Augmented Reality (AR) for phones first dropped into my field of vision with Google's Sky Map on Android. That was the first time I'd ever seen hands-on how AR could actually be a useful tool. Unsurprisingly, it's the home of the fart app that is now bringing us AR games. Useful? No, but pretty cool!

The iPhone's headline act is Star Wars Arcade: Falcon Gunner. This sees you helming the Millennium Falcon's guns against waves of attacking Tie Fighters that fly over the view from your camera. Depending on the views you can find, it can be pretty cool. It's not the best game ever though, and you may ask if the AR party trick is worth the relatively high price.

ARDefender takes a different approach. It's a super simple tower defence game, which requires you to print out a PDF 'tag', which you place in front of you or on the floor. The game builds a 3D tower on this tag, and machines attack it from all sides while you fend them off with guns and missiles. ARDefender is cheap at 99c, but it's loads of fun and will impress anyone!

There is also an AR laser-quest style game called Gunman, which doesn't augment reality with any fancy graphics. Assuming your friends all have iPhones and different color shirts, you can run around shooting each other sniper style with your iPhone camera...but you'll probably want to explain to passers-by what you're doing!

If you want a taste of AR gaming, get ARDefender. It's cheap, fun and looks cool. These three games feel very much like the beginning of a technology (and they really eat up your battery!). I'm sure things will get more interesting pretty soon, as the existence of lots of powerful smartphones means developers have a big market to exploit.

With all the hubbub surrounding the World Cup it's easy to forget that Wimbledon is now in full swing (if you'll pardon the expression). If you're a tennis fan with an iPhone then there are several free apps you can install to follow the tournament wherever you go, ensuring that you never miss a moment of the action.

Wimbledon 2010

Wimbledon 2010 is the official app of the tournament and it's a real delight to use. The application lets you track the latest score in every match that's being played, as well as serving up news from off the court, including Twitter feeds from players and pundits.

There's plenty more to Wimbledon 2010 than this, too. You can access the order of play, check out biographies of every player, and watch video highlights from each day. Best of all though, is the Radio Wimbledon feature, which provides live commentary from the matches on Centre Court and Court One, plus live coverage of the rest of the matches.

Wimbledon - Live Feeds

Given the extent of its features, you won't find an app with better coverage of the tournament than Wimbledon 2010. However, it might be worth installing Wimbledon - Live Feeds, as well. The app gives you access to news stories from the tournament even when there is no EDGE/3Gor WiFi coverage available. This means that you needn't be missing out on the tennis gossip while you're sat on the subway.

We've all marveled at how we can drive up our street on the web or on a phone using Google Street View. But what if you could take a look around the inside of buildings as well as the outside? According to Nokia, this new window on the world may not be that far away.

Following this week's announcement that Nokia's Ovi Maps app has garnered more than three million downloads, we caught up with Christof Hellmis, Vice President, Product Location, Services at the Mobile World Congress, who revealed Ovi's plans for mapping the World - both outdoors and indoors.

Hellmis pointed out that since Nokia bought mapping company Naviteq in 2008, the company has ramped up its efforts to give Ovi users a more immersive experience. Having since introduced 3D and augmented reality features into Ovi, Hellmis is ready for the next stage of mobile navigation.

When we launched our 3D maps platform we didn’t see it as a new chapter in the development of the product, but rather a new book with a clean, white first page. We saw the context of the service as moving to 3D from a flat map, and it was for this reason we acquired Navteq. The company has 100,000 dollars worth of equipment for laser-based point clocks, which can accurately capture images of streets and buildings. This is scalable upwards, so we will be able to get more and more detailed 3D images of buildings to include within Ovi Maps.

Now, the benefit of having such high standards of image capturing is that this (interior mapping) will be do-able if dealt with properly. Nokia has already done research into indoor mapping and we need to decide on the best way to make it scale. I can see a time when public places of interest, such as shopping malls will be mapped and available on Ovi. This would open up a new dimension in advertising, because vendors would be able to push messages to people as they walked past their store. Indoor mapping could also be useful for museums and general places of interest.

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It's that time of year again when we whip our crystal ball out of the drawer and take a look at what software is in store for the coming year. We were proved right with all our software predictions for 2009, so I'm trusting the ball to work its magic once again. Here we go with a guide to what to expect from the coming year:

1. Chromium OS

This was an easy one, because Google has already released the source code for its shiny new operating system. The OS is being touted as the perfect solution for netbooks, because it's entirely based around the web and thus doesn't require cavernous hard disk space. We were initially underwhelmed by Chromium when we gave it a run-out a couple of months back, but the OS is sure to look a lot different come the end of the year, and Google's reputation alone should be enough to convince hoards of people to make the switch to browser-based computing.

