I'm looking for a simple application that will run in the background, and send the current GSM/UTMS cell-id to a web server on a periodic basis (via HTTP GET).
Basically a program like cellGPS (http://www.vikinggames.hu/product.php?id=11) but for Windows Mobile. I don't really care about GPS info, since that just sucks power (and doesn't work indoors).
What I'm trying to do here is enable my home automation system to know where I am, without sucking my phone's battery to death (especially since GPS won't work indoors). GSM/UTMS cell-id is 'close enough' for me.
The application would just hit a webserver on my home machine with the current cell-id (http://webserver.com/receiver.php?cellid=4233-23) on a definable period. My own app on my webserver would record that data into a database. I can then go back and use that data to let my home auto system know "hey, Justin's almost home, turn on the HVAC, lights, etc".
It needs to be able to run in the background, no annoying icons on the screen, and start up on phone reset.
I figure since it's just sending the cell-id (which is always available), it would be rather efficient and not use much battery power (especially since I usually leave Activesync on "instant" so the data connection is usually up anyway).
Other extensions to this would let my server update twitter/facebook/etc with "Justin's at ... home/work/etc now.".
Any ideas?
wow this would be a great aplication
Two programs come to mind.... Comm Mgr Pro and rk-Location Switch.
I have not really played with these two programs much, but they do Cell tower based switching and might include some of the other features you require (but I do have to admit that they do not have all the features you want).
Dale Lane posted some c# code to programmatically get the cellID of the current tower.
The rest is pretty simple - a place to enter the url and then periodically issue HTTP GET requests.
I guess I could try to cook up something when I have some time.
Well I went and coded a sample app anyway. It just reads the current tower info at the specified interval. Is this the information that you require?
Just extract the zip to the device and run the .exe.
Note: It requires .NET Compact Framework 2.0
this sounds pretty cool. remember that cellid information is good for triangulating to about 1000 meters. you can get "justin's on his way home, turn on the AC" but probably not "justin's in the shower, begin youtube upload"
newb5000 said:
Well I went and coded a sample app anyway. It just reads the current tower info at the specified interval. Is this the information that you require?
Just extract the zip to the device and run the .exe.
Note: It requires .NET Compact Framework 2.0
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Works great! even though this topic was supposed to be on logging it to a web database, I am not too keen on that since data charges are expensive. I would be more interested in an internal database where I can simply attach a "friendly name", say the location of the site (ie. corner of main and first st.) to some cell sites (or a group of sites) in the internal database. Similar to what nicetrack used to do on previous WM versions. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=320055
newb5000 said:
Well I went and coded a sample app anyway. It just reads the current tower info at the specified interval. Is this the information that you require?
Just extract the zip to the device and run the .exe.
Note: It requires .NET Compact Framework 2.0
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will check as soon as I get my Kaiser back -- I managed to shatter the screen over the weekend. doh. This sounds EXACTLY like what I'm looking for.
Someone else mentioned data charges, which I don't care about, since I'm on unlimited data (AT&T won't even sell the things without the unlimited data plan now).
Actually, I still have my older TyTN somewhere. Let me dig it up and give this a try.
jasonchan said:
Works great! even though this topic was supposed to be on logging it to a web database, I am not too keen on that since data charges are expensive. I would be more interested in an internal database where I can simply attach a "friendly name", say the location of the site (ie. corner of main and first st.) to some cell sites (or a group of sites) in the internal database. Similar to what nicetrack used to do on previous WM versions. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=320055
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's a program that sort of does this now, called Trackme -- but it only does GPS as far as I know. Adding DB code would probably add a whole lot of complexity (and CPU power).
I'm sure it's doable, though, but I would hope it wouldn't be in this app. I have enough crap running in the background eating precious CPU cycles.
I wish I had a Windows machine to do development on. I'm Mac/Linux only, and don't have access to Visual Studio anymore.. I wrote an app to do this for the iPhone, but it can't run in the background due to SDK limitations. It's annoying that Microsoft hasn't made the WinMo SDK work on other platforms (although I guess Apple is doing that with the iPhone, so I don't have much room to talk).
The "goal" of this desired application is to be as lightweight as possible and offload all processing to a real computer. My phone doesn't need to do all of the work.
I can't imagine this would use much bandwidth, anyway. Even if you updated every five minutes, that's far less than 50kb per day, assuming a 64 byte URL + all HTTP and TCP headers. It'd add up to around 1.5 megabytes a month. I'd bet it'd be closer to 800-900kb/month. That's nothing compared to email/etc traffic. I would hope EU/etc carriers aren't so bad that 1.5mb a month would put you over a limit...
jasonchan said:
Works great! even though this topic was supposed to be on logging it to a web database, I am not too keen on that since data charges are expensive. I would be more interested in an internal database where I can simply attach a "friendly name", say the location of the site (ie. corner of main and first st.) to some cell sites (or a group of sites) in the internal database. Similar to what nicetrack used to do on previous WM versions. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=320055
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tested it yesterday when driving home from work. Tower changes were very frequent during my drive home. But lets say that a HTTP GET request (depending on the length of the URL) is on average 100 bytes. Lets say in a day you switch towers 200 times. That would result in just under 20 kilobytes of data usage in a day. I actually calculated this for myself because I also initially thought that one would get a large bill at the end of the month for data usage, but it would seem that this isn't the case.
One could also limit the web requests to only "bookmarked" Cell IDs.
I like the idea of the original poster even though I cannot see how I could use it personally, since I do not have a home automation system.
Regarding more friendly names - I remember that I had set it up on one of my first phones to receive cell broadcast messages from the towers which included the tower friendly name. Haven't tried since, though.
