For Developing Location based reminder app,which one is good Google Map or Nokia map

[Rahul More]

I am developing GPS based Location reminder in j2me. I am little bit confuse to which maps should i use??.....Google maps & Nokia maps. Which one is better in order to support my following app processes....

The working of my app are as follows :-

-User will provide a string to app to search a place of his/her desire.

-Then according to given string app will show a place on map by pointing marker on map.

-User can save that place or he/she can select a near by place rather than searched place by clicking on map or any other way.

-app will save that searched place coordinates & remind when it reached to near that place.

-When app remind to user about already stored place... that place should show on map by pointing an marker along with the how far he is from his destination.

[petrib]

-app will save that searched place coordinates & remind when it reached to near that place.

Note that the marked text (above) requires a few things for a Java app, which depending on the platform might be difficult or impossible. Such things are, at least:

- you must be able to automatically start the app at boot time (if the MIDlet is not running, it very well cannot monitor the location and notify you when you get close to locations where it should be notifying you)

- the application must be able run in the background (assuming you'd intend the user to be able to do something else with their phone than just keeping your MIDlet in the foreground)

- you may have to set up also a separate "watchdog" to relaunch your app, if it is closed for some reason or another without rebooting the phone

- or the operating system the MIDlet runs on, must allow for setting up an alert/alarm/notification or something that can wake up your MIDlet when required

- constant GPS coordinate polling will consume battery power more than the phone user probably would wish for

Without the above features, the app will not be very useful (the user would always have to remember to start it manually, and it has to be running in the foreground for it to detect the location).

I'd say, that you can write such an app for Symbian/S60 based Nokia phones, but possibly not entirely using Java (autostarting might be an issue, as well as the watchdog service process where you'd probably would have to write the code using C++, instead). Battery consumption would still be an issue.

[Rahul More]

Note that the marked text (above) requires a few things for a Java app, which depending on the platform might be difficult or impossible. Such things are, at least:

- you must be able to automatically start the app at boot time (if the MIDlet is not running, it very well cannot monitor the location and notify you when you get close to locations where it should be notifying you)

- the application must be able run in the background (assuming you'd intend the user to be able to do something else with their phone than just keeping your MIDlet in the foreground)

- you may have to set up also a separate "watchdog" to relaunch your app, if it is closed for some reason or another without rebooting the phone

- or the operating system the MIDlet runs on, must allow for setting up an alert/alarm/notification or something that can wake up your MIDlet when required

- constant GPS coordinate polling will consume battery power more than the phone user probably would wish for

Without the above features, the app will not be very useful (the user would always have to remember to start it manually, and it has to be running in the foreground for it to detect the location).

I'd say, that you can write such an app for Symbian/S60 based Nokia phones, but possibly not entirely using Java (autostarting might be an issue, as well as the watchdog service process where you'd probably would have to write the code using C++, instead). Battery consumption would still be an issue.

@petrib : Hello sir,
OK I understood what you want to say sir.... but there in no other way to incorporate whatever criteria you said in my app... because I already put a lot off efforts in that.... and Now I cant take my step back. This is my final year research based project & I have to do this.

But sir... you still not said which one is good for this app.... Google map or Nokia map?

Thanks,
Rahul

[im2amit]

Without the above features, the app will not be very useful (the user would always have to remember to start it manually, and it has to be running in the foreground for it to detect the location).

Hence I would recommend to make this - a navigation app - which user can be assumed to be using (in foreground), while travelling.

Or see if buy this map - you mark these places as favorites - in device default nokia maps, here or Nokia drive app.... using some nokia maps web API's..... and rest is done with the default navigation map on the device.