Google Offers A Geolocation API For Gears
Google Offers A Geolocation API For Gears (But It Only Works On Windows Mobile)
After hinting that it would do so last June, Google’s mobile team has released a Geolocation API for Google Gears. This works both on mobile phones and laptops running Gears, but developers will find it most useful for mobile applications. Unfortunately, they will be limited in that regard because Google Gears Mobile still only works on Windows Mobile phones, even though an Android phone is about to launch. (Maybe now that a new Android SDK is out, the mobile team can finally figure out how to make Gears work on Android too).
Google figured out how to find a mobile phone’s location for its own mobile apps, such as Google Maps, and is now opening that technology up as an API to outside developers. Two UK-based mobile startups—Rummble and lastminute— have already built the API into their services
These two apps make use of the Gears Geolocation API. The API can determine your location using nearby cell-towers or GPS for your mobile device or your computer’s IP address for your laptop. Google provides this service for free to both developers and users.
Gears is available on IE Mobile on mobile and Internet Explorer and Firefox on desktop. To use the location-enabled lastminute.com and Rummble web apps you will need a Windows Mobile device that supports GPS or cell-id lookup (for example the Samsung Blackjack II and HTC Touch Dual, see supported devices FAQ). We are working hard to bring Gears to more mobile platforms, such as Android and others.
There is also more detailed information on the API on the Google Code blog.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Skype Founders Settle With eBay And Others, Get 14% Stake In Skype, Not 10%
Credit Crunch Could Prove Costly for Boeing
Verizon Zapped: Must Inspect Every N.Y. FiOS Installation For Unsafe Wiring
Comments
No comments yet.
Leave a comment