2. Internet Explorer 9

For the last few years poor old IE has been kicked, battered and stamped on by web users like a cute puppy who got old. Microsoft began work on Internet Explorer 9 a few weeks ago and unveiled some details of the browser at its Professional Developers Conference in Los Angeles in November. When finally released, hopefully towards the end of the year, IE9 will be equipped with new hardware-accelerated text and graphics to make web sites look better. The new version's Direct2D browsing technology is designed to significantly speed up web applications, which is necessary if Microsoft continues to push the wonders of cloud computing. Internet Explorer 9 could see Firefox turncoats flocking back to their roots. Alternatively, and more likely, no one will notice much difference in the browser and its release will pass with no great fanfare.

3. Adobe Creative Suite 5

Rumor has it that the new versions of Photoshop, Flash et. al should be with us around April. It'll be a new era for the design suite because the Mac version has been completely rebuilt in Cocoa, and will no longer run on PowerPC chips. Judging by the sneaky peeks we've seen here and from what was announced at Adobe MAX 2009, designers will be whimpering with delight when CS5 finally becomes available. New goodies you can expect from the suite include 'wet look' 3D Photoshop paint brushes, native iPhone game compiling in Flash, and a 'Smart Paste' tool for Dreamweaver that makes it easier to integrate vector graphics and Illustrator-created content into your web sites.

An interesting query from one of our (anonymous) readers on a topic which has even cropped up in our editorial meetings:

Hi! I've been thinking about buying a smartphone, and one of the features I've heard people talking about on mobile blogs is "Augmented Reality". What is that, and why is it useful? Should it affect my choice of phone?

Though it seems like something of a current buzzword, Augmented Reality as a term was actually coined in the 1980's. In simple terms, Augmented Reality - also called AR - means the enhancement of what you have around you by adding a layer of data to it. In other words, you can use AR to make your surroundings 'smarter' - pointing out places of interest, for example.

On my HTC Magic Android phone (AKA the myTouch 3G), I've tried out a few of the more popular AR apps and I can honestly say that while I don't use them 24/7, knowing that I have them to hand is a great feeling. Wikitude AR is the first Augmented Reality app I tried and its results were impressive. Simply point your phone's camera at anything you like and Wikitude combines GPS location, your phone's internal compass and a variety of data streams (most notably Wikipedia) to provide you with a wealth of information about what you're looking at. A newer competitor, Layar, performs similarly but with the advantage of being free and open - meaning that anyone can add their own data layer to it.

Another application, Google's Sky Map, may not be considered to be a classic use of AR but in my opinion it's a great example of what Augmented Reality can do. Using it to locate and name celestial objects is actually really fun and enhances a fun hobby.

As this year's the summer vacation season coincides with an ever-increasing stable of awesome Android handsets, we thought that we'd take a look at some handy software you should definitely install before you start your holidays. From Augmented Reality wonder-apps to one-stop converters and translation tools, making sure you've got these programs with you when you set off should help you make the most of your trip.

Enhanced tourism: Wikitude Premium AR Guide

One of the first Android apps to be widely talked about, Wikitude is an Augmented Reality app that uses your phone's GPS, Google Maps, Wikipedia and even your camera to produce a truly impressive travel mashup. Simply look 'through' your phone in any given direction and Wikitude tells you about sites of interest, public transport stations, restaurants and more within your vicinity - all by overlaying them onto a map or your phone's camera display. Apps like this really are a glimpse of the future.

Convert anything: ConvertMe (Beta)

Keeping track of fluctuating currency rates while abroad is one thing. But what about clothes sizes, food measures and distances? ConvertMe can convert between hundreds of weights, measures and currencies - including some that you probably won't need on vacation (magnetic flux, anyone?). Its currency rates are updated frequently so that you can be sure that your lobster bisque isn't too extravagant a treat.

Translate foreign languages on the move: SpeedyMarks Translator

The best preparation for a trip abroad is to make sure that you have a grip on at least the basics of the local language.  Translator will come in handy for identifying fairly simple words and phrases, but performs better with some languages than others. My tip: try using Google image search for simpler words: you'll get a quick visual aid which is more useful if you're trying to learn.

Prevent thefts and stay secure in hotel rooms: Sheriff Android Lite

Sheriff Android Lite is one of those apps you hope you'll never have to use. Running in the background on your Android phone, when activated it detects movement and emits a loud alarm to warn you that your phone (or the bag it's in) has been moved. I recommend buying the full version because for only $1.50, you get SMS alerts, personalized pre-warning messages, stealth mode and more.

Track your every step: AndAndo

This app is ideal for trekking, cycling, and other outdoor pursuits, but perfect for stat-loving travelers of all types. AndAndo lets you record your movements using GPS. You can add notes and photos to your path and best of all (in my opinion), export your tracks to standard GPX and Google Earth's KML formats. Creating maps of your travels has never been easier - and with the embedded media and notes you can effectively produce an automatic travel journal of your movements.

Final note: some of these apps will make use of your data connection, meaning that traveling abroad could be expensive if you keep data roaming switched on all the time. Oh, and use Barcode Scanner to read those QR codes.