This week the The Mobile World Congress 3GSM takes place in Barcelona, and is the focus of much of the industry interest. In this year we can expect a lot of new innovations during this Congress. Main topics are User Interface, Touchscreen, Geotagging, online content and much more. Sony-Ericsson has introduced several new devices, including their first Windows Mobile Phone. The market share is moving from the desktop to mobile devices in a lot of different application fields. Of course this is ideal for new players to bring innovative products on the market.
Look for Hardware vendors to try and innovate independently from the network operators, look for a mobile device OS battle between established closed platforms and new open stacks (e.g. Google’s Android) and look for the network operators to try and hang on to their position on providing value added services beyond just network provision. LBS is becoming more mainstream, although it still needs to make the jump beyond providing maps on your mobile to provide context to all mobile services delivered by your mobile.
The iPhone has had limited market impact in Europe it seems, although how to design a mobile device from the point of usability and been redefined, and hopefully other manufactures must take note, just try and get someone who has used an iPhone for a week, to go back to Windows Mobile or Symbian.
The mobile industry is more dynamic this year than is has even been, the stakes for industry are much higher and hopefully the customer will benefit as ultimately mobile services should be an incredibly useful part of our lives, and will be if the industry can match the openness of the web in general [edparsons].
So lets see what will happen this week, maybe we will see also some innovations for “geo” applications.
Written and submitted from CUAS, Villach.
People today want spport in navigation everywhere and everytime. Therefore mobile gadgets, supporting navigation are extreamly popular. These devices are called Portable Navigation Devices (PNDs). GPS technology and mobile Geographic Information Servies are combined to allow the development of such devices.
Time, technology and user needs are constantly changing the way we do things, often making them easier and less expensive. When technology becomes affordable, individuals and industries are motivated to use it. When two great technologies are combined, a new innovation is created. Such is the case with GPS and GIS. On their own, GPS and GIS are fabulous inventions, but when combined, they provide results that neither of the products can deliver alone. As has been the case with many inventions, the resultant technology forever changes the way we do things. What was once a simple navigational aid is now a personal, interactive mapping and directional device. Portable Navigation Devices (PNDs) used in automobiles are one of the most popular ‘gadgets” available today, with thousands of street maps and related points of interest packaged with the hardware. This rich mapping resource provides drivers with customized routes. [...]
But are there also some negative effects on that? Some questions arise because of the different handling with PNDs compared with good old paper maps:
- How will the young driver of today be affected by this rather novel way of getting from point A to point B? Will she have folded road maps in her glove compartment?
- Will persons have any concept of direction - east and west - and will he make note of where streets bend, end or change names?
- Is the PND just novel technology or is it really a replacement of the paper map?
- Will GPS technology change traditional travel and our concept of spatial awareness?
- If you take the PND away from a driver, will he be lost?
[Directions Magazine]
Written and submitted from Home, using my 802.11g WiFi network.
To create a MapView within Android you onle have to use the MapView object. You can go through the code and see how it works. For the user interface hou need to have en element with the corresponing ID.
The Class:
package com.joesonic;
import android.app.Activity;
import android.os.Bundle;
import com.google.android.maps.MapActivity;
import com.google.android.maps.MapView;
public class MapsMini extends MapActivity {
/** Called when the activity is first created. */
private MapView mapview;
@Override
public void onCreate(Bundle icicle) {
super.onCreate(icicle);
setContentView(R.layout.main);
mapview = (MapView)findViewById(R.id.mapview);
}
}
The Result:
Written and submitted from Home, using my 802.11g WiFi network.
Garmin Wednesday night surprised the cellphone industry by taking its own leap into smartphones. The Nuviphone aims both to compete with the iPhone as well as to bring Garmin’s experience with GPS navigation to the forefront. Almost entirely controlled by a 3.5-inch touchscreen interface, the device centers around its native GPS unit: in addition to straightforward navigation, a host of Google apps allow it to search for local businesses, check traffic, and view nearby weather. Any photos or videos taken with the built-in camera are automatically geotagged for positioning in location-based services.
The GPS maker also seeks to improve on areas underserved by its current rival at Apple. In addition to Wi-Fi, the Nuviphone connects to the Internet through a 3G HSDPA connection with AT&T or other worldwide networks. This helps with multi-network instant messaging (including Google) and easy access to GMail, according to the company. It also supports MMS media messaging in addition to SMS texting.
[electronista]
Written and submitted from Home, using my 802.11g WiFi network.
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