May 30
The keynote of Google’s IO Event lasts about one and a half hour. The talk includes some of the Development news at Google including:
- GWT
- Ajax and Apps API
- Gears
- App Engine
But the most exciting part for me was the presentation of Steve Horowitz, from the Android team, showing first Android applications on a mobile phone. For example it is possible to virtually walk around US-cities. For this application Streetview photos are used. The navigation is done via a touchscreen and a build in compass.
The used phone (no logo which indicated the manufacture) has a touchscreen from Synaptics where the user can log in with an user defined gesture.
Written and submitted from Home, using my 802.11g WiFi network.
May 15
A slide deck of the Android Developer Challenge prize recipients is now available. The deck includes descriptions and screenshots of the 46 recipients who consented to sharing their information and is a great way to get a feel for the quality of apps submitted.
The judges, who has selected these applications come from various different companies, which are part of the Open Headset Alliance.
I’ve looked through the slides and it is interesting to see that 27 of 46 applications (~59%) have something to do with location or embed Google Maps. That’s amazing in my opinion.
Written and submitted from Home, using my 802.11g WiFi network.
Apr 27
Two students from Germany have worked on a project called Enkin. The have written this locational service on Google Andriod. Enkin allows to navigate in three differend modes:
- Classic Map
- 3D View
- Reality
Until now the hardware is a little bit cumbersomely but I hope this will change after the first real Android mobiles are on the market.
“Enkin” introduces a new handheld navigation concept. It displays location-based content in a unique way that bridges the gap between reality and classic map-like representations. It combines GPS, orientation sensors, 3D graphics, live video, several web services and a novel user interface into an intuitive and light navigation system for mobile devices. This project is a submission for the first round of the Google Android Developer Challenge and should not be considered a final product. If you want to learn about it in depth, please read our detailed documentation.
Link: http://www.enkin.net/
Written and submitted from Home, using my 802.11g WiFi network.
Feb 04
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.
