TrekBuddy

ave · Joined: 02 Dec 2006 Posts: 16 Location: Finland

Hi.

There is a nice new(?) service in town called gmap-track (http://www.gmap-track.com/) which allows you to track the users gps position on google map in real time. There currently exists atleast one j2me-app that supports it. Namely, mgmaps (www.mgmaps.com).

Mgmaps has user definable update interval via the tracking api (not yet public, but I'm sure kruch could get hold of it) and server url as well.

I advice everyone to take a look at both mgmaps and gmap-track sites for more information.

It would be very nice to get optional gmap-track api support included in trekbuddy.

Thank you.

guest · Joined: 08 Oct 2006 Posts: 3962

I would appreciate that feature with TB as well. As I use Trekbuddy all the time it would be very nice for my friends to see my position.

kruch · Site Admin Joined: 02 Jul 2006 Posts: 5096

Added to my "have a look at this" list.

ave · Joined: 02 Dec 2006 Posts: 16 Location: Finland

I ran into somekind of api-doc recently. Here's the beef:
http://forum.mgmaps.com/viewtopic.php?p=4132&sid=5e4f4b3bca67debd5314db950e3e7ce1#4132

Also, I'm currently building my own "tracking" application that will use the gmap-track api. TB having support for this would be really sweet.

guest · Joined: 08 Oct 2006 Posts: 3962

Will this feature (gmap-track) be included in one of the next versions?

kruch · Site Admin Joined: 02 Jul 2006 Posts: 5096

Yes...

Do not hesitate to remind - that's how it works for new features, after all... Wink

guest · Joined: 08 Oct 2006 Posts: 3962

That means Trekbuddy will use GPRS for that function. I am not sure if a special thing can be considered when programming this feature. GPRS costs are normally charged as EUR/kB and unfortunately also per session.

For example the provider charges EUR 0,79/100kB per session. When you transfer only 1kB and then the session is ended, they will charge the full 100kB. I have many other J2ME software on my mobile phone which use GPRS as well (i.e. Mobile Google Maps). Unfortunately every time when there is no data transfer the GPRS session is ended even the software is still running and GPRS is still active. It seems that the phone ends the GPRS session when data transfer is on idle. That means many sessions are made during the time when the software runs and therefore every GPRS session is charged separately. This can become expensive.

But when the mobil phone is used as a modem in connection with my notebook only one session is charged from beginning of use until I manually interrupt the connection. That is very strange. It seems that it depends on the software which controls the GPRS connection.

In the network of your home provider it does not matter as long as you have a flat rate. But when you do not have a flat rate or when you are roaming in an other country it can be a cost problem. That means when you transfer only the position the complete block will be charged also when you use only few bytes. If you send the position regularly you will pay every time one session (i.e. EUR 0,79) although you use only 1kB out of 100kB.

The question is now if it would be possible to program Trekbuddy in that way that the GPRS session will be always hold until the program is closed and that the GPRS session is not ended even the data transfer is on idle? Does this depend on the provider or on the phone or really on the program? I use a SE K750i with firmware R1CA021.

guest · Joined: 08 Oct 2006 Posts: 3962

Are there any news about this feature? Will it be implemented soon?

guest · Joined: 08 Oct 2006 Posts: 3962

Are there any news about this feature? Will it be implemented soon?

kruch · Site Admin Joined: 02 Jul 2006 Posts: 5096

I keep it in my mind, it will come after current branch stabilizes...

guest · Joined: 08 Oct 2006 Posts: 3962

Is there any support for www.gmap-track.com in sight?