Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Android vs iPhone

For those of You not yet purchased an iPhone, I recommend to think twice. Android is here, the first device running on it is just announced by T-mobile.

But how does it compare to iPhone? First of all, iPhone is a complete package of SW and HW, optimized for the best sinergy. Android is "just" an operating system that many HW supplier will apply. So the HW and SW are not bound together that tightly. On the other hand, Android provides total integration to the Google world, meaning the mail, calendar and contact data are the very same like on the web, they are kept in synchrone with the web servers. Though such functionality could easily be established on the iPhone, too, it is just not yet done.
So let's wait for the first test results...

Google Maps for Outdoors

Ever longed for Google Maps in your packet when far from home? 
Wish You could search for a suitable GPS tracklog published by someone else... In fact, these are all onhand since the latest (silent, as usual) upgrade to Google Maps for Mobile (GMM). Now you can display user contents with routes (so called lineStrings) and folder structures, as well. There are sites providing complete networks of hiking trails in kml format. Just search for the URL of the kml in GMM, and follow the line with your GPS-enabled cellular phone.
Pls note that all this is only available in v2.2.0, on J2ME platform, currently.

Give it a try here