Apple Uses Mapping Data — For Reals?

June 23, 2011 Leave a Comment

Apple iOS — Now with Mapping Data

Look, I totally get it. The big shiny object in the sky is Apple. Anything they do is “interesting”[ref]Disclaimer: I give every other paycheck to Steve Jobs for his new shiny objects[/ref]. I saw this news this morning about TomTom being in Apple’s Legal Doc[ref]The amount of GNP devoted to reading Apple’s tea leaves has to be bigger than most eastern european countries[/ref] and let out a big meh. Clearly as location becomes more integrated in smartphone workflows, companies will start adding additional data sources for their customers to use. Since Apple uses Google Maps as the default mapping app on the iOS, we probably won’t see any changes to that for quite some time (if ever). TomTom/TeleAtlas data is used by many companies for many things so the possibilities that Apple would use their data isn’t that far fetched[ref]I’m actually surprised that it wasn’t in there before, it is hard not to use TomTom or NAVTEQ these days[/ref].

Adena did a great job highlighting the companies that are now (or have been) part of Apple’s legal description. Let’s see… We’ve got parcel data, we’ve got neighborhood data, we’ve got routing data and we’ve traffic data. If I didn’t know any better, I’d be guessing Apple is trying to build a smartphone[ref]Side note, I’m very happy for Waze and Urban Mapping here. Great job guys![/ref].

The OpenStreetMap whining is already started with folks wondering why Apple didn’t use their data.  Clearly Apple is picking and choosing what they need here.  Apple is one of those companies that uses whatever makes best sense for them and their uses.  That is why they still use Google Maps, it really is still the best solution out there and they can afford to pay Google the licensing costs.  I still believe, as many of you do, it is only a matter of time for Apple to roll their own mapping solution.  This is a company that loves to control everything and to think they allow a competitor to have a mapping app on iOS by default has got to hurt them.   Of course how many years did Apple include Internet Explorer as the default browser on Mac OS X before rolling Safari.  Yea, only a matter of time.

Many don’t remember, but Mark Twain was a big user of iOS mapping applications and thus a user of mapping data.

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Apple Getting Ready to Enter Mobile Navigation Space

December 20, 2010 5 Comments

So last week Google threw down a huge hand in the bid to be the dominate mobile navigation company.  Heck I can’t even remember who else has mobile navigation devices besides them anymore (though that might be the eggnog talking).  It looks like Apple is going to give it a go for their iOS devices.

Apple seeks job candidates with “valuable knowledge” related to the development of navigation software, as well as “deep knowledge of Computational Geometry or Graph Theory.” Candidates are required to have at least 3 years’ experience of developing “high quality, robust software systems.”

In typical Apple fashion, they describe the work this way:

“We want to do this in a seamless, highly interactive and enjoyable way,” that job listing read. “We’ve only just started.”

Apple navigation seems like a natural progression for their hosted web services.  I doubt Apple will ever do their own search as there really isn’t any way to improve on Google (Bing is trying, but really who wants to Bing anything?).  Navigation though is a space that I’m sure Apple thinks they can do some really amazing stuff.  Navigation devices are clunky and difficult to use.  A little of the Apple design magic might lift all boats (and by all boats I mean only Apple and Google).

Well this isn't likely, but still....

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The Google Cr-48 Netbook, Chrome OS and GIS

December 13, 2010 13 Comments

I’m rolling here with the Google Cr-48 Netbook and after a weekend with it I’ve come to some conclusions about how we work with GIS data today, how we’ll work with it in the future and what it means to try and use one of these cloud netbooks in 2010.  I won’t rehash what others have said about the hardware, it’s really bad in places (the trackpad on it could be the worst input device in 20 years), but it does give us a glimpse into where many of us will be in December 2011.

First off, moving between the Cr-48 and my iPad is pretty easy.  Both boot up almost instantly, don’t have hard drives, are connected to the Internet via WiFi and 3G and break the traditional concept of a file system with your OS.  Browser-wise, they are both derivatives of WebKit so they handle most of the latest JavaScript apps with ease.  There is some issues with lag on the Cr-48 vs the iPad on these web apps, but I have to assume when Google Chrome OS is release, it will be as snappy as Chrome is on my Mac or PC.

A quick spin to WeoGeo Market seems to show that the Chrome OS is just as compatible with as the the Chrome browser is with existing websites. (no duh, right?).  I was able to order a dataset, save it to the the Chrome download folder (or whatever this disk space is called in the Chrome OS) and forward it on to a friend.  While I can’t really work with shapefiles (yet) on the Chrome OS because you can only run web apps, you can still work with files and even upload them to websites to share.

As you'd expect, the WeoGeo cloud works perfectly on Chrome OS

My next stop was Esri’s ArcGIS.com and their web map app.  Works just as you’d expect (at least when you fight through the trackpad), but I was shocked when I tried to view some of their Flash API maps.  Chrome OS ground to a halt.  Adobe says they are “totally on this” (paraphrasing), but it is yet another reason to question why anyone would built apps with Flash anymore.  Hardware on these Chrome OS netbooks is going to be very weak, so much like we’ve seen on Android, Adobe better be really good at making their plugin run on these minimal configurations.

Stick to the Esri JavaScript client for now with Chrome OS Netbooks

So just to be safe, I dropped into Geocommons to see how their flash front-end works.  As with Esri’s Flash API, it gets there, but the Netbook practically just stops responding when working with it.  At least Geocommons has a workaround, you can append ?view=javascript to the end of any map url and get the JavaScript version which works great in Chrome OS.  You lose come functionality, but at least it works and works darn well.

