gps

IPositionSubscriber is the Bug Labs asychronous API that is broken in 1.4.2

The Bug Labs asynchronous GPS API that we can't get working (mentioned in the previous blog post) with Simon's identicon program is: IPositionSubscriber

I'll report this in the Bug Labs forums and then update this post.

Bug Labs Release 1.4.2 - asynchronous GPS API broken, synchronous works but requires polling

Back in August using Bug Labs Release 1.4.1, Simon Lewis and I got his Bug Labs bug identicon app that generates identicons based on GPS coordinates to work. Unfortunately that used the Bug Labs synchronous API i.e. polling which runs down the battery. The working version is 1.0.3 and you can see the output of 1.0.3 in the video above.

It's still broken in Bug Labs Release 1.4.2  Full yak shaving details after the jump!

Bug Labs Release 1.4.1 fixes my GPS issues

I finally upgraded my Bug Labs Bug kernal and root file system to 1.4.1 (instructions on my Bug Adventures wiki under July 26, 2009) and my GPS now works! yes! Now to write some fun software!

N97 Review Penultimate Installment - Camera forgets its GPS setting, etc

The N97 has to go back to Womworld in England on Tuesday so here are my penultimate observations:

  1. There's a bug in the camera app which causes it to forget the GPS setting occasionally. This is annoying because this means I have to re-enable GPS every time I start the camera app (or at least double check that it is still on). Easily fixed I bet in a post V11 firmware update
  2. The speakers are tinny but loud, great to listen to while riding my bicycle! Far better than iPhone mono sound!
  3. The keyguard lock issue came back today so it's not ShoZu or Sports Tracker causing it!
  4. Needless to say multi-tasking with S60 (e.g. playing music with the music player, tracking your bicycle ride with Nokia Sports Tracker and taking photos) works great until you inevitably run out of RAM or the camera app crashes.It's ridiculous that you can run out of RAM with the N97 in 2009 as it is supposedly a "flagship" device. C'mon Nokia please put 256MB RAM or greater in the N97 successor
  5. The GPS lock is faster than the N82 and N95 but I don't have time to measure how much faster. It seems a bit flakey compared to a dedicated GPS unit like the LD-4W which is disappointing but to be expected

N97 Review Day 3 - GPS lock is faster and more reliable then before

The N97 GPS lock seems to be much faster than the N82 or N95. In fact it seems to be almost as fast as the lock from the dedicated Nokia LD-4W GPS. I'll try to do some more formal measurements later but subjectively it has been impressively fast so far!

DRAFT Nokia Sports Tracker Tutorial in pictures

Sports Tracker Screenshot0047

Here's my very rough draft Nokia Sports Tracker Tutorial for the recently released version 2.06. It still is too complicated and harder to use than Nokia viNe but appears to be regularly updated unlike viNe. And it still doesn't remember my Live Sharing Pref which I think is a bug and is annoying because I want my maps to be always shared ]!

BUG Adventures - GPS still not getting a fix, need another antenna perhaps or is GPSConfig not working?

Well it's been 2 weeks and I've been too busy to do much with my BUG Labs BUG but here's the current state of affairs:

  1. fixed my compiler in Eclipse to be R1.4 compliant by setting Preferences->Compiler->Compiler compliance level to 1.4
  2. Started my Bug and the following log is displayed in /var/log/concierge:
    1. [Sun Apr 05 21:32:13 GMT 2009] [INFO] GPSModlet defaulting to passive (external) antenna
    2. [Sun Apr 05 21:32:13 GMT 2009] [INFO] Started modlet from factory com.buglabs.bug.module.gps...
  3. I take it this means that the antenna is set to use the external antenna
  4. Wait 7 minutes and I still see the BUG with no fix
  5. Then I download the GPSConfig app as recommended by the BUG Labs folks and I see:
    1. GPSConfigServiceTracker: start
    2. status=3939
    3. [Sun Apr 05 21:40:31 GMT 2009] [INFO] AppManager started /usr/share/java/apps/GPSConfig.jar
  6. Then I tried using the joystick controller and the select button to configure the GPSConfig app to use the external antenna (and see this log:
    1. status=4003
    2. Switching to external (passive) antenna
    3. ret=0
  7. But the GPS Module display on the 2 line LCS still shows Passive which means it's NOT using the external antenna
  8. Help!
    1. Do I have a defective antenna?
    2. Am I doing something wrong with the GPSConfig app?
    3. Or is the GPS Module incorrect when it states that the antenna is Active i.e. internal antenna instead of Passive i.e. external antenna?

 

Upgraded Kernel and then Root FS of my BUG from R1.3 to R1.4, GPS still doesn't get a FIX

Summary:

Successfully updated my kernel on my BUG and then the ROOT FS (order is important, you must upgrade the kernel FIRST and then shutdown and then update the Root FS). However GPS is still not getting a fix!

Typos and minor bugs in the R1.44 Kernel upgrade procedure:

  • bug_kflash was in /usr/bin NOT /sbin
  • version is: 
    • Linux version 2.6.27