Captain Richard Rodriquez of the Bitter End blog points us to TUAW.com, where they have the details of how Apple has taken steps to conceal its bills of lading and other import records from public access for the highly anticipated release of the new iPad.

Philip Elmer-DeWitt over at Apple 2.0 is reporting that Apple has taken steps to hide ocean shipping data for its iPad. Several business intelligence companies exist that collect, analyze, and resell data of a company’s shipping records. This data is sold to the company’s competitors in hope that they can glean information on how well a certain product is doing by extrapolating potential sales data from the shipping records.

More can be read at Apple 2.0 HERE.

Here is a great list of useful iPhone Apps from gCaptain’s author on everything DP, Sean Hogue.  You can find the original of this along with some all the latest DP news at his site, www.DyanamicPositioningNews.com. If you have any recommendations on other apps, let us know in the comments.  Also, be sure to check out gTrax, AIS Vessel Tracking For The iPhone… gCaptain’s very own app. Enjoy!

In 1789 after a mutinous uprising on the HMS Bounty, Captain William Bligh managed to navigate himself & 18 of his crew in a 23 foot lifeboat over 3600 nautical miles to safety, armed with nothing but a sextant & a pocket watch.

Just imagine what you could do in a similar situation when armed with nothing but an iPhone & these handy apps!

Each application on the list can be run stand alone, although some require the iPhones GPS input or 3G service for maximum functionality.  Of course if you are getting a 3G signal you could also just call up the coast guard for a ride…  None of these will replace good old common sense!

Now on to the list!

1.  Sextant

If it was good enough for Captain Bligh then it should be good enough for you to find your way home!  This handsome bronze sextant will allow you to shoot the stars with ease.

A close second was the Clinometer App, which can be used in the same way & is arguably more useful for a variety of applications.  Not quite nautical enough to make the list though…

2. StarMap Pro

What good is a sextant without stars to navigate by?  STARMAP is a pocket planetarium, using the breath taking technologies of the iPhone. It brings the present and future sky map at the tip of your fingers, at any time, anywhere.  Available in base & pro versions.

3. Traveling Companion – True Compass

Travelling Companion is a great application for anybody who is constantly on the go! Who wants to lug along a huge GPS device with you when you can bring your phone? Travelling Companion offers many features to help guide you to your destination with a slick, easy to use interface.

4. Sunrise

Another handy tool for being out on the water.  Break out your A,B,C tables & take an azimuth  of the sun!

In addition to using your current GPS location, it has a list of built in locations around the world.

5. Tide Tables

TideApp is a free application from Atlantis Technology.  It will enable you to check the tides for user selected ports.

6. NOAA Raster Charts

Now we are talking!  iNavX charts uses the iPhone’s built in location services (i.e. GPS, cell tower, WiFi) to plot your position in real-time on the multi-touch scrolling and zooming marine chart!  Although one of the more expensive apps at $49.95 this one offers access to thousands of charts and maps: official CHS Canada Charts, Navionics Gold Charts, Discovery Charts, HotMaps, NV. Verlag Charts, Hilton’s fishing charts, TRAK Canada lakes fishing maps and Solteknik Sweden waters charts may be purchased separately from X-Traverse.

7. Foreca.mobi World Weather

See what the weather is going to be doing while you are on the water!  Offers 10-day forecast, current conditions and stunning weather animations including radar, satellite and precipitation forecast for all your favorite locations. Foreca.mobi covers both national and international locations, in total over 140.000 locations.

8. 1st Response Emergency Kit

hat can go wrong will go wrong. So it’s a good idea to be prepared. The 1st Response:Emergency Kit is a must-have for those who like to be prepared. It puts as much practical information as possible into your hands for unexpected situations.

In addition to offering first aid help 1st Response there is a light function that allows you to use your handset as a light. Just tap it and open or close the aperture to get as much or as little light as you need. The distress button provides access to a SOS function. You can adjust the flashing light by color and the rate of flashes in seconds.

9. Emergency Beacon

You’re lost in the middle of nowhere. You’re trapped in an earthquake, hurricane or other emergency situation. How do you find your way out? How do you get help?

This simple application, when activated, sends out a distress beacon with your current location to rescuers.
Why not use the built in Google Maps? Two reasons. Google Maps do not allow you to email your latitude and longitude. And although you may be able to send a signal from urban locations, Google Maps may be of little help in offshore settings.

10. Ship It!

Even with all of the previous apps you are still going to have some time to kill while steaming back in to port.  What better way to spend it than playing Ship It! by Coracle Online.