The data that is made available in Windows Mobile is the following:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa921533.aspx
Don't see any friendly names of towers though
I thought of adding a "bookmark" button so that one can bookmark the current Cell ID (and possibly assign a friendly name) but this would be very awkward while driving (and the frequent tower changes).
Google has a database with Cell IDs and uses them in Google Maps but good luck getting a copy of their database
norelidd said:
this sounds pretty cool. remember that cellid information is good for triangulating to about 1000 meters. you can get "justin's on his way home, turn on the AC" but probably not "justin's in the shower, begin youtube upload"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hah!
I only need 1000 meter resolution. GPS is definitely more accurate, but it would kill the battery in 6 hours flat.
Maybe when the third generation of GPS sats start going up in a few years, GPS receivers will use less power (since the sats will be much more powerful and supposedly will reach inside most buildings).. but that's 2015 at the earliest. Who knows what HTC/etc will come out with by then.
jmat said:
I will check as soon as I get my Kaiser back -- I managed to shatter the screen over the weekend. doh. This sounds EXACTLY like what I'm looking for.
Someone else mentioned data charges, which I don't care about, since I'm on unlimited data (AT&T won't even sell the things without the unlimited data plan now).
Actually, I still have my older TyTN somewhere. Let me dig it up and give this a try.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Only saw your post after I posted mine.
There aren't any web requests yet though, I just wanted to confirm that I was on the right track (through you testing it ). I'm willing to give it a bash because I'll learn something through the process.
Some questions arise:
Should the app dial a connection automatically, or just not send out requests if there is no active connection?
Still need to figure out how to get it to run in the background properly
I'm wondering how it should function if the phone is in standby
newb5000 said:
I tested it yesterday when driving home from work. Tower changes were very frequent during my drive home. But lets say that a HTTP GET request (depending on the length of the URL) is on average 100 bytes. Lets say in a day you switch towers 200 times. That would result in just under 20 kilobytes of data usage in a day. I actually calculated this for myself because I also initially thought that one would get a large bill at the end of the month for data usage, but it would seem that this isn't the case.
One could also limit the web requests to only "bookmarked" Cell IDs.
I like the idea of the original poster even though I cannot see how I could use it personally, since I do not have a home automation system.
Regarding more friendly names - I remember that I had set it up on one of my first phones to receive cell broadcast messages from the towers which included the tower friendly name. Haven't tried since, though.
The data that is made available in Windows Mobile is the following:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa921533.aspx
Don't see any friendly names of towers though
I thought of adding a "bookmark" button so that one can bookmark the current Cell ID (and possibly assign a friendly name) but this would be very awkward while driving (and the frequent tower changes).
Google has a database with Cell IDs and uses them in Google Maps but good luck getting a copy of their database
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tower switching will happen quite fast in big populated areas. That's why I was just going for every few minutes and not "as the tower changes".
It's too bad the towers don't "advertise" their GPS coordinates along with the other tower data. It seems like that would have been really easy to stick in the UMTS standard.
I'm surprised Google hasn't open sourced that database, or at least made an API library for it. Afterall, their users are the ones who discovered it all, not them -- Google Maps just records GPS coordinates + cell IDs and uploads them when you run the Google Maps location. I've seen that app upload several hundred kb during some runs.
Going back to the 'post on switch' thing. That might be a neat option -- to send a GET on every tower switch.. I'm going back and forth in my head on if that's a good idea or not. It'd be interesting to see how that hits battery life, though. (Since I have ActiveSync with "always push" enabled, I bet it doesn't make much of a difference).
First beta
Hi guys,
Apologies for the delay - I've been terribly busy.
I managed to create the app so it's ready for testing.
Attached is the cab file. The app consists of two components - the configuration utility and the service. The service is responsible for making the web requests and is launched at startup. You can use the configuration utility to adjust the settings as well as monitor what the service is doing.
The service will automatically dial your data connection when a web update is necessary, but it can also work via WiFi - although I don't see why you would use it via WiFi. It also supports websites that require Windows Authentication (Kerberos or NTLM should work, but do test it).
I think the app should be pretty self explanatory, but please do post if you have any questions or experience any problems.
FIY - the last error (if there is one) is stored in a log file located in:
Program Files\CellID Updater\cidlog.txt
Hope you like it!
EDIT: An update is available on the next page. I'm leaving this attachment as is just for reference purposes, but you should download the one on the next page.
CommMgrPro is creating a very big database automatically with operatorID-Cell/LAC-GPS coords sent (automatically) by the users (they can track their movements in realtime with googlemaps). Obviously GPS coords are only sent by GPS enabled devices. You can change the URL where the data is posted (HTTP GET) to point your site and I can give you a free license. Currently 3000 cells registed with gps coords and growing as the users moves....
Dani
newb5000 said:
Hi guys,
Apologies for the delay - I've been terribly busy.
I managed to create the app so it's ready for testing.
Attached is the cab file. The app consists of two components - the configuration utility and the service. The service is responsible for making the web requests and is launched at startup. You can use the configuration utility to adjust the settings as well as monitor what the service is doing.
The service will automatically dial your data connection when a web update is necessary, but it can also work via WiFi - although I don't see why you would use it via WiFi. It also supports websites that require Windows Authentication (Kerberos or NTLM should work, but do test it).
I think the app should be pretty self explanatory, but please do post if you have any questions or experience any problems.
FIY - the last error (if there is one) is stored in a log file located in:
Program Files\CellID Updater\cidlog.txt
Hope you like it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey all - my first post.
I must say, it's outstandingly honorable that you share your skills with us. So good.. (haven't installed the tool yet, hope it's no virus or tv-on/off-switcher)
One question @jmat: How do you process the cellid once it is http'd to your server? Is there a webservice that maps cell-ids to gps?
