Gone are the days when people used to mark hobo-signs with chalk, charcoal or magic markers, they just got an iPhone app to do this too! In case you are wondering what a hobo-sign is, then it is sort of symbolic language developed by homeless people to identify certain areas and mark them to inform other homeless people. Some of the hobo signs used to mark food available, dangerous dog, beware of railroad police etc. Now these hobo-signs have made their way in digital space with the fake iHobo iPhone app. This app overlays virtual hobo-sign on real places and syncs them with the users profile on social networking site HoboBook.

It uses the phones GPS and inbuilt compass to trace your location and points to the nearby sign. You can also view the local area on Google Maps to embed maps into third party apps. The user can even drop a pin on the map and add a new sign for use by other hobos. However, this new sign is made available to new users after peer moderation. The iHobo depends on an installed user-base to be accurate, but the current database is also quit competent. The app is quite affordable for hobos and available only at Hobo Nickel and is not likely to be available on the Apple store.

[Wired]