by Paul Sawers 06/13/2012

iWitness is a new Web app from New Context, in partnership with designers Adaptive Path, that displays updates from Twitter and Flickr by time and location.

iWitness taps the public’s geo-location data to pinpoint the location of a tweet, photo, or video. It allows users to see content from a particular location in real-time, or by specifying a time range.

The good people behind the new app say that it expects this will be of particular use to reporters or even the public during emergencies, when people are looking to share eyewitness accounts of events.

First up, iWitness only works on WebKit-based browsers such as Google Chrome and Safari, so no Firefox compatibility for now. That minor inconvenience aside, what iWitness brings to the table is a very visually-pleasing app that does what it claims to do.

One small gripe – some of the buttons weren’t as responsive as they perhaps could’ve been. For example, when I attempted to switch Flickr/Twitter options on and off, it took about 5 seconds for my selection to register – by which time, I’d clicked again and accidentally reversed my original action.

Moving on, iWitness was beta tested in the field during its development phase by the news desks of five US national and regional newspapers, with reporters tapping iWitness daily to identify what was useful, what was not and what else was needed. New Context worked closely with Adaptive Path to synthesize that feedback and incorporate it into the design we see today, reeling in new features and shaping the final design.

Read more at thenextweb.com