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Google promises tight Maps integration on Android
The Google Maps application for the Android mobile operating system promises to fully exploit the touchscreen, accelerometer and GPS features of T-Mobile USA's upcoming G1, the first commercial Android-powered handset. Writing on the Official Google Mobile Blog, Android Team product manager David Conway notes Google Maps for the G1 also capitalizes on the deep system integration inherent in the Android platform, connecting with email, IM and the mobile web to offer users their choice of viewing maps in the phone browser, within the Maps app or over any other application that supports Maps functionality.
According to Conway, users require nothing more than their thumb to pan around and zoom in and out of maps on the G1 touchscreen--a switch to Street View mode offers panoramic, street-level images, complete with a Compass view that goes up, down and sideways in concert with the movement of the handset. Another feature, My Location, relies on GPS or nearby cell towers to alert users of their current whereabouts. Conway adds that any developer can build location-based Android apps based on the platform's MapView and location APIs, citing Cab4me and Locale as two of the Android Developer Challenge winners delivering location services.
For more on Google Maps:
- read this Official Google Mobile Blog entry
Related articles:
Google touts platform-wide Android search integration
T-Mobile USA launches Android emulator
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Comments
Posted by larry | October 15, 2008 - 3:21am
hi john
if your interested in a follow up story to your earlier story on zzzphone in new york times please read this; you can call me at xxxxxxxxxx for more details. also we have the names of 3 MIT students who have been working summers for google android. they have been offered full time after post grad from MIT. the MIT android team were awarded $350,000 in the contest while our 4 submissions were thrown out. we have since applied for china and USA patents on our 4 software/hardware apps.
further we have been bad mouthed on the official google android blog , saying we are not recognized by google. while the android system is revolutionary and complements our revolutionary process of custom making each cell phone to each customers requirement,(including free uploading 3 android softwares of customers choice),it is anything except "open source"
as david killed goliath, we are beating google to worldwide markets (except we lose the first battle by 1 month in USA). and with a far superior, unlocked(really open sourced), 2 sim card phone. at less than half the true google phone price($179 plus $840 in extra t-mobile charges over 2 years) price.
to my knowledge only google and zzzphone are taking orders as of now.
our engineering team has 22 Chinese in shenzhen as opposed to the 1000s working in the "alliance" you can see the press release (attachment) and our phone at www.zzzphone.com beta
larry horowitz, president
