real-World Prompt [Apps]

In 2002, to experience augmented reality was to lash 26 pounds of equipment to your body and hobble waywardly within the confines of predefined area. In 2010, you can augment the entire world with a free app for your smartphone. This shot of the Columbia University’s Mobile Augmented Reality System (MARS) comes from a PopSci story written 10 Februaries ago

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Augmented Reality v0.1 [Image Cache]

After it was pulled in December due to some bugs, Layar is back in the App Store, available for iPhone 3GS users. Just in case you need a run-through, Layar—which is also available on Android—is an augmented reality app which lets you discover people and places around you, based on different layers you select. It’s only available for the 3GS as it needs a compass to work, and also uses the camera function to display your surroundings on a cool grid.

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Layar, the iPhone’s Best (Augmented Reality) App, Is Back In the App Store [IPhone Apps]

The Astonishing Tribe ’s latest demo is Recognizr, an app that blends Polar Rose’s face recognition tech with augmented reality and social networking —point your phone’s camera at somebody’s face, and their contact info and social networks will magically appear. You have to join the Recognizr service and upload a photo to the database in order to be recognized, so it only works with people who’ve decided that, yes, if you take a head-on picture of them, it’s okay for you to see their social networking info. The prototype app’s built on Android, though Polar Rose ’s facial recognition tech will work on an iPhone 3GS too. It’s actually not really that invasive or creepy—it definitely seems even less so than another facial recognition social networking app from MWC —since it’s completely opt-in, and really, the explosion of location-based services that broadcast where you are would seem to give people more pause

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A More Awesome (But Maybe Creepier!) Way to Facebook Friend That Girl You’re Talking To With Augmented Reality [Android Apps]

Microsoft’s last decade began dark. They seemed to screw everything up. Then, over 10 years, they made Xbox, Zune, and a better Windows

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Microsoft, Into the Light: The Unofficial Windows Phone 7 Strategy [Windows Phone 7]

Right now, augmented reality is pretty much just geeks talking into PCs while wearing Optimus Prime masks. But in the not-so-distant future, it will alter the way we experience the world every moment of the day. The following video is just a marketing concept for Nooka watches , but the idea is fairly sound. Clip out a placeholder watch, log on to their site and actually try products on.

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Try On Watches at Home Thanks to Augmented Reality! (a Concept) [Augmented Reality]

