We're pleased to announce that version 3.1 of our metro maps for iPhone and iPad, fixing the crashing bug for users with iOS3, is now available on the iTunes App Store. It's a free update for all users.

We're recently become aware of a problem affecting the version 3.0 of our iPhone apps. Some people may find that the app crashes immediately after displaying the ExploreMetro logo.

It affects all 6 city apps (Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taipei). The problem happens if you are running an older version of iOS (3.0, 3.1 or 3.2). You can either:

• Upgrade your iOS software to 4.3, the latest version
• Upgrade the app to version 3.1 which is now available on the App Store.

Sorry for the inconvenience!

如果您运行3.0、3.1或3.2版iOS，一个漏洞可能会造成该应用死机。如果这对您造成了困扰，您可以选择以下两种方式种的一种：

• 升级至4.3版iOS
• 等待这款应用的下一个版本。该版本将会尽快推出

The Taipei Metro station at Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center now serves both the Neihu Line (brown) and Nangang Line (blue). As of February 27, 2011, riders will no longer need to take a shuttle bus to transfer lines, cutting transfer times between the two lines dramatically.

The brand new Explore Taipei 3.0 includes the new interchange, so you can plan routes, and check times and prices for your journey. Find out more!

Today, we're launching a major update to our apps! Explore Beijing, Explore Shanghai, Explore Guangzhou, Explore Hong Kong, Explore Taipei and Explore Singapore have all been updated to version 3.0. This includes new native support for iPad and iPad 2!

We've taken the best features of the iPhone/iPod touch experience and redesigned them to work on the iPad's larger screen. Here's what you'll see when you start Explore Shanghai.

Of course, the metro map takes centre stage. You can search for a station with the search bar, or tap on any station for timetables and route-planning:

Notice the "flip" button? A great new feature is the ability to "flip" the screen to see a large Google Map of the station and surrounding area:

Other nearby stations are highlighted. You can also tap the "locate" button  to centre the map on your current location.

Because the apps are "Universal" apps, they work both on iPhone/iPod touch (including retina graphics!) and iPad/iPad 2. If you've already bought one of our apps for iPhone, you can install it on iPad for free. And of course, updating to version 3.0 is free. Not downloaded yet? Our apps cost just $1.99 on the iTunes App Store: download now!

We'd love to hear your feedback about ways to improve our apps. Do get in touch if you find any bugs or have any suggestions!

We were delighted to see that Explore Beijing for iPhone has been featured by Apple in the "New and Noteworthy" section of the China iTunes App Store. To celebrate, we're cutting 50% off the price this weekend! You can download Explore Beijing for just $0.99! Hurry, sale ends soon!

The Shanghai Daily have a Flash metro map, located at http://live.shanghaidaily.com/station/swf/metro.html.

Looking at it, certain visual elements seem a little familiar.

For example, let's take a look at our Explore Shanghai legend. A semi-transparent white rectangle, with blocks for the lines, and a key for the "station"/"interchange station".

Now, let's take a look at the Shanghai Daily's legend. Hmm. Also semi-transparent white rectangle, same layout, same labels, same symbols.

When you click on a station circle on ExploreShanghai, the other lines fade out to highlight which lines travel through that station.

On Shanghai Daily's map, the exact same behaviour:

Their's has a rabbit. Must be different.

Now, I generally have respect for the Shanghai Daily, and I'm very happy for the competition: but if you're going to rip off someone else's work, at least be honest about it.

A couple of announcements this week: the Shanghai Metro announced that work was underway on three new lines: Metro Line 12, Line 13 and Line 16, as well as an extension to the existing Line 11.

Line 12, linking the northeast of the city to the southwest, will have 32 stations along 40 kilometers, passing through eight districts. Passengers will be able to transfer to Line 1 and 13 at Hanzhong Road Station, to Line 2 and 13 at Nanjing Road W. Station and to Line 1 and 10 at Shaanxi Road S. Station.

Line 13 will include 14 stations, with 16 kilometers of track stretching from suburban Jiading District to downtown Jing'an District. Three stops on Line 13 were in operation during the World Expo last year. The full line is expected to include this section, and extend to Pudong New Area, said the authority.

Line 16, which will have 13 stations, will mainly operate in Pudong's Nanhui area. It will connect to Line 2 and 7 at Longyang Road and end at Lingang New City.

In addition to the three new lines, the authority is extending Line 11. Its 21-kilometer second phase stretches from Jiangsu Road Station, crossing the Huangpu River and linking to Pudong's Luoshan Road Station.

Not to be outdone, Beijing announced EIGHT lines were now under construction, all scheduled to open between 2013 and 2015, including the world's first "low-speed" maglev line.

ExploreMetro will soon be making an exciting announcement of it's own! Our iPhone apps will soon support the iPad (and of course, the iPad 2)! Check out the video for a preview!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BO54GHeS_o

Alex Taggart, who writes for the Global Times Metro Beijing will be heading underground on Wednesday, January 26th as he attempts to visit every Beijing Subway station in one day!

I'm excited to see how he does, as I attempted the same feat in Shanghai in 2009.

So why's he doing it?

"I'm hoping that in taking up and hopefully beating the challenge, I'll bring attention to the fact that for less than the price of a jianbing, it's possible to navigate the whole of Beijing and beyond (336km of track) in a day, with a good few hours to spare if my calculations are correct. In a taxi, the same journey would be super-slow, cost at least 1042 kuai (or 297.7 jianbings), and leave Beijing covered in nasty pollution.

You can follow Alex on Twitter to see how well he does. Good luck!

Our metro map apps will soon support the iPad! We want to ensure it's a great experience, so we'll be optimising the interface to work better on the bigger iPad screen.

Check out the screenshot of the version in development, and look out for an announcement over the next few weeks!

Our Explore Taipei metro map is now available in the iTunes App Store free of charge!

With retina display support, routeplanner, first/last train times, English/Chinese text, Google Maps and more, it's the easiest way to get around Taiwan's capital. So what are you waiting for? Download Explore Taipei today!