Symbian in Motion

Last month, acclaimed developer SHAPE Services released a cool app that builds upon the ever-growing popularity of GPS-related services. Their preliminary entry into the LBS space is called GPSed, and it packs quite a punch I must say. At first glance you might think to yourself, “why should I bother with this app, I already use Nokia Sports Tracker?” It’s true that each app offers similar functionality, but GPSed takes the concept of track recording and applies a social networking / sharing twist as opposed to a sports tracking twist. Social networking = popular within our online target demographic. Working out = not so popular within our online target demographic. Sad but true, and lord knows I certainly fall within that first category lately.

At the core of GPSed lies an app and a service working in tandem to record GPS tracks and publish them to the GPSed site. The site uses Google maps as the backbone, and displays paths that you track and provides coloring options to distinguish one path from another. Tracks are recorded by the app and then uploaded to the site. You can even upload GPS tracks that you already have (in a variety of formats as opposed to just GPX, as with Sports Tracker) if you have been using a different service prior to GPSed.

Next come the management and social aspects of GPSed. The web service provides a variety of management functions to enhance core functionality. Options like changing track colors, managing multiple tracks and adding track information are among a few supported functions. In terms of social aspects, users can also adjust privacy settings to determine whether or not each track record is available for public viewing. Individual trips can also be shared with friends very easily. What’s more, a recent update allows users to add waypoints either from the mobile client or from the online account. Waypoints are essentially notes that can be tied to a specific point on a trial. For example, while on a walk a user can input “great cafe, check it out” as a waypoint in the app. The map will add the note to the tracks along with the latitude and longitude reads recorded while the note was being typed.

The web service is complemented by Take’n'pin; a PC application that allows you to geotag photos and upload them to your GPSed account. Photos can be taken with a camera phone or any other digital camera. Take’n'pin will then add location data and tie each photo to a point on your tracks. You can use the software to preview photos on a map using Google Earth and upload your them to any service you like (Flickr, Picasa, etc). Photo support within the GPSed web app itself will be added shortly - remember it’s currently in beta right now so development is fast and furious.

In terms of where I would like to see this app go, why not take the social aspects of it a step further? The wide device compatibility and ease of use make this app tremendously accessible. The GPSed mobile client is java-based which is usually a bad thing in my eyes. For a social LBS however, it’s great that GPSed is compatible with a huge range of smartphones and standard-OS handsets as well. If your device has internal GPS or is capable of communicating with an external GPS unit, odds are pretty good that you can utilize this app. As such, I’d like to see SHAPE expand on friends, sharing and communication. Features like the ability to instantly share waypoints across two devices running the app would be great. Imagine walking around town and hearing a chime. You glance at your device and a pop-up message from your friend states, “meet me here in an hour!” Enhance that with the ability to export waypoints to Google Maps and Nokia Maps so that you can easily get directions or even navigate to the location, and now we’re in a whole different league.

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Antony Pranata, the developer of the widely successful and essential Screenshot application revealed the release of Nokia Location Tagger Beta today on the Nokia Beta Labs blog.

Location based tagging, also referred to as Geotagging isn’t anything new, it has been around for a while. Google Earth, Flickr and Panoramio have been using it for a while now. What Nokia Location Tagger Beta does is the same using your S60 3rd Edition handset and the integrated GPS feature (hence why it is available for specific models only). Once you have taken a picture with the camera, you have the option to tag the picture with your location and then upload to you Online Picture Album (providing they support the feature).

The Application has been tested with Nokia N95, N95 8GB, N82, and E90 using the integrated GPS. Should work but not fully tested with all S60 3rd edition devices using an external Bluetooth GPS receiver. Sharing your location-tagged pictures online requires Share Online 3.0.

To download and leave feedback you can visit the Location Tagger homepage.

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File this one under “cool apps that help you converge your gadgets”. ExtGPS is a great java-based freeware utility that allows you to use your S60 3rd device as an external bluetooth GPS Receiver! Connect to your Windows-based PC/laptop, Mac running OS X or Linux box and you can run all kinds of GPS-enabled software without having to carry an extra GPS receiver. Of course you’ll need an S60 3rd device that is equipped with an internal GPS receiver so currently only N82/N95/E90/6110 owners need apply.

Make sure that you enable bluetooth before launching the app as the current version (0.31) cannot toggle your device’s bluetooth status. Once enabled simply launch the app, fight your way through the annoying security pop-ups (S60 3rd + java = PIA) and wait as ExtGPS locks your position. Then connect your computer via bluetooth and you’re off and running - or tracking as it were.

The author also kindly provides some assistance when it comes to connecting to your device from Windows (Vista), OS X or Linux. Click through to select the How To guide of your choice. Kudos to the author for some great work!

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It’s about time! Ricky the Symbian-Guru just posted some awesome news that is really going to help me out on my trip to London tomorrow. I can’t tell you how happy I am that Google Maps has been updated to version 1.70.2. This latest version is no longer java-based (woo hoo!) but instead has been built as a native Symbian app. Beyond that, this new version supports the internal GPS on the N95 and other relevant devices I would assume.

Unfortunately with my upcoming trip I really don’t have time to walk through a full review but luckily Ricky will be posting a much more in-depth look at this app and doing a much-anticipated comparison with Nokia Maps. If you want to check it out for yourself, just hit http://www.google.com/gmm from your S60 browser to download this awesome app.

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Skyhook Wireless has recently announced that Symbian support has been added to their public WPS SDK along with some functionality improvements. Skyhook’s WiFi Positioning System (WPS) is a technology that allows location-based services to operate on software alone. What does this mean to the user? It means that developers can provide you with applications providing location-based services that do not require any kind of GPS hardware. Think about it - apps providing GPS, geotagging, location-based presence, security, location-aware web/news content, etc on any WiFi-enabled device! I personally can’t even begin to imagine all of the possibilities that surround this awesome technology…

Click here to read the full press release regarding this recent upgrade.

Skyhook is also holding a development contest to support this big announcement and to spark the integration of their SDK into a variety of creative usage scenarios. The rules are simple:

“Download the upgraded SDK now, and incorporate it into your application. We want to see creative uses of location in any type of application, on any platform and any device. Send us your application no later than October 29, 2007. Winners will be announced mid-November.”

The best app developed for Mac OS will score its developer a shiny new Apple iPhone and the author of the best Symbian app will get a sweet new Nokia N95! Not bad considering the potential that WPS has to enhance your current portfolio - and the fact that it’s a free SDK!

I know there are many developers who read my blog and I hope to see them all get involved with this competition and more importantly, this SDK. I’m getting excited just sitting here cycling through all of my apps and imagining all of the cool functionality that could be added to each one with WPS technology!

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