The bottom right corner of my iPhone?

Which app is on the bottom right corner of my iPhone? So that when I unlock the screen I can quickly launch it with my thumb? It's not email. Not the phone. And not "Angry Birds.". It's Google Maps. Yes, I get lost quite a bit. Mostly although, I always have it at the ready because I'm as obsessed with the program as others are with, then, "Angry Birds."

IPhone—a de facto appendage

Digital wandering is fine on an iPhone—a de facto appendage, always ready to whisk me away while life's particularly dull moments—nevertheless the virtual traveling experience actually is best on its big brother: the iPad. The latter can transform something that might be considered boring on the iPhone into a leisurely experience. It practically romanticizes staring at maps. You use your iPhone to find your way around a foreign city when you're lost and frustrated; you use your iPad on a lazy Sunday afternoon to retrace your steps, reminiscing about that evening you managed to find that speakeasy in that alley.

I know it may seem odd to browse maps for pleasure, to use them as a kind of Proustian madeleine for the GPS age, however have you seen how far these newfangled maps and tourist-centric apps have come? They're not just street names and points of interest anymore. They are technological marvels crammed with Internet goodness: a mix of high-res images and robust information baked into super slick interfaces. It's the power of the World Wide Web planted across the earth's surface. No more jumping from web page to web page to learn all there is to know about World Heritage Sites. No more waiting for Bear Grylls to go to the Burmese jungle to see how big the bugs are. With the apps we've gathered here, and the right attitude—I mean, only shut-ins are going to tell you that fake travel beats the real thing—you can just go, no passport needed.

What the iPod did to the Walkman

Google Earth did to globes what the iPod did to the Walkman. You can download the program on your PC, Mac, Android or iOS device, nevertheless it in point of fact is best on an iPad or a large Android tablet because you can physically spin it as you would that round thing it replaced. What's it called? Oh, right, a globe. This app makes you feel like Superman. In Philadelphia and want to check out Shanghai? Google Earth doesn't just shuffle some tiles around and put you on the Bund. You slowly take off and do a trans-Pacific flyover—no layover at LAX. It's neat visual candy, yet my favorite pastime on Google Earth is spotting obscure islands. From afar they may appear as clouds or odd underwater formations, however as you continue to double-tap and zoom in it becomes clear that these are lonely tracts of paradise you're looking at. It's amazing: It's 2011 and there are nevertheless pieces of land that are completely free of Starbucks Wi-Fi. Like Daska island. There was a monastery built there in 1281 that was destroyed in the early 19th century.

I know it sounds like giving Pepsi—no, correction, RC Cola—a try when you're a diehard Coke fan, however check out Bing Maps if you haven't already. When it comes to digital voyaging, it will blow your mind. The Bird's Eye feature turns major cities in the U.S., Europe and Japan into what looks like a diorama. It's created with photos taken by low-flying aircraft. The taller the buildings and more cavernous the streets, the better the effect.

Consortium including Apple

A consortium including Apple and Microsoft paid $4.5 billion to buy a trove of wireless patents belonging to Nortel Networks, outbidding Google and others in a closely watched auction.

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