If your cell phone or smartphone has not yet become an extension of you, it is like to happen with this latest application available on Google’s Android operating system and the iPhone (News - Alert). What is known as “augmented reality” enables smartphones to display super-local Web content to tell you everything you need to know about where you are at any given moment.

Associated Press writer Rachel Metz referred to it as a computer-enhanced view of the world through applications that take advantage of the phones’ GPS and compass features as well as access to high-speed wireless networks. The result is a mash up of content relevant to the immediate world around you.

While at first glance some may think it is just another application that detracts from the phone’s ability to be a phone, it actually allows it to be so much more. Not only will you know what restaurants are nearby, you’ll also be able to access menus and reviews. If you want to know what apartments are available on the street you are walking down or the nearest hotel room, simply turn to your phone.

This augmented reality may have first emerged with Android, but Apple (News - Alert) was not to be left behind and its iPhone became augmented “reality ready” in June. The two companies have also joined forces to make it possible for software developers to overlay images on the phone’s camera view.

This virtually enhanced world may become more of the norm as companies work to provide more and more information for your cell phone. Layer, an Amsterdam-based company, recently released an augmented reality browser for the Android (News - Alert) phones. You can search for information based on your location and can sign up for personalized information delivered to your phone screen based on your specifications.

If that isn’t enough to get your technology juices flowing, a new startup, Brightkite, is relying on Layar to allow people to post virtual tags with their locations and activities that other people can see if they use the same app. Think Twitter meets LoJack.

The iPhone did originally have an app that provided certain local information, but it wasn’t until the device got a compass that the augmented reality could take off. iPhone now offers Monocle, a formal feature that combines the device’s camera with tiny tags indicating the location of just about anything in a person’s surroundings. If you want more information about a location, tap a floating tag (News - Alert) on the screen with your finger and up pops detailed information about the business.

While this augmented reality is gaining speed, some in the industry feel the technological limitations will inhibit its reach and ultimately disappoint users. Perhaps much of this outcome will depend on what these applications promise and what they can actually deliver.

 

New applications seem to be emerging almost daily for the iPhone. Earthmine announced this week the immediate availability of the earthmine SDK for iPhone. This latest solution allows for the integration of street level 3D data into iPhone applications. Such enhancements will certainly help to drive augmented reality closer to reality.