In this week’s romantical app roundup: Google, Buzzed! Phone trees, sheared! The Olympics, demystified! Doom II, taken down a notch! Your person, flailed around! Your visage, cartoonified! Sesame Street, Picasso’d! And more… To view this post as a single page, click here . Google Buzz : To be a geek is to enthusiastically try every weird little project that Google decides to undertake, as soon as possible, risking bugs, frustration, and even bodily harm . And since you will Buzz, if even for a few confused seconds, you may as well do it on your iPhone—it’s a far sight more attractive and organized than the desktop app, and at least for me, makes the whole concept more approachable. Technically, this is a web app; feature for feature, it’s comparable to a native app, but the slowness of a web interface is immediately apparent. Free. Fonolo : Fonolo’s deep directory of company support lines and shortcuts it invaluable, leading you to—or near to—the specific human being you want to talk to at whatever company you’re calling. It’s always been accessible via the web, but the new iPhone app, though a bit buggy, will parachute-crash you into most phone trees faster than you can climb. Free. Navigon : Navigon is easily one of the best of the pricier breed of iPhone nav apps, and it’s just gotten, and significantly richer. Just, generally not at the same time: Not only has Navigon added a bunch of new features to its iPhone app, the price is $20 cheaper-although if you want Traffic Live and 3D maps, it still adds up to $100. Nonetheless, it sounds worth it. The update has a few nifty angles-there’s the connection to your Facebook or Twitter accounts for updating friends on your current position, destination and time you’re due to arrive; the aforementioned Panorama View 3D views (which use NASA height and terrain data) and personalized route delivery, called MyRoutes… it’ll cost $100 if you want the full service for your iPhone or iPod Touch, with the actual price of the MobileNavigator app being lowered by $20 to $69.99. The Traffic Live has also been discounted slightly, from $24.99 to $19.99 (only available until the 15th of February), and the Panorama View 3D will cost $9.99. Those who bought the app before will get the update for free, according to Navigon. NBC Olympics : An all-in-one, total listing/brochure/coverage app for the Olympics, that’s wonderfully, gloriously free: NBC’s free Olympics app also has a social component, ideal for trash-talking Norwegian lugers. There are also updated medal counts, video (US-only), and sport-by-sport forecasts. The focus is predominantly on American competitors, so apologies in advance to international readers. Otherwise, though, if you’re an Olympics junkie or nationalist smack-talker, it’s definitely worth a download. The level of polish and depth here is what you expect from the kind of paid apps you usually see associated with a specific sports league, and it’s tough to overstate the usefulness of have a simple, searchable reference for all the variations of sliding across ice that comprise the Winter Olympics. Doom II : Mark’s down on this app, and I can understand if the concept of a Doom RPG doesn’t get your blood boiling. That said, hear me out: The lowered pace of the game, as opposed to a traditional FPS, actually makes the experience less frantic, and less frustrating. Basically, if you enjoyed the Wolfenstein RPG at all, you’ll probably like this one too. Sky Siege : A 3D augmented reality game that fits the mold of most of the first generation of iPhone AR games, as far as gameplay goes: hold your phone up, move to aim, tap to shoot. The blimps, helicopters and planes are all around you, so you will look like an idiot playing this, but what the hell, you’ll be a smiling idiot. With surprisingly good graphics and animations, Sky Siege is more convincing than the other FPS simulators you may have seen, which makes gameplay both more frenetic and immersive. My only gripe is that $3 feels a little pricey for what amounts to a protracted party trick. 3GS only. Elmo’s Monster Maker : Build a Sesame Street puppet monster (nearly) from scratch, and play with him. The real value here is in the graphics and animations, which are extremely smooth, and which make the Frankensteinian moment of life magical enough to cause me, a full-grown human being, to make gleeful gurgling sounds at my iPhone. If your child doesn’t enjoy dancing Elmo, your child is broken. $4. Meebo : This one’s not here yet, but just in case you were planning on running out and dropping five or ten dollars on a messaging app, hold on—Meebo is coming, and it looks wonderful. Vital features like multi-protocol support and push notifications are there, though that’s nothing revolutionary. Where Meebo wins, according to Techcrunch , is with speed: it’s blazingly fast, simple to navigate and completely, utterly free. GorillaCam : This app again! Joby’s been content to give away GorillaCam for free in exchange for branding, which we cautiously accepted as an excuse for a few shortcomings. For the most part, GorillaCam 1.1 fills the gaps, adding digital zoom, touch to focus (for the 3GS), antishake (which actually works fairly well) and selectable image sizes. Paid apps like Snapture and Camerabag are going to have to step it up, or price it down. ToonPaint : When you first use ToonPaint, it feels like you’re using an adjustable photo filter, and not much more. Then, you start painting. I’ll let the video explain this one. As someone who can’t draw an even circle, let alone a convincing portrait, I can vouch for this one. Brutally unartistic people: Remember how you felt when you used to trace cartoons as a kid? This is like that, again, on your iPhone. $2. This list is in no way definitive. If you’ve spotted a great app that hit the store this week, give us a heads up or, better yet, your firsthand impressions in the comments. And for even more apps: see our previous weekly roundups here , and check out our Favorite iPhone Apps Directory . Have a great weekend, everybody!

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The Week’s Best iPhone Apps [IPhone Apps]

Not even Bono can pull off wearing huge glasses to use a HUD through life. But ski goggles ? They’re practically designed to look ludicrous.

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Transcend Ski Goggles Feature Cyborg HUD [Augmented Reality]

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