2Lines Software

The Android Developer site has moved a bunch of links around to remove a lot of the Google branding from the community. Technically speaking Google drove the project and owns a lot of the development but it is an open-source community and probably should avoid proprietary and company specific codebases within its structure.

That at least what I assume they were thinking when they yanked the com.android.maps reference documentation from the site. For instance if you were looking for the MapController reference you would run a Google search for it and the first link is this:

http://code.google.com/android/reference/com/google/android/maps/MapController.html

Which returns a bug fat 404. The proper link is at:

http://code.google.com/android/add-ons/google-apis/reference/index.html

Android/Google get it together! At least put a redirect page up on old links!

Hopefully that saves you some time with the SDK.

The recent spat of changes has slowed my rate of updates on the site and here is why;

KnowledgeWhere Inc, was aquired by Useful Networks out of Denver.Here is the news release:Useful Networks Acquires KnowledgeWhere

The sale was the culmination of many months worth of work and I think it will be a great asset to the LB industry in general. KnowledgeWhere gains the expertise and financial resources of Useful Networks , and Useful Networks gains the Location Application Platform (LAP) , gaming assets and technology that we have been created over the past 4 years.

It will be an exciting transition to work with the new team and use it to build on both our successes. I have had a chance to see the direction Useful Networks is headed and I know it will be disruptive in the very near term.

Well it turns out that PhoneTag Elite didn’t take any major awards at the LBS Challenge . Our continuing curse, of always being a finalist never a bride came through again this year.

I have been involved in the competition for 3 years now and I think that by far this years applications were the most promising. The applications were solid and polished. Each of them looked ready to go to market and all of them included business plans.

Of particular note was a company out of California that produce a product called SpotJots. I’m testing out the product on my Nokia N95 now and it seems like it works really well. Most importantly the application is very fast and very clean. The design work on the site is great and simple. I’ll post a full review of the site when I can.

Also another participant, Trapster , produced a user-generated speed trap application. The mobile device tracks its location and when a driver passes a speed-trap on the side of the road, they can trigger a message to the server. This uploads the speed trap to a central server and when any device approaches an existing trap it can send an alert out to the driver. Great idea. After meeting the founder, Pete Tenereillo, and going for a short drive I can attest that he probably created this app out of a personal need.

If you have some time follow-up with all the application that were displayed at the LBS Challenge. You can demo most of them by downloading the Where.com application to your phone. 2/3rds of the applications were run on this platform. I’m demoing the platform now and I’ll send a posting out soon.

 I will be attending GDC 2008 Mobile this year and giving a presentation on “Why Location Matters”. I wanted to encapsulated all the challenges and opportunities that adding location into your mobile application can bring.

Abstract

https://www.cmpevents.com/GD08/a.asp?option=C&V=11&SessID=6505

Session Description
This lecture addresses how location impacts a mobile application and how developers can leverage location technologies to improve the user experience. When our industry addresses location in a mobile context all too often we address the “HOW” of this technology rather than focusing on the impact of location in a mobile user’s experience. Technological advancements such as A-GPS (Assisted Global Position System) or WiFi-centric location are driving new application development, yet fail to address the larger concern of a user’s needs and desires when using an application.

Idea Takeaway
Audience will learn about the various types of location information available in today’s wireless carrier networks and how best to apply them to create the ultimate user experience in a mobile entertainment application.

Intended Audience
Advanced mobile game developers and programmers, mobile game publishers, content & entertainment managers, and game producers.

I look forward to seeing you at the presentation.

John