SkySafari- Carina Software or Southern Stars?

[DJDD]

Hello,

I notice that there are two different makers of SkySafari on teh iTunes store:

SkySafari/SkySafari Lite by Carina Software
and
SkySafari 3/SkySafari 3 Pro/SkySafari 3 Plus by Southern Stars

Which one woudl people recommend?

thanks.

[kustard]

The Carina Software version is the older version and no longer supported.

The recommended version are the SkySafari 3 series and it all depends on what you want to do with the app as to whether you get the basic versions of the plus/pro versions.

Personally I grabbed the Pro version because it's a decent price for what you get and for what it can do.

[acropolite]

They're basically the same software, Carina and Southern Stars are the same company, I think Southern Stars may have been set up to market their hardware side. I can't remember which versions support the SkyFi and SkyWire interfaces, but if you're thinking of telescope control pick a version that works with those interfaces. Sky Safari is on special from time to time, a short while ago Pro was on special for around $30, if it's still at that price grab it while you can.

[DJDD]

thanks, everyone. it is on sale for $32 so i will get the Pro version tonight.

[Omaroo]

No, they are most definitely not the same company - and there is a big difference in the two products.

Tim DeBenedictus and his team used to work for CarinaSoft developing "Voyager" for Mac and Windows. They started developing "Sky Voyager" for iDevices a couple of years ago for that same company. After some managerial issues within CarinaSoft, Tim et al left and formed their own company - Southern Stars. Here they developed Sky Voyager for iDevice which was renamed SkySafari some time later.

See the story from the man himself here: http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/4752128/Main/4312056

Seems silly, but I gather that Southern Stars has allowed Carina to sell the defunct SkySafari v2 under its own name. If you look at the copyright info on iTunes, it states "Seller: Carina Software, ©Southern Stars." Consequently, SkySafari 3 states "Seller: Southern Stars, ©Southern Stars."

So, what Southern Stars sells is v3. At the end of the day, go for the Southern Stars offering, not Carina.

[DJDD]

thanks for confirming this further. will get it tonight.