Frouk
frouk said:
I must say, it's outstandingly honorable that you share your skills with us. So good.. (haven't installed the tool yet, hope it's no virus or tv-on/off-switcher)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks and no, it's not a virus / trojan / <insert something bad here>
One thing I forgot to mention is that if the device goes into standby, the service will be "paused". Then, when the device comes out of standby, the service will resume where it left off. I'm not sure whether this is acceptable behaviour for the app, but I considered the alternative - preventing the device from going into standby will drain the battery very quickly. So you would choose when the service should send out updates by taking your device out of standby.
Another thing: you can configure how often the service checks for a new tower and whether it should send out an update if the tower is different or the same since the last check.
I'm still wondering how I can put this app to good use, personally. I don't have a home automation system and I don't need to be tracked by anyone at home. Any ideas on what other uses this app could have?
newb5000 said:
Thanks and no, it's not a virus / trojan / <insert something bad here>
One thing I forgot to mention is that if the device goes into standby, the service will be "paused". Then, when the device comes out of standby, the service will resume where it left off. I'm not sure whether this is acceptable behaviour for the app, but I considered the alternative - preventing the device from going into standby will drain the battery very quickly. So you would choose when the service should send out updates by taking your device out of standby.
Another thing: you can configure how often the service checks for a new tower and whether it should send out an update if the tower is different or the same since the last check.
I'm still wondering how I can put this app to good use, personally. I don't have a home automation system and I don't need to be tracked by anyone at home. Any ideas on what other uses this app could have?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The configuration is just perfect - that way one can decide when to update just by letting the device go to sleep or not. Another thing: am I right that this app will never be as accurate as Google maps "my location"? It uses triangular approximation with more than one cell-id, right? I experienced it to be very accurate, even being on the train it exactly locates my position, amazing.
I personally intend to use such kind of app for reality/virtuality games where website visitors can track something or someone on the web and then go outside into the real world and do something or meet someone.
But jmats' idea is also amazing.
Cell name
Years ago I had Ericsson R320 (BTW great phone). It showed cell name e.g. "city centre" on the screen besides op name. I dug up my eric from the closet and this option still works. It would be great to have this as a today plugin Do you know something like that?
Handy Use of App
newb5000 said:
I'm still wondering how I can put this app to good use, personally. I don't have a home automation system and I don't need to be tracked by anyone at home. Any ideas on what other uses this app could have?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe you could mount a web server in your home pc (pretty simple) and track your device if it gets lost or stolen... It would be nice to recover your $700dlls phone right.
Related
http://www.access-company.com/products/netfrontmobile/browser/35_wm_tp.html
Quite fast, easy navigation, good interface and amount of options.
Doesn't support plugins in it's current state though.
Sorry if this is old news (feel free to ridicule me etc.
I haven't seen it before. Have you tested it? I'm looking for something new as Opera doesn't seem to play well with my Wifi.
Hmmm not sure if I like this part tho:
6. Expiry of User License
You may use the Software from the date on which you install the Software to May 31th, 2008. Once this period has elapsed, you must completely delete the Software and, in the case where it has been stored in removable media, dispose of or erase it after rendering it unusable. Furthermore, the evaluation license granted to you hereunder will terminate in cases where you violate this Agreement or where ACCESS notifies you of the termination at its sole discretion, and also in that case, you shall carry out the deletion and disposal processes mentioned above.
mattarse said:
I haven't seen it before. Have you tested it? I'm looking for something new as Opera doesn't seem to play well with my Wifi.
Hmmm not sure if I like this part tho:
6. Expiry of User License
You may use the Software from the date on which you install the Software to May 31th, 2008. Once this period has elapsed, you must completely delete the Software and, in the case where it has been stored in removable media, dispose of or erase it after rendering it unusable. Furthermore, the evaluation license granted to you hereunder will terminate in cases where you violate this Agreement or where ACCESS notifies you of the termination at its sole discretion, and also in that case, you shall carry out the deletion and disposal processes mentioned above.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's a free beta of a not-so-free browser. Sure no one likes to pay but opera mobile isn't free either. I don't see how this is a bad thing.
And yeah, I have used it. Thus my comments in the initial post.
For some reason I misread your first post, thought you just found it.
Should have specified Opera Mini hasn't worked for me..
But you're right, if it works good, and the price isn't crazy, then paying isn't bad. Just from my first impression ofthe page it was a free product (just my perception) - then read the agreement and saw the date it will die off. Will go back and read the site again tho. Will install it either way later to test it out.
Cheers,
Matthew
I don't understand the business model of Access for their NetFront browser. The last commercially available version is still 3.3. The technical preview of version 3.4 has been out for ages now. Each time the time limit of the technical preview expires they issue an extended date.
Now we have the version 3.5 while version 3.4 is not even commercially available. I am sure that after 31st May they are going to extend the date again.
Nevertheless an excellent browser so far that I have played with it. I am eager for a commercial version primarily because of so many restrictions Access imposes on its technical preview versions for example no support for Flash.
Tried this and it looks promising. Anyone find that it hogs the CPU? The task manager shows it as running at 100% cpu use even when in the background causing other processes to run at a snails pace.
chaps said:
Tried this and it looks promising. Anyone find that it hogs the CPU? The task manager shows it as running at 100% cpu use even when in the background causing other processes to run at a snails pace.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I discovered the same thing. You definitely need to close it if you hope to do anything else on the phone.
Seems as if I also have stumbled upon the "CPU hog bug".
The first two times I ran this I didn't see it but then after a while my device turned utterly unresponsive and I had to reboot.
yup my phone barely let me open the task manager to close it and i installed it twice.
also when i went on bestbuy's website it kept refreshing the page constantly. maybe this was because i had flash player 7 installed.
