8Motions blog

After the announce of Street View by Google, a great enhancement for Google Map, Google mad another great announce today: The Google Maplets. Maplets are to mapping what Widgets are for Web sites: small application that can be easily added to your own map.
This interesting peace was missing with MyMaps, as it was only possible to add point, shape, etc… but no interaction. With Maplet, you can now create small “map oriented application” very easily, with some few line of JavaScript. Seems an easy way for third parties to integrate into GoogleMap and MyMap. Several of this “Maplet” seems to be sponsorised (or driven) by third parties site, like platial.

So when will we have maplet for mobile? May be sooner than you expect!

In the latest release of J2memap library, a new interface has been defined: MapCustomOverlay

If you create a class that implements MapCustomOverlay, you will have the ability to dsiplay new layers on top of an existing map.

The implementation is easy, there are two methods:

   String getTileURL(int x,int y,int z,int sizeSq,boolean isSat);

and

    public boolean isTransparent();

  The last one just have to return true if transparent, or false otherwhise. The getTitleUrl must return to URL of a tile to be loaded at the corresponding x,y positions. sizeSq is the size of a square, usually 256, while isSat is true if the user is currently displaying a satellite image.

  To convert x “pixels values” into longitude, you can use MapCanvas.LonFromX() and MapCanvas.LatFromY() for y value.
  To display this layer, call the setOverlay(MapCustomOverlay) function (with null parameter to remove it). Just one overlay can be displayed at a time.
  This can be used to easily create WMS overlay, if you know the URL of a WMS server.

  Latest question, is: great, but what happens if I do not want to program and I want to be able to display a custom layer? Well, something good is coming, but if you want to test it, just drop me an email

• Better feedback when a map is not found at a certain level of zoom
• upgrade with new googlemap version….
• Imrpvoed support of KML file (with custom icon support)

A separed post about the KML support later on

I’ve just downloaded “MappyMobi“, an application from “Mappy“, one of the leading map provider in France….This sounded good, maps, navigation, and much more from your mobile! Great, so I’ve downloaded the app: 22 kb! Waoww, sounds to be higly optimized!!!

So the app start and…..start a wap connection with the wap site of mappy? So the J2me application was just a “platformRequest” to a good old Wap site!

This must be a joke guys….

.
(this is the wap site wich is opened by the MIDP app!)

Technorati Tags: mappy, mappymobi

Interested by creating cool mobile mashup, or by helping this nice project?

We are looking for some help/ideas in the following areas:
- You have some mashup ideas that you would like to implement?
- You want to participate to the project and you are a server side developper (Ruby On Rails?)
- You have some j2me knowledge
- Or you just want to help us on some various task (like managing forum!)

Just contact me (thomas.landspurg at gmail.com )