Creating Location-Aware Applications for Windows Mobile Devices

Maarten StruysWindows Mobile EvangelistAlten-PTSWMB301

Agenda

IntroductionRetrieving Location Information

Making use of Cell TowersMaking use of IP AddressMaking use of GPS

Developing Location-Aware applicationsWeb Services, Location, Windows Mobile and you

Conclusion

IntroductionLocation-Aware Applications

Technology offers a huge potentialAll about Positioning and Content

More than drawing maps inside applications

Navigation softwareLocalized news, weather, traffic, sportsDevice can tell others where it is

Tracking people or carsSocial Networking

IntroductionLocation and Windows Mobile

Most Windows Mobile Devices are phonesUse Cell Tower information for fast location fetch

Make use of existing lookup functionality

Most Windows Mobile Devices have WIFIUse access point for accurate, fast location fetch

Make use of Geo IP lookup services

More devices ship with built-in GPS hardwareUse GPS Intermediate Driver to retrieve locations

Managed wrappers available in Windows Mobile SDKs

Location RetrievalCell Tower

Fast but relatively inaccurate Location FetchAccuracy higher in densely populated areas

Works if there is phone coverageRetrieve Cell Tower Information through RIL

RIL_Initialize(); RIL_Deinitialize();RIL_CellTowerLookup();

Pass Cell Tower Information to a Lookup Servicehttp://www.codeproject.com/KB/mobile/DeepCast.aspxby “Acoustic”

Retrieving Location Using Cell Towerdemo

Location RetrievalIP Address Lookup

Fast and reasonably accurate Location FetchAccuracy higher in densely populated areas

Works if there is Wifi coveragePass IP number to a Lookup Service

Retrieving Location Using IP Numberdemo

Location RetrievalGPS

Initial reading might be slow but very accurate Location FetchDoes not work well (if at all) inside buildingsLocation information available without additional lookup servicesEasy access through GPS Intermediate Driver

Windows Mobile 5 and Windows Mobile 6

Location RetrievalGPS Intermediate Driver

Allows “high level” access of the GPS Hardware by using the “parsed API”

No need to parse NMEA strings yourselfFor applications, the GPS Intermediate Driver looks like the physical GPS hardwareFor the GPS hardware, the GPS Intermediate Driver is the single client using itLocation changes will be delivered event driven on a separate thread

Location RetrievalGPSID and Managed Applications

Microsoft.WindowsMobile.Samples.Location

Location RetrievalTesting GPS readings with FakeGPS

Allows testing location aware applications without having GPS hardware on the deviceAlso ideal for poor satellite receptionRequires no changes to your applicationFakes data received by the GPS APIs\Program Files\FakeGPS\GPSFiles

Contains NMEA dataYou can record your own NMEA data

Receiving Location through GPSdemo

Location Aware ApplicationsMake them independent of Location Retrieval

Different Location Retrieval methods have different accuraciesThe easiest to in your application is abstracting location retrieval

Use a Class FactoryRetrieve Location readings through an InterfaceApplication is only interested in Lat/Long readings, not where they come from

Location Aware ApplicationsDifferent categories of applications

Line-of-Business ApplicationsFleet tracking + Route planning

Device publishes its location

Consumer ApplicationsOften a Collaboration between the Cloud & DeviceSmart Client Application (e.g., pictures + location)Location Aware bloggingSocial NetworkingFinding Friends

Location Aware ApplicationsSample Applications

Live Search MobileGoogle MapsUpdate Twitter Status and automatically add location (+ optional link to a map)Share information with friends through Fire EagleAll kinds of Windows Live Services

Virtual Earth alone has lots of different services

Sample: Updating Twitter Status

string user = Convert.ToBase64String(System.Text.Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes (Properties.Resources.TwitterUserName + ":" + Properties.Resources.TwitterPassword));StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder("status=");sb.Append(locationInfo);if (additionalInfo != string.Empty){ sb.Append(" - "); sb.Append(additionalInfo);}byte[] data = Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes(sb.ToString());