I have to say out of all the browsers I've used this one is incredible! It is the only browser I've used that I can get to my banking website with. Once you get used to how it scrolls around it's as close to Safari that I've found. I'd definitely pay money come May, as long as it was reasonable of course.
As far as a resource hog I close the browser every time I'm done with that site so I haven't noticed that either.
Very sweet app, will do battle with Sherpa.
Similar app to Sherpa, BUT has Facbook intergrated!! Very nice UI and icons look awsome!!
Aloqa is a mobile service that proactively notifies you of interesting places, events, and Facebook friends near you. Instead of having to search, you can just look at your phone and see your favorite hotspots, friends, events of interest, and recommended bargains close by. Whenever You Want. Wherever You Are
VOTE FOR ALOQA "Best Location Based App": http://androidnetworkawards.com/
Link to office site:
http://www.aloqa.com/
Criket:
http://www.cyrket.com/package/com.aloqa.me.client_modules.android
and of course it can found on the Market
or
Here:
Yeah.. played around with it today so far. Its a pretty bad ass app!
Thanks for the heads up
I like sherpa better Aloqa looks too iphone-ish to me.
alritewhadeva said:
I like sherpa better Aloqa looks too iphone-ish to me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I always find it funny how people won't like an app because its or looks "iphoneish"... I could care less as long as its functional and does what I need and does it well who cares what it looks like, then again you do
Lakers3408 said:
I always find it funny how people won't like an app because its or looks "iphoneish"... I could care less as long as its functional and does what I need and does it well who cares what it looks like, then again you do
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol just personal opinion
Interesting read from Business Jounral:
Mobile search and information startup Aloqa GmbH and named Sanjeev Agrawal as its CEO.
Agrawal was previously global head of product marketing at Google Inc. and later vice president for products at TellMe Networks Inc., which was acquired by Microsoft Corp.
Aloqa said the funding came from Wellington Partners Venture Capital and angel investors. The company is based in Munich, Germany, and has its U.S. headquarters in Palo Alto.
The company has released a beta of its application for handsets that use Google's Android operating system. Users automatically get information on their mobile device about friends, events and local offers based on their location without having to launch a browser or search application.
"What appealed to us about Aloqa is its proprietary technology for tracking billions of moving and static objects without draining mobile handset batteries, without jamming cellular networks with extra data, and without creating user privacy concerns," said Ram Srinivasan, managing partner of Wellington's Palo Alto office. "The mobile app springs into action only when two or more objects come meaningfully close to each other."
So its safe to say that we should expect great things to come from Aloqa. I hope
Aloqa seems to focus on providing notifications to things around you in a new way while Sherpa seems to want to learn where like to go and what you like to do in a new way. Both are location suggetion apps. They both have their shortfalls early on. It will be interesting to see how these two mature.
I just Downloaded this app, and it's taking FOREVER to configure...should I just stick with Google Place Directory/Sherpa?
Personally I really like the app. You can add and remove things from it and its really slick. I like how it shows things in button format opposed to having things all over the place.
shotad said:
I just Downloaded this app, and it's taking FOREVER to configure...should I just stick with Google Place Directory/Sherpa?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Whats taking you forever to do? Just start it and pick what you want. I had it up and running in less than 30seconds. Of course if you want to add and remove channels that takes a few minutes, but I left everything in a default state.
underamoon said:
Aloqa seems to focus on providing notifications to things around you in a new way while Sherpa seems to want to learn where like to go and what you like to do in a new way. Both are location suggetion apps. They both have their shortfalls early on. It will be interesting to see how these two mature.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very true, it will be interesting to see if Aloqa jumps on the "Adaptive Learning" aspect of what makes Sherpa unique. After all Aloqa is only a beta version.
kizer said:
Whats taking you forever to do? Just start it and pick what you want. I had it up and running in less than 30seconds. Of course if you want to add and remove channels that takes a few minutes, but I left everything in a default state.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i started it, picked up my location, and now it's stuck in "Thank you. We are now configuring Aloqa for you. 'Found your location. Connecting...'". and its just stuck there...
kizer said:
Personally I really like the app. You can add and remove things from it and its really slick. I like how it shows things in button format opposed to having things all over the place.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly I really like it as well, if I would rate Aloqa vs. Sherpa on a scale of 1 to 10
Aloqa = 8
Sherpa = 6
You can customize it to what your into, for example
If you hate burger king, remove it. If you love Coffee add it.
By default a McDonalds tab shows, I removed it and added the FastFood tab which includeds McDonalds and others (KFC, BK, PizzaHut, Subway, Wendy's, Taco Bell, Carls and In-n-Out)
Even has a weather tab (pretty cool)
shotad said:
i started it, picked up my location, and now it's stuck in "Thank you. We are now configuring Aloqa for you. 'Found your location. Connecting...'". and its just stuck there...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If on 2g or 3g it will take a LOOOOOONG time.... I switched to wifi and it connected in a matter of seconds!
Use wifi for the initial set-up after that use 2g 3g 6g or what ever it will work without a problem.
Lakers3408 said:
If on 2g or 3g it will take a LOOOOOONG time.... I switched to wifi and it connected in a matter of seconds!
Use wifi for the initial set-up after that use 2g 3g 6g or what ever it will work without a problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok, so I should just wait ntil I get home and set this up...cuz this is ridiculous...still configuring!
Lakers3408 said:
If on 2g or 3g it will take a LOOOOOONG time.... I switched to wifi and it connected in a matter of seconds!
