BlackBerry + Location API
This is probably old news for some of you (I'm catching up slowly) but the folks at RIM released BlackBerry JDE v4.0.2 a couple weeks ago. Noteworthy in and of itself, but the big note in this release is the inclusion of support for JSR 179, the Location API for J2ME*1. Mobile location based services have to be one of the hottest things going on these days (witness Where 2.0). The ability for your handset to know where in the world it is (and hence where you are) has the potential to enhance just about everything you do on your BlackBerry: the address book can show you where you are relative to one of your contacts, the calendar might be able to alert you that not only do you have a meeting but that you are 100 miles away from a meeting happening in less than hour.. you're gonna be late! Your wireless internet experience is transformed by applications that know where you are automatically, no need to punch in a zip code or an address. Associate your tasks with a location and the Task application could ping you about something that you need to get done that's right around the corner. Maybe it could automatically compute the quickest route between your stops for the day based on your starting point. What about a mobile Amazon-esque application called "WhereShouldIGo?" that pinpointed your location and then suggested places that you might want to visit based on your previous travel history and the clustered results of 5,000,000 other users?
Back to the Location API and the BlackBerry JDE. If you download and install the JDE you'll find a demo application (called GPSDemo) which is a simple travel computer, recording route coordinates, speed and altitude. It retrieves your location from the Location API (technically the LocationProvider) every 10 seconds and then sends it to a server every 100 seconds all the while displaying your latitude, longitude, altitude, heading and speed on the screen. Interested? Read the JavaDocs.
The downside? The Location API is currently only available on the Nextel platform via the 7520.
*1For those of you who aren't Java developers, JSR stands for Java Specification Request; it's the process through which members of the Java Community Process (JCP) make additions and modifications to the Java platform, which of course the BlackBerry is based on.
July 29, 2005 in Code, News, Software by ajohnson
Comments
Is there any updated for i711.com onto blackberry user. my blackberry is 7510 under Nextel. I am using this for my work at Centex Homes, Detroit Division. Please let me know about this. Thanks,
Phil
Posted by: Philip King on August 18, 2005 12:35 PM