Comments on: Google Maps on Your Smartphone or Handheld

> Mapopolis is a very nice application, but it is static.
> Very quick, but very very big. You have to load every
> map onto your handheld.

Yeah, but since it can also load maps from SD cards, it really isn't a problem; 1 GB cards can hold a lot of maps and are readily affordable.

> MO, a cross between KMaps and mapopolis is what is needed.
> A natively written application with online maps.

I don't see why the maps would have to be online. That data doesn't change often enough to justify fetching it all the time over the slow wireless network. Overlaying the static map data from memory cards with real-time traffic and POI data would be the way I'd go, at least until the Treo 700 with EVDO comes out :-)

Oliver

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You'd think it would have been a priority for PalmSource to have improved JAVA on Palm to encourage the porting of more apps to the platform. Instead, JAVA is about as robust as AppForge. ;-O

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I will admit that mapooplis has greatly improved in that regard. I can remember when it would copy all maps (and adjacent maps if one selected the option) onto RAM. it never seemed to clean up after itself. The updated version is much improved.

Dedicating SD memory to maps is a commitment of real-estate that one does have to purchase. KMaps is also an expensive RAM application given the fact that you have to install the JVM into RAM.

Native is the way to go on Palm for speed and size. I like both KMaps and Mapopolis, each has their strengths and weaknesses based solely on design decisions, not features. It is a classic example of code portability vs. native performance and live internet dynamic content vs. cached data on removable storage. The ultimate in portable/dynamic vs. raw performance. (Pocket Express just has a poor consumer model with its annual subscription).

What other viable alternatives exist for maps on a Palm/Treo mobile device? These are the two that I have used most recently.

Handmark Express requires a whole lot of RAM, and many people (myself included) get a "hanging" white screen whenever we try installing it. The only thing Handmark will say is that they think it's a "3rd party app"... I love that copout - for $30 or $70 a year, you would think their support department would have some idea of what application(s) they have found to not get along with... everything else on my 650 seems to work fine.

Glad to hear Mapopolis has cleaned up their act somewhat. The last time I subscribed you could store as much as you wanted onto the card, but couldn't use anything unless you moved the entire county (or counties) you would be travelling into RAM. One county I often needed to travel through was about 3MB alone, so that basically made the subscription worthless for actual use. Travelling across the state would require the memory of a Zodiac2 to function worthwhile.

I think mapping on Palm devices has potential, but I have yet to see it tapped well. Pocket PCs have had more appropriate hardware for mapping for quite some time, but the programs are ridiculously priced for consumers and often out of date and klunky. Also I've found the Bluetooth connectivity for GPSs to be terrible.

If someone designs a PDA mapping solution that fits into the skimpy RAM we get and actually works as well as most apps on a PDA, they will be onto something. Advantages of a PDA is one piece of Hardware, tied in with a current contact database, possibly connecting to GPS wirelessly, and hopefully soon with traffic updates and automatically rerouting information. Add to that a way for them to sync up map updates, and you have a "killer app" for a PDA.

If people are silly enough to spend $1,000+ for a GPS the size of a princess phone that only does GPS, certainly some PDA manufacturer could put together a solution that does what they do and more for less than $500. Though I'm not holding my breath....

The size of mapopolis is its only design fault IMO. And it is not really a fault, it was a decision on how to distribute maps. Rather than solely using a local copy of a map, now the mapopolis can use only the chunks of data it needs, it is almost as if it is preparing itself for dynamic (live) distribution of map data.

After using KMaps a litle more, I do not believe that it is solely Java that is responsible for its sluggish behavior. It is the network chatter that downloads the map data that makes this map almost unusable when navigating around a city. You end up passing your destination before the map has a change to update.

Version 1.4 is much improved. Many new features added. The performance also appears to be faster than the version I first installed.

Sure it will, it will also work with the Zire 71.

Palm m125 December 25, 2003 to March 24 2004 > palmOne Zire 71 March 24, 2004 to March 31, 2005. Tapwave Zodiac 1 April 18, 2005 to present.

The developer's been doing a bang-up job with this in such a short time... I have few issues with the speed or stability, and the graphics are fantastic.

The bummer is the RAM footprint for Java, as well as the limited download area - takes a while to scroll around on the screen and redraw the "bricks" into map... Would like to see an implementation of "x" space around the point to download, as I have Sprint and don't care about how much data I chomp (as long as I can move RAM around to accomodate it).