Use wifi for the initial set-up after that use 2g 3g 6g or what ever it will work without a problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you know, i've been having some hard time connecting to my WiFi, it does connect, but I get NO signal...i'm running Cyanogen ROM, did the fix_permissions and did not fix, wiped and did not fix this problem...anythign else i'm missing?
great app i will use both sherpa and aloqa. aloqa on wifi took about 2.343 seconds to setup. thanks again for this recommendation as i wouldve never know about either apps
How to set-up Facebook app thru Aloqa
After you register your Aloqa app, you need to complete the Facebook part of the registration here:
http://buzz.aloqa.com/AloqaBuzz-war/welcomeGWT.html
Sign in to your Facebook account from the website then click on Activate.
Are you in some way associated with this app. Just a curious question since it seems that you have gone above and beyond normal fanboyism in your thread regarding this app. No offense intended here, just curious Personally I find that Sherpa misses a lot of places, and while Places Directory seems to get the places that Sherpa misses, it also seems to miss quite a few places too... (often the places that Sherpa gets ) So if this new app can combine the two in terms of what it finds.... that would be great. Will see what happens
I think this is much better than Sherpa...though I believe with Sherpa...it will remember what you search...but who really searches for ATM's and Starbucks and forget?
While waiting this morning on something, I sketched up a tool to quickly mark spots you're at. Unlike regular GPS loggers, it just tags and saves locations (I frequently need something like this on bike tours).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tjq9WiGEuGA (outdated)
http://social.zune.net/redirect?type=phoneApp&id=ee9c5dae-9fea-df11-9264-00237de2db9e
Tom Servo said:
While waiting this morning on something, I sketched up a tool to quickly mark spots you're at. Unlike regular GPS loggers, it just tags and saves locations (I frequently need something like this on bike tours).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tjq9WiGEuGA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looks good. May I suggest enabling the correction features on the keyboard in the Name textbox. (Change the InputScope property)
Sure, why not.
Looks pretty handy.
Is there a way to get directions to the saved spot in bing maps?
Not sure. Trying to invoke the installed Bing Maps with a target location isn't something I thought of or know if it's possible (I figure it should be).
Added some functionality. And I figured, why not put that silly EOS 550D of mine to use, instead of capturing the emulator. Praise my girly hands.
http://youtu.be/mpUQUWRyyJs
Marketplace has already v1.0, without description field and photos.
Giving it another look. Hitting the marketplace soon.
Old 'n' Busted!
Pro-Click Zone
New Hotness!
Pro-Click Zone
Looks really nice and useful.
What methods are there for exporting that data? Sharing via e-mail? SMS? Would be nice if it could also be exported directly to Bing Maps (My Places) or Google Maps (Starred), if even possible. Or even if you could import locations from those services.
Also, is saving locations based on GPS only? Or can you manually input and specify the location on a map (I suppose it'd be like dragging and dropping a pin on a map and saving that location)?
-sigh- if only all Windows Phone 7 developers could do UI like you seem to be capable of doing.
I haven't thought much of exporting yet, altho I have something on my mind. I figure exporting all of it in a KML via e-mail might be an idea, but if there are a lot of photos, it'd end up in a huge package, tho.
Locations are purely GPS based right now.
Hi. This looks nice. Shame there's no trial though. Does it use Bing maps for the map images or Google maps (or another service)?
Thanks
Bing maps. I could make it use a different tile source, but I'm not sure how Google feels about it, since it's against their ToS.
Just bought this app, not sure what I'll use it for but it looks great!
The update with the prettified UI has been submitted since a few days and is in testing apparently, but nothing happened as of now. The other versions passed testing rather quickly, this is mostly an UI update only, not sure why it's stuck in limbo.
Submitted an update today, probably available in a day or two.
Added a trial mode, allowing marking up to 5 spots. Added an options dialog to change GPS behaviour in background as well as changing distance units (kinda required, since it was Meters up until now and I sold the most to the US). And pinpoints in the full map are clickable now.
Version 1.4:
- Does resolve coordinates to addresses using the Bing SOAP webservice now. Happens retroactively on existing spots.
- Ability to send your current location to someone else via SMS and E-mail. Retrieves the actual address if the GPS accuracy becomes better than 150m. Adds a Google Maps link to the message pointing to the coordinates.
- Can also send stored locations, but formats them like current location messages thanks to late night coding dizzyness.
http://social.zune.net/redirect?type=phoneApp&id=ee9c5dae-9fea-df11-9264-00237de2db9e
Version 1.5:
- Can choose now, what service to use to create map links in SMS/E-mails (Bing, Google, OSM). Note: Bing doesn't have a mobile map site. If the receiving mobile gets a Bing link and identifies as smartphone to the website, Bing will mess it up and show a search site.
- Can save photos to the pictures hub now.
- Alternative coordinate formats. DMS, UTM and MGRS (both military). North and south poles aren't covered in the military ones. Examples:
Regular/Decimal: 50.71625 - 6.01385
DMS (Degrees, Minutes, Seconds): 50°42'59"N 6°00'50"E
UTM: 32 U 289206 5622525
MGRS: 32UKB8920622525
Version 1.6 somewhen in a few weeks will limit sending adhoc locations. Currently, it's unlimited in trial.
1.6 is out. It was held up a long time with certification not pleased with the privacy policies I kept writing up, after being required one out of the blue.
Anyway:
- Distance math is fixed. It was off by half, no one apart two people seemed to have noticed.
- Option to add photos from the phone' library to locations as option in the menu roll-up.
Upcoming:
- Google and OSM image data as alternative options. (Works already)
- Custom pinpointing of a location on a map.
Hi,
I've been looking thru the net, however couldn't find anything useful for what i'm trying to do:
Consider this scenario: You're in and out of your homeland (ie. roaming often), and there are certain things that would make life easier, if there was network access despite roaming.
