In what is a potentially disturbing development that will surely be blown way out of proportion, several researchers at O’Reilly have discovered a somewhat troubling feature of the iPhone and 3G iPads running Apple’s iOS 4. In a blog post and video, the site details that Apple is storing GPS coordinates of cellular iOS devices locally (as in on the device) and in an unencrypted and unprotected form.

“Ever since iOS 4 arrived, your device has been storing a long list of locations and time stamps,” say the researchers. “We’re not sure why Apple is gathering this data, but it’s clearly intentional, as the database is being restored across backups, and even device migrations.” The researchers go on to state that along with a list of timestamped GPS coordinates, the file also contains a list of Wi-Fi access points that the device has been in range of.

“Anybody with access to this file knows where you’ve been over the last year, since iOS 4 was released,” they continue. The file in question, which is called “consolidated.db”, is in the backup file created when syncing the cellular iOS device with iTunes, and on the iOS device itself. “Why this data is stored and how Apple intends to use it — or not — are important questions that need to be explored,” they conclude.

Check out the video made by the gang at O’Reilly after the break. I wonder how Apple will respond to this? I can guess. They won’t.

Does this bother you or is it something you don’t worry about? Sound off in the comments!

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One of the greatest and perhaps most under-appreciated feature of stand-alone GPS devices from Garmin and TomTom is the ability to download and use custom voices. Who doesn’t want the A-Team‘s Mister T shouting as you drive, “I pity the fool who doesn’t turn right in point two miles?”

I don’t want to live in a world where such things aren’t possible. TomTom specifically, has brought some great voices to market over the past few years. Homer Simpson as an example. KITT from Knight Rider for another. Even David Hasselhoff has his own voice pack for GPS devices. And yet, something’s been conspicuously absent: Star Wars!

Finally, this deficiency has been resolved with TomTom’s first officially-licensed Star Wars voice download. First up? Vader. For $12.95 you can download the Darth Vader voice to your TomTom device and begin geeking out every time you get in your car. Some of Vader’s helpful lines for the directionally-challenged include:

“Depart. Your destiny lies with me. Obi Wan knew this to be true.”

“Turn around when possible. I find your lack of faith disturbing. Then, take the third left. Sense your way.”

“Left turn ahead. Then, go around the roundabout. The circle is now complete. Sith exit.”

Awesome. TomTom plans to release additional Star Wars-themed voice packs in the near future. C3P0, Yoda and Han Solo are coming soon and will probably be priced similarly. Hit the official TomTom Star Wars portal for some great free content for your GPS including Star Wars-themed start up screens, sounds and car icons.

In the meantime, check out a great video of Darth Vader recording some instructions after the jump. You won’t want to miss this!

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With the number of GPS owners in the country growing at a substantial rate, more and more people are trying to do cool things with their navigational devices, from downloading custom avatars to now custom turn-by-turn voices and points of interest.

P.I.G.Tones, The Politically Incorrect GPS, is, according to their website, “a software company that offers Garmin and Tom Tom users the ability to download cool, funny, and irreverent new voices to their devices, replacing the boring standard voices that come with the units.”

Voices range from Stewie and Peter from Family Guy, to “The Governator”, Sean Connery, Homer, Cartman, and a slew of hilarious others. Granted, these aren’t licensed, which means you won’t get Seth McFarlane doing the official voices of Stewie or Peter, but the impression is pretty spot-on.

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