HttpWebRequest request = (HttpWebRequest)WebRequest.Create(TwitterStatusUpdateURI);request.Method = "POST";request.Headers.Add("Authorization", "Basic " + user);request.ContentType = "application/x-www-form-urlencoded";request.ContentLength = data.Length;Stream reqStream = request.GetRequestStream();reqStream.Write(data, 0, data.Length);reqStream.Close();

Location Aware ApplicationsRetrieving Maps through Virtual Earth

Imagery ServiceMaps & Imagery for Mobile Devices

Search ServiceQueries to find keywords or locations

Geocode ServiceAddress to LatLong and LatLong to Address

Route ServiceGet directions and traffic info

Sample: Displaying VE Maps

public Image GetMap(double latitude, double longitude){ // Set the location of the requested image mapUriRequest.Center = new VEImageryService.Location(); mapUriRequest.Center.Latitude = latitude; mapUriRequest.Center.Longitude = longitude; mapUriRequest.Center.LongitudeSpecified = true; mapUriRequest.Center.LatitudeSpecified = true;

// Retrieve a map (jpg) through a URL, provided by Virtual Earth MapUriResponse mapUriResponse = imageryService.GetMapUri(mapUriRequest); HttpWebRequest request = (HttpWebRequest)WebRequest.Create(mapUriResponse.Uri); HttpWebResponse response = (HttpWebResponse)request.GetResponse();

Image img = new Bitmap(response.GetResponseStream()); response.Close();

return img;}

Location Aware ApplicationsRetrieving information through Live Search

Consistent Web Service to retrieve all kinds of information

MobileWebAdvertisementsImagesPhoneBook

Learn how to access one source of information and you know how to access them all

Sample: Using Live Search

private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e){ using (LiveSearchService service = new LiveSearchService()) { SearchRequest request = new SearchRequest(); request.AppId = Properties.Resources.LiveSearchAppID; request.Query = searchQuery; request.Sources = new SourceType[] {SourceType.MobileWeb }; SearchResponse response = service.Search(request);

foreach (MobileWebResult r in response.MobileWeb.Results) { listView1.Items.Add(new ListViewItem(r.Title)); } }}

A Location Aware Sample Applicationdemo

Summary

There are several ways to retrieve Location Information

Cell Tower Lookup; IP Number Lookup; GPSAdding Location to Windows Mobile Applications extend application richnessThink Out of the Box

Make use of Web Services / Web Apps to increase the functionality of Windows Mobile Applications

Great opportunities for Business- and Consumer- oriented applications

question & answer

www.microsoft.com/teched

Sessions On-Demand & Community

http://microsoft.com/technet

Resources for IT Professionals

http://microsoft.com/msdn

Resources for Developers

www.microsoft.com/learningMicrosoft Certification and Training Resources

www.microsoft.com/learning

Microsoft Certification & Training Resources

Resources

Related Content

DAT324 WiE: Building Location-Aware Services with Microsoft SQL ServerFri 5/15 | 1:00 PM-2:15 PM | Room 402

UNC305: Enabling Anywhere Access with Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007Wed 5/13 | 4:30 PM-5:45 PM | Room 502B

WMB401: Adding WCF to Windows Mobile ApplicationsThu 5/14 | 4:30 PM-5:45 PM | Room 511

WMB01-HOL Building Real-World-Ready Applications for Windows Mobile with the Microsoft Device Emulator 3.0 and the Device Emulator Manager Automation API

Windows Mobile® ResourcesTechNet TechCenter – System Center Mobile Device Manager 2008 http://technet.microsoft.com/scmdm

TechNet TechCenter – Windows Mobile http://technet.microsoft.com/windowsmobile

MSDN Center – Windows Mobilehttp://msdn.microsoft.com/windowsmobile

Webcasts and Podcasts for IT – Windows Mobilehttp://www.microsoft.com/events/series/msecmobility.aspx

General Information – Windows Mobilehttp://www.windowsmobile.com

General Information – System Center Mobile Device Manager 2008http://www.windowsmobile.com/mobiledevicemanager

Windows Marketplace Developer Portalhttp://developer.windowsmobile.com

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