However, allowing data access system wide will create a bit of an issue in this case. Imagine you're abroad for a few days, and you just HAVE to check that one email account that's important. So you turn on the data-while-roaming switch and...VROOOOOOM... 20 applications urgently MUST have their updates right then and there, no questions asked. Also all unimportant email accounts come running to check whatever spam they can gather from the server. You get the picture.
So the idea is: I'd like to set per-application permissions for allowing data access while roaming. Meaning, i can leave my trusty data-while-roaming switch turned on all time, because any application i have installed must first be allowed to access the network.
I can imagine, this would firstly save the expensive bandwidth, and secondly also save battery power.
The question is: Is there any application out there that lets me do this? I know it sounds like an ordinary firewall, but the distinction between roaming/non-roaming is the essential one.
If i had to write it in pseudo-code, i'd probably go for something like
Code:
OnApplicationNetworkAccess
{
if(datamode == roaming && applicationpermission = onlinewhileroaming)
allowNetworkAccess();
else
blockNetworkAccess();
}
Has anyone ever seen anything like this?
Yes there is, 'droidwall' in the market. SGS has to be rooted though.
It allows to block per app, per 3G & Wifi. Only thing it doesn't do automatically is become active when roaming, you'll have to press one button for that...
Hi everybody, I would like to make a list of those features that lacks on windows phone, even if we are only at very early stages, maybe with the arrive of unlocks some of them could be added, in future..If you have any suggestions I can edit the list
P.S. I consider the GDR3 improvements alredy achieved (like a decent task manager, FM radio..)
-A FILE MANAGER
(yeah, I know that on the market already exists something, but they are definetly FAR from a real file manager. Anyway nokia/microsoft said that in the next months would come out http://www.tuttowindowsphone.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/nokia-lumia-file-manager.jpg , we will see..)
-FLASH PLAYER
(on windows RT exists and works, as in future the WP8 kernel would be almost the same of WinRT, probably we will se it..or at least I hope so)
-LIVE TILE TOOGLE
(Right now we have only shortcuts to settings, would be more useful if the live tile would act directly as a toogle. Maybe someone will give it an attempt :fingers-crossed: )
-A NOTIFICATION LED
(some phones does have the windows logo acting as a led, BUT it works only to notify some battery status (a bit useless..). If it should be used as a proper notification led would be amazing..or at least the camera flashlight could be used for that (ok, this is a desperate suggestion LoL)
-COSTUMIZABLE RINGTONES AND ALERTS RELATED TO THE APP
(A different sound for whatsapp, sms and e-mail. I personally use the phone at 90% in vibration/silent mode, But I know that it could be useful)
-A CUSTOMIZABLE LOCKSCREEN
(I mean lock-patterns and some other useful features..I mean, windows phone 8 lockscreen can be used better, you know..)
-A QUICK WAY TO MANUALLY ADJUST SCREEN BRIGHTNESS
Sometimes the Authomatic sensors don't work well and is necessary to switch the brightness manually.
-A BETTER PUSH NOTIFICATIONS MANAGEMENT (thank's to @Life'sGood for reporting and to @GoodDayToDie for explainations)
Sometimes are delayed
This really belongs in General; it is neither a question (or answer) nor related to troubleshooting.
With that said...
The only thing really standing in the way of an on-device file browser is the need for somebody to write it, but that doesn't mean it'll be worth much to do so right now; until I or somebody else gets more permissions working (ideally, all of them), the amount of the file system which is readable (never mind writable) is extremely small from an app's perspective. To get an idea of what I mean, take a look at my Webserver Native Access app - the all-capabilities version, if you have a Samsung phone - and see for yourself just how little of the system is accessible.
Even completely leaving aside the permissions issue (ha!), Flash player support is somewhat unlikely. First of all, it struggles a little even on the Surface RT, which has nearly twice the CPU power of any WP8 model right now (GDR3 opens the path for quad-core WP devices, but they aren't here yet). Second, the kernel may be the same but the user-space libraries are not; a lot of system components that Flashplayer depends on are probably missing from WP8.
Believe me, such toggles have been attempted, and they will go on being attempted. It'll happen eventually...
Some phones actually have a notification LED, even. There are (unofficial) APIs that could probably be used to control it, too... I wouldn't hold your breath on this one, though. In any case, you won't get colors unless there's actual multiple color elements there to work with; the best you could di is different flash/fade patterns.
Update 3 (GDR3) brings some additional controls over notifications. However, I believe you're right that they still don't offer per-app sounds (though you can set the sound for apps, as a class, I think).
Lock patterns are pretty darn weak and easy to break, but in general I agree with the concept of having more control over the lock screen, and additional features.
Not a problem that I've had, but I can see how it could be. This probably falls under the toggle tiles request, actually; have the ability to create tiles that increase or decrese the brightness.
Sorry for the bad section, I was looking at the same moment at general section and at Q&A and I chose the wrong browser tab, my fault (don't know how to change section)
Anyway thank you for the reply I think that the main problem for indipendent developers is time, because every 18 months windows stops the support on the actual OS and switches to another new (WP8 support is planned to be killed in july 2014, after that it will be an update to extend "phone life" of 6 months, in total: 2 years). After that date will come out another OS but nobody knows if it will be "similar" to WP8 or something totally different (probably the latter option)..and everything probably would start from the scratch. I think that all the OSs producers are making BIG efforts to make you change phones after exately two years LoL
P.S. When I talk about brightness control, I can't figure out how a live tile could directly make it (swiping on it?), it can only turn on/off. My idea was that could be useful something like a swipe on the status bar on the top of the screen, like cyanogenmod does (I don't want to compare android to windows because they are totally a different concept, so I generally don't want to mention functions present in other OSs that could be ported, IMHO it's quite useless thinking in this way.) but I suppose that this is quite impossible on a programmative side :s
You'd have two (small) tiles for brightness control, one to increase and the other to decrease. It would be a little messy and would need to go in significant steps, but it's possible.