This addictive Maritime game features excellent graphics & animations.  The object of the game is to move cargo across the docks & load up the ships for departure…  But make sure you get the right type of cargo on the right ship!

Coracle Online was one of (if not the first) company in the maritime and shipping industry to get into iPhone and iPod Touch application development.  Their first application, The Maritime Glossary, provides instant access to over 9,000 nautical terms and abbreviations for anyone with an interest in international trade and the maritime world.  The Maritime Glossary is currently available in the iTunes App Store for $4.99 (link to download).

But Coracle is not stopping with just one.  Available next week in the iTunes App Store is Ship It!, a fun game that lets players load cargo and, well, ship it, before time runs out. In the video above, you can see a sneak preview that Coracle recently posted on YouTube.

Also in development from Coracle Online is a third application called Ports Information.  While details on this app have yet to be released, according to their website, the app provides “comprehensive Port Information on your iPhone and iPod Touch”.

And finally for those of you wondering, YES, gCaptain is in the process of developing its own iPhone and iPod Touch application.  While I can’t release the details just yet, stay tuned as we will be doing an official unveiling in coming weeks!

Even if you are thousands of miles from the nearest land you probably didn’t miss the big news in the technology world this week; the launch of iPhone 2.0.

The secret, however, is that you don’t need a new 3G iPhone to get the best features. Simply connect your existing iPhone or iPod Touch to iTunes and click update. Once completed your firmware will update to version 2.0 providing access to the Application Store.

Here are the Top 10 Applications that will be of use to a mariner:

10) Bloomberg Fiance

Have a portfolio of stocks you need to track? Bloomberg’s free iphone application harnesses much of the power of their pricey terminals and displays the results on your iPhone. Charts, company news and fistorical price data are all included. And, yes, you can track the price of oil!

9) Scientific Calculator

This application you don’t have to install. Just click on your iPhone’s calculator and turn the device 90 degrees and the built in 4 function calc turns on the scientific data.

8) Dial Zero

Sometimes you need to spend your precious moments of port time sorting out your personal finances. Why spend this time listening to a computer tell you to “Press 1 for English…”? Dial zero gives you the codes to jump directly to a representative. Neat, eh!

7) Check Please

While some of you mariners fly high on expense accounts (those guys should try the app Expense2Go), most mariners need to pay for their own meals both in port and at training classes. This application takes the simple Tip Calculator found on many phones and gives it a much needed redesign.

6) Epocrates Rx

We are not doctors and the Medical PIC training most of us have taken simply allows us to administer care under the direction of a doctor. For small problems or when the doctor is talking over your head Epocrates might come in handy. This free drug reference manual lets you access information quickly at the point of care.

5) My Colored Strobe Light

While this application can do everything short of send flashing light messages it’s most basic function will be the most useful on the bridge of your ship. Set the color to to red, adjust the brightness and it turns your iphone into a dim flashlight that won’t ruin your night-vision.

4) Where

In port for only a few hours and want to have a nice diner, do some shopping and maybe pick up a latte? Where gives you restaurant reviews, zipcar locations and will even locate find the cheapest gas station in town.

3) Bank Of America

If you want to have a good chance of doing banking in any port in the world HSBC is by far the best choice but in the US they only have locations in a few states. For American mariners the best choices are Washington Mutual and Bank Of America of which B&A has, by far, the best technology features that make banking from the road a breeze.

2)NetNewsWire

Bandwidth is precious aboard ship so why waste it on gCaptain’s beautifull banners. Instead set up NetNews and subscribe to our RSS feed. This application takes the text and article photos only, displaying then on iphone’s screen in a bandwidth friendly format.

1) Evernote

This application does one thing but does it well! It recognizes handwriting in pictures and lets you search through your notes. This is the perfect application for digitizing and searching the logbook.

Be sure to check out their desktop application too. It has many advance features in an easy to use format and… it’s also FREE.

Runners Up:

This is not a comprehensive list and many other applications will be of use to mariners worldwide. Runners up include translation programs for a half dozen languages, weather applications that give you basic charts from NOAA and web 2.0 offerings like Jott (transcribes voice notes), Truphone (free wi-fi based phone calls) and To-do.

Should I upgrade?

If you need an excuse to upgrade the 3G iphone just tell your significant other “Combining the higher speeds of 3G with the new phone’s GPS will allow it to become a mini ECDIS. Soon I’ll be able to watch the ship navigate down the channel in real time”. While this feature doesn’t exist yet, the phone has all the hardware needed to enable this possibility. It’s just a matter of time for the guys at EarthNC, ActiveCaptain, Jakota Systems and others to write the software to make it happen.