See Our World Like Never Before With Atlas By Collins

Collins has announced the arrival of Atlas, a new mapping app for the iPhone/iPod touch and iPad. The $9.99 app allows users to explore the world through a collection of interactive 3-D globes wrapped in visual data.

At launch, the app includes seven free globes with themes such as politics, energy, and the environment. Users have access to more than 200,000 locations such as cities, landmarks, and natural features, all of which can be discovered while offline. The app gives users the ability to change their view of the world with the swipe of a finger, to see, for example, which countries consume the most oil or have the highest rate of Internet use.

Each globe can be viewed from space to street level using pinch and scroll functionality.

Atlas by Collins

Features include:

• Explore color-coded world maps showing up-to-date information on topics from mobile phone coverage to energy resources and environmental threats around the world.
• View mapping offline down to 1:2,000,000 scale, plus zoom-in on any location down to street level when online.
• Explore satellite, physical and political maps at their most detailed and up-to-date.
• Research in-depth country profiles for every nation on Earth.
• Discover over 200,000 cities, towns and major natural landmarks instantly through search, even when offline.
• Keep up-to-date with new data releases so you’re always in the know about changes to our world.
• Switch seamlessly between iPhone and iPad without losing your place.
• Coming soon: download globes on world economy, climate, global development, UNESCO World Heritage sites, and more.

According to Sheena Barclay, managing direct of the Collins Geo division:

Atlas by Collins was designed to revolutionize how people find information about the world around them. This app is a gateway to an amazing amount of information about our planet, its people and the way we live.

Themed globes available at launch include:

• Satellite map: A clear satellite image of the Earth from space down to street level
• Physical maps: 3-D maps display physical features such as oceans, mountains and deserts
• Political maps: Current states and territories, political and economic alliances, and historical maps showing the effects of exploration, colonialism and conflict
• Environment: The impact of human life on the natural world, and how countries compare on environmental issues such as pollution and forest loss
• Population: Statistics about the people who inhabit the world, including population trends, migration, and birth and death rates
• Communications: How technology connects the world, including mobile coverage, Internet usage and number of telephone lines
• Energy: The distribution of energy resources, and patterns in energy production and consumption

Atlas looks like a promising new app and one that we hope to review soon.

The app works the iPad 2 and above, as well as the iPhone 4/4S and iPhone 5.