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<\/a>Apple has some 140,000 apps for its iPhone users. People who use phones with Google’s (GOOG) Android operating system have much less choice<\/a>.<\/p>\nBut here’s a consolation prize: Android users do get to use the coolest app in New York City. At least according to the NYC Big App competition<\/a>, which awarded its Grand Prize<\/a> last night to WayFinder NYC<\/a>, an Android-only app.<\/p>\n Wayfinder, created by Victor Sima and Steven Lao, uses jaw-dropping space-age “augmented reality” technology — which layers map info, tied to GPS data, over the camera view of a user’s phone — to help people find the nearest subway station.<\/p>\n I’ve seen a couple variants of these, at least in demo form, and they’re some of the coolest things I’ve seen that aren’t in “Minority Report” or some other movie.<\/p>\n This one looks pretty cool, too. There’s no sound in this demo, so don’t be alarmed:<\/p>\n I don’t know what’s nuttier about the technology that makes an app like this plausible — the fact that we can integrate this stuff into a consumer device, or the fact that we don’t run around shouting about how amazing this stuff is, because we already take it for granted.<\/p>\n Anway, here’s hoping that New York’s Metropolitan Transit Authority<\/a> doesn’t put the hammer down on this one. The MTA\u00a0 has been frustratingly slow to adapt to new technology but alarmingly quick to chase after people with half-baked claims of copyright violations<\/a>.<\/p>\n And it would be nice if the WayFinder team ports this thing to Apple’s (AAPL) platform, so New York City’s hordes of iPhone users can get their hands on it.<\/p>\n Buy This Item: [Click here to buy this item]<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n