Mobile mapping w3g

Editor's Notes

• #2: Brian Norman Technical Director of Earthware
• #3: Internet users (in millions)By 2014/15 mobile internet is predicated to overtake desktop usage howeverGoogle Maps now frequently have more mobile users per day than desktop (since last Christmas)Rightmove have many more mobile users on their maps every weekend than desktopsSo it is already happening today for mapping web applications
• #4: These are for the UK in March 2011 (http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/apr/18/smartphone-market-android-win-nokia-rim-lose)Android and RIM are still big players and the market is more diverse than you may realise
• #5: - Also open layers has improved its mobile support recently but there doesn’t appear to be an official supported devices listNotice no Wp7, but coming later this yearSo if cross platform is critical and possible what is important to mobile mapping?
• #6: Average UK 3g speed is 1.5Mbit/s, average broadband speed is 6.2Mb/s While we may have gotten a little lazy about optimization now we all have broadband connections mobile mapping reminds us just how important it is to optimize file sizes and data transferYes we have smartphones with wifi but your creating maps on mobile because people need them on the move right?
• #7: - You only need 5 decimal places for aroundmetre accuracy sending any more in your data (even if you store it with more) is a big waste, this can often save 20%-50% in data transfer size just by rounding
• #8: - Transferring data as XML/GeoRSS is verbose look instead at JSONWhatever your server side platform of choice there is a json library available for itYou can see data transfer improvements of 20-40%
• #9: EnablingGzip compression, which is supported by all major web servers typically gains 50-70% decrease in size, just ensure you have spare cpu cyclesIf you packets are small though you do need to consider if the overhead is worth it so its important to testAlso remember to minify your js and css files if you are using VS then take a look at chirpy.codeplex.com
• #10: -Loading data when you know you actually need it can make the biggest difference-only load pushpin detail when clicked-only load data shown on the current map view, if you have lots
• #11: - As we all know mobile connections are not great so you application at least has to handle disconnections even if just my alerting the user
• #12: - Default popup box is fine for the ipad
• #13: Same cannot be said for the iphones smaller screenSo you need to think about different popup box approachess
• #14: Simple example of more mobile friendly infobox using jquery mobileConventions over configuration
• #15: Simple example of more mobile friendly infobox using jquery mobileConventions over configuration
• #16: We have often used context menus on mapping tools by right clicking the mouseObviously not possible on mobile but a well used alternative is the tap holdYou can think about how you might use other more complex gestures and emerging js libraries like jquery mobile are starting to add support for these kind of events
• #17: Simple example of more mobile friendly infobox using jquery mobileConventions over configuration
• #18: HTML 5 has a location API built in that we cannot rely on for desktop users but mobile users are a different matterGoogle Android 2.X BrowserApple 3/3GS/4.0 iPhone BrowserBlackBerry 6.0 BrowserAnd the soon to be release update for Windows Phone 7
• #19: Simple example of more mobile friendly infobox using jquery mobileConventions over configuration
• #20: - Looking at project like phonegap can help take your cross platform mobile applications and make them available in mobile app stores and even sell your applications