location based app for Nokia phones

[mukesh.k]

I have to develop a location based app for a restaurant chain (India). They expect features like google maps where in user should be able to
- see the distance and route from his current location to the chosen restaurant (out of the map). Current location will be detected by GPS
- see the route in text view as well.
- search nearby ATMs, coffee shops etc

Above feature is meant for GPS based devices only.

I thought of using Java ME location api but it will give me only co-ordinates. I guess I'd need some map provider who can give rich maps (as google).

Please suggest

1) is it feasible at all?
2) yes, what are location APIs available to develop such services?
3) specifically, can I use google maps in my app?


thanks

[Tiger79]

1) could be feasible, but not easy
2) from MIDP there aren't any API's which will help you with the maps, you just have the JSR-179 API to get the gps position
3)google maps only has it's static maps which are usable for J2ME. They also offer some basic navigation functionality but nothing really good...

Personally I would look around for other map api's from 3rd party's. Because of your employer you might even have a budget for paying for such an API ? Building something like that yourself will take a lot of time, thus will cost a lot...
My personal advice would be : drop J2ME, go for Android or iPhone, both have integrated Google Maps and API's to access that functionality...

[im2amit]

You can try OVI maps also.

[mukesh.k]

can I integrate OVI map in J2ME app?

[mukesh.k]

can I integrate OVI maps in a J2ME or Symbian app?

[mukesh.k]

thanks Amit - this pointer looks promising! Just looking now, if its possible to integrate OVI maps in J2ME/Symbian apps. Please do let me know if you have any suggestion on this.

[Tiger79]

afaik you actually can't, or at least not in J2ME, there is no API for that... But I'll let Amit respond, he might have other info, I guess there was a reason why he mentioned OVI Maps and J2ME...