Augmented reality apps coming to iPhone in OS 3.1

Apple plans to allow iPhone developers to release augmented reality apps in the App Store following the roll out of iPhone OS 3.1. The LA Times reports that Apple told Acrossair, developer of the Nearest Tube train finder, that the app will be approved for distribution after Apple releases the latest version of the iPhone and iPod touch software, which the company believes to be on track to land in early September. Currently, developers of augmented reality apps—which utilize the iPhone’s Internet connection, GPS, Compass, and camera to overlay information atop a stream of video showing the user’s surroundings—are using the iPhone OS’ camera viewer in an unauthorized manner to deliver the video needed for the apps to run, but that 3.1 will change that. “We have the app working on 3.0 already,” Acrossair Director Chetan Damani told the LA Times. “On 3.1, we have a few extra bits that allow us to show full-screen video.”