I think it's not a bad idea I've just found out that on offical WP8 site exists a section dedicated at suggestions about features to add to windows phone, and many pepole voted on that site..but Microsoft NEVER listened to them LoL probably the task manager improvement in GDR3 will be the first feature accepted by Microsoft from that lists. Anyway the requests on the officiale site are quite the same on my post (file manager is STRONGLY requested)..nobody is asking for flash player or for led notification (quite strange IMHO but that's it).
P.s. any idea about how to reach bootloader (I'm talking about ativ s)? I suppose that with a simple boot is impossible, even pressing a combination of buttons will not work..
There have been multiple items implemented from uservoice, although the custom SMS tones and application closing are certainly notable for having been long-requested and taking until now to be provided.
No idea on the bootloader. I haven't been looking for it in particular, though; not my area of interest.
Technically, you can implement a media stream source to support flash (i believe there is one already on the interwebz).
However, flash is really not meant for mobile devices (which is why very few mobile OSes support flash out of the box), because it wasn't intended to be used on devices with such low computing power. So even if you were to have a flash player, you wouldn't be able to do much with it until your battery drops dead or your phone starts turning into plastic(or aluminum in some cases) soup.
There is also an increasing abuse of flash advertisement all over the internet (which is bad from many points of view), which hurt mobile internet browsing quite a lot on devices with flash support. I just wish google & adobe would stop supporting this dark ages format and move on to HTML 5
Yeah but..just to make a famous example, look at youtube. Many videos are locked down for mobile devices. Combining a flash player and a browser that supports desktop as user agent, you can go beyond this limit. Ok, the result is that it works quite bad, but at least it works..
gigsaw said:
Yeah but..just to make a famous example, look at youtube. Many videos are locked down for mobile devices. Combining a flash player and a browser that supports desktop as user agent, you can go beyond this limit. Ok, the result is that it works quite bad, but at least it works..
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Click to collapse
I don't think that the format (flash) is the problem here, you can always watch these videos with an unofficial app, like Metrotube or Tunetube. And I doubt they use some kind of flash player, it's just not allowed on mobile devices by the uploader/youtube I think.
To the OP, what do you mean with "features that lacks in Windows phone 8", something MS should fix or hackers should provide as features? Because a file manager would completely be against windows phone's locked OS, every app is sandboxed and can't access other app's storage, which has its reasons for security. A file manager will never be possible, except for th case they change the whole OS. On iOS, it's pretty much the same, and with a jailbreak you get a file manager (if you want to). And you can brick the whole system, can make apps crash or even modify them, which would cause a lot of trouble for Microsoft.
I have to try those unofficial apps, I've never considered to use them Regarding the lacking of features I mean that with a system well locked down like WP8 is, I think that microsoft should put more effort to provide some features that nowdays are considered basic (you know, a notification led is useful and doesn't require any particular effort from microsoft or manufacters. Even (real) toogglers are essential but they are not in here..don't know why ) Of course I understand that not all the features can be provided by microsoft due to security reasons, and here comes developers' work
P.S. regarding file manager I suppose that, if it will would ever come out, would have been thanks to developers, but as I said in OP, nokia probably would provide it. Don't know if it's true, but let's see what comes next! Some hours ago at Abu Dhabi, at lumia phablet presentation, came encouraging signals to encrease the number of the apps for windows phone. Ok, it doesn't mean anything and Personally I don't use instagram but more apps means more people that will adopt WP8..and more people will call more developers (hopefully) and micosoft ecosystem would finally start (even if there's to solve the "problem" of Windows RT/Windows Phone, first).
As you said even iOS is closed-source but (even if I don't like making comparisons between OSs because they aren't meant to work in the same way) I think that the interest in that platfom made possible to create the powerful mobile substrate, to make even heavy modifications to the system.
But even without moddings, I mean..iOS now has quite al the essential features that a phone requires (quick and real toogglers, a camera flash that tries to act as a notification led..ok, not a file manager but it has a download folder, a quite "useful" lockscreen, battery percentage..), so IMHO is quite usable out of the box because apple now provides many of the basic features expected to be on a phone. So I think that for apple devices jailbreaking is not as necessary as was in the past. WP8 on the contrary strongly needs a jailbreak because is not a fully mature OS..
ANOTHER FEATURE THAT LACKS (IMHO): the new versions of office are not as useful as office 2010 in windows mobile. Who remembers WM, office 2010 was so similar at the desktop version (even fonts could be changed and added!!!)..but since then, the most part of features disappeared, so office mobile stopped being as useful as it was before for business people nobody will care about that (developers can't do anything for this, and microsoft will never provide those features..but I miss it. So I didn't put this in the list because it's more a "personal" thing.
And I was thinking that even a windows phone with the stylus would be useful especially with one note, that on PCs and tablets is ready to be used with a stylus and I found this fantastic. But even this is a "personal" desire that will never come LoL
::facepalm::
snickler said:
::facepalm::
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why? I don't think I'm that wrong, there's no real possibility to have a fully featured file manager on WP, is it?
th0mas96 said:
Why? I don't think I'm that wrong, there's no real possibility to have a fully featured file manager on WP, is it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In my inner eyes i see next user/professional developer asking if there was a patch to adjust screen brightness to personal needs in more than just the dictated three steps.
Answer: Buy an other phone or program your own OS.