The Geocommons Flash frontend works, but causes the Netbook to stutter. Google and Adobe need to fix this pronto.

Geocommons JavaScript front end works great, but isn't as feature complete as their Flash front end.

A quick check at the Esri Silverlight Showcase returns what you’d expect with Chrome OS.  It is a JavaScript and Flash world at Google and at least for now, Silverlight isn’t part of it.

Yea, you'd expect this. The problem is that Netflix doesn't work either. Bah!

Yea so don’t rush out and try and buy one of these Cr-48 Netbooks if Google wasn’t nice enough to send you one.  They are really not usable as an every day device today.  I’m sure as we get close to the release of these Google Chrome OS Netbooks next year, the OS will become more stable and usable.  That said, the writing is on the wall for traditional apps.  Niche use is all we’ll see of them moving forward.  Google, Apple, Microsoft and others are all committed to running consumer apps as hosted services and these Netbooks (plus all the iPads and Android tablets that are going to be sold next year).

Now don’t think for a minute that I’m talking about ArcView in the Cloud or any other wacky thing that someone might come up with while drinking some GeoKool-Aid.  No, I’m talking about eliminating the need for ArcView on 95% of all desks and using web apps for these people to work with the data.  Those that need the editing and analysis capabilities wouldn’t be on a netbook in the first place so they are really unaffected by these changes.  But I just can’t see how any organization can afford to pay for ArcView (or MapInfo, or whatever) licenses for users that are viewing data.  We’ve been talking about how those days are over for it seems like a decade, but I think the pieces are coming together in 2011 to finally put the fork in apps such as ArcView (real GIS pros need ArcInfo, sorry Esri), Microsoft Office and other “enterprise” apps.  Geo isn’t special enough to need hundreds or thousands of ArcView’s on desktops across the organization.  Time we started facing up to the fact.

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Rolling Your Mapping Apps on the iPad (or the iPhone)

January 27, 2010 17 Comments

One thing that has become crystal clear is the preferred method of having a mapping application on the iPhone and by extension the new iPad is to create a native iPhone/iPad app.  That said, the noise sometimes causes people to miss some great web mapping app (as native web apps).  I’ve looked into using SVG and even OpenLayers in the past for mapping in the iPhone, but who is rolling their own web apps out there to accomplish what until 2 years ago required a browser on a laptop or desktop? I know there will most likely be a session at the ESRI DevSummit using OpenLayers, but is there a framework people are working with?

Can anyone find me some mobile web mapping applications to love?

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5 predictions Geo for 2010 and 5 things that won’t happen

December 31, 2009 59 Comments

Here are 5 predictions for Twenty Ten.

  1. The shapefile dies: SpatiaLite + ESRI’s File Geodatabase API finally put a dagger in the shapefile.
  2. GIS on iPhone/iSlate (Apple Tablet) and Android/Chrome OS: With Apple and Google owning the mobile space, we’ll see more proprietary and open source projects being ported to these platforms.  Microsoft Tablet PCs and Windows Mobile/CE begin to die off.
  3. 64-bit: There will be some holdouts (*cough* ESRI), but most of us will be running native 64-bit code on our desktops and servers.  Now to just get more RAM in this laptop.
  4. Mobile: If you aren’t running on the iPhone/Android/Blackberry you aren’t relevant.  Web mapping apps become mobile browser aware.   Those that aren’t were probably irrelevant anyway.
  5. Google: Google’s APIs continue to push the envelope and they continue to be the standard for everyone mapping on the interweb.  Google is able to throw so much money and manpower at “problems” and their solutions are coming faster than anyone else can match.

Here are 5 things that won’t happen:

  1. Augmented Reality: Much like the Nintendo Virtual Boy, it sounds great until you try and use it.
  2. OpenStreetMap Dominates: Between Google’s quick improving of their database and continued licensing issues OSM plateaus.  Companies will continue to try and figure out how to monetize OSM, but fail.
  3. ESRI + Microsoft: This was on the top 10 lists for many people in 2009, but I don’t think we’ll be seeing deeper integration.  ESRI will continue to support multiple platforms (Google, OSM, Microsoft, “other”) and not become a Microsoft shop.  As Google continues to erode away at SharePoint and Bing Maps, ESRI will make sure that they don’t get caught in Microsoft’s blind spot.
  4. Geolocation other than Twitter, Apple and Google (TAG): Foursquare, Brightkite, and others will fade as TAG rolls out new APIs and ensure their mobile devices are tagging everything you do.
  5. MySQL falls apart:  Despite the dire predictions of Oracle or Monty destroying the project, too many people have too much invested in the project to let it fail.  MySQL will be fine and LAMP will continue to power Badgers.

Hey, don’t worry…  It’s gonna be a bright, sun-shiny day!

 

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Using SVG to create interactive maps on the Apple iPhone

September 18, 2008 13 Comments

So you can’t have Silverlight, Java or Flash to develop interactive mapping on the iPhone and have to “resort” to using JavaScript. Well maybe not, could SVG be the way forward to creating mapping websites on the iPhone?  My 2G iPhone seems to support SVG fairly well, but many SVG sites aren’t optimized for the iPhone.  Take ESRI’s abandoned (?) SVG Viewer:

ESRIs ArcWeb SVG Viewer

ESRI's ArcWeb SVG Viewer

It loads and you can turn on and off the “widgets” with ease.  But navigating it was impossible.  I know zero about developing with SVG so I suppose someone else will have to comment on if it is possible to create iPhone compatible navigation for SVG apps.  Heck if ESRI were to make a ArcGIS Server SVG API compatible for the iPhone, every ArcGIS Server implementation would be viewable on the iPhone.

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