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Anyone who has read the tragic true story Into the Wild will understand why Intermap's AccuTerra for iPhone is an amazing and possibly lifesaving service. While many map-based applications utilize Google maps and require a wireless connection, AccuTerra and competitor GPS Motion X let recreational adventurers view maps of U.S. national and state parks, both online and offline from their iPhones. It's not surprising AccuTerra was just awarded an Apple Design Award for best iPhone OS 3.0 Beta App.

According to a number of well-substantiated rumors, Amazon is set to debut a new, large-screen version of its Kindle eBook reader on Wednesday morning during a press conference at Pace University in New York City. A lot of the current discussion around this announcement has focused on how a new Kindle might or might not be able to save the ailing newspaper industry, but in many respects, it seems more likely that Amazon is simply planning to turn Kindle into a better platform for electronic textbooks.

Charlene Li gave the opening keynote at today's Graphing Social Patterns conference. The keynote was titled "The Future of Social Networks" and Charlene clarified that specifically she was focused on five to ten years out in her presentation. Her basic thesis is that in the future, 'social networks will be like air.' In other words, it will be ubiquitous as you navigate across the web and sites will feel inadequate (like you can't breathe) if a user's social network isn't part of the experience.