A very simple feature is missing, App update notifications from Store.
WP8 now doesn't seems to be telling me when the apps on my phone has been updated unless I went to look for them. Its only then that the tile shows 1 update available. HELLO???!!!
So that means I have to list out the apps I've downloaded and look for each and every single one of their updates?
How can Microsoft and OP miss this one out?
And my clock isn't synced even if I set it to auto, sometimes it jumps AM/PM or even months!
Life'sGood said:
A very simple feature is missing, App update notifications from Store.
WP8 now doesn't seems to be telling me when the apps on my phone has been updated unless I went to look for them. Its only then that the tile shows 1 update available. HELLO???!!!
So that means I have to list out the apps I've downloaded and look for each and every single one of their updates?
How can Microsoft and OP miss this one out?
And my clock isn't synced even if I set it to auto, sometimes it jumps AM/PM or even months!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Added in OP
@Life'sGood and @gigsaw: That's a problem with your phone, not the OS as a whole. I guarantee you that WP8 fully supports app update notifications and clock sync. If yours doesn't, that's a problem with your phone, specifically. Blaming Microsoft for it is nonsense and won't help you fix the problem.
Now, as for fixing the problem... do you have an active SIM card in the phone? If so, does it have a data connection? That's most logical reason I can think of for the app update notifications to not appear; no connectivity when the phone tries to check. The clock can sync off the towers as well (also needs a SIM, I suspect) but it can also sync off GPS satellites (which have extraordinarily accurate clocks, and broadcast time signals that anything with a GPS receiver can pick up even if it can't get an accurate locations fix).
The most likely solution, honestly, is to hard-reset your phone. You might want to call support or take the phone in to a Microsoft store or something first, though; hard-reset will wipe the data (though that's most likely what they'll tell you to do anyhow).
GoodDayToDie said:
@Life'sGood and @gigsaw: That's a problem with your phone, not the OS as a whole. I guarantee you that WP8 fully supports app update notifications and clock sync. If yours doesn't, that's a problem with your phone, specifically. Blaming Microsoft for it is nonsense and won't help you fix the problem.
Now, as for fixing the problem... do you have an active SIM card in the phone? If so, does it have a data connection? That's most logical reason I can think of for the app update notifications to not appear; no connectivity when the phone tries to check. The clock can sync off the towers as well (also needs a SIM, I suspect) but it can also sync off GPS satellites (which have extraordinarily accurate clocks, and broadcast time signals that anything with a GPS receiver can pick up even if it can't get an accurate locations fix).
The most likely solution, honestly, is to hard-reset your phone. You might want to call support or take the phone in to a Microsoft store or something first, though; hard-reset will wipe the data (though that's most likely what they'll tell you to do anyhow).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please let me explain why I though it was microsoft's fault: I had an WP7 with a different SIM (but same phone number) and those problems were there for almost Every app I had to update and clock often changed hour. After that I had an Android, at least with date and time no problem..with store of course I can't say after a year of android I switched back to WP8 and the market/time problems happened only a couple of times..but I thought that was something wrong in my phone because here on xda nobody has never talked about it. But I notoced that even whatsapp sometimes misses or delays some notifications with wp8 (with android never happened), and, at least in my country, this is a common problem with many users that complain abouth that, so at least for whatsapp I'm sure it's not my problem. I contacted the support of whatsapp and they said to me, if I remember well, that whatsapp notifications pass trough Microsoft servers, so in their opinion the fault of this problem was microsoft's. So I was thinking that even the other problems are related with Microsoft server's sync..so when another user said to have almost same problem As mine (but As I said, with WP8 happened to me only a couple of times, I don't know if other user has those problems more often), I convinced myself about my theory LoL of course I can imagine I am totally wrong because I don't know how those syncs works and if they work alla in the same way..what do you think about it? Before re-editing the OP I wanted to explain to you the whole situaton because you have for sure better knowledge about that
Push notifications for apps are completely different from update notifications. The latter are polled for, by the OS, at pre-determined times and without the app in question being involved at all; you'll get the update notifications even if you've never run it.
That said, push notifications on WP (7 or 8) are not as quick or reliable as on Android, it's true. The battery impact of push-using apps is lower, though.
Thank's, anyway I will hard reset my device. I have just realized right now that if the glance screen could be ported in future on other devices, a led notification becomes useless (of course, I don't know what is the battery impact on an AMOLED screen..and it's VERY important)
GoodDayToDie said:
@Life'sGood and @gigsaw: That's a problem with your phone, not the OS as a whole. I guarantee you that WP8 fully supports app update notifications and clock sync. If yours doesn't, that's a problem with your phone, specifically. Blaming Microsoft for it is nonsense and won't help you fix the problem.
Now, as for fixing the problem... do you have an active SIM card in the phone? If so, does it have a data connection? That's most logical reason I can think of for the app update notifications to not appear; no connectivity when the phone tries to check. The clock can sync off the towers as well (also needs a SIM, I suspect) but it can also sync off GPS satellites (which have extraordinarily accurate clocks, and broadcast time signals that anything with a GPS receiver can pick up even if it can't get an accurate locations fix).
The most likely solution, honestly, is to hard-reset your phone. You might want to call support or take the phone in to a Microsoft store or something first, though; hard-reset will wipe the data (though that's most likely what they'll tell you to do anyhow).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
afaik i'm not seeing these features. I did a hard reset but I've yet to see the Nokia Camera, network+ (call filter) update.
I googled and found out this is a system wide issue with almost everybody having this issue. So does a half f'ed apple still counted as an apple?
App update notification this feature is simply not available.
I have a SIM and data connection for my 1020, on Wifi most of the time. Clock doesn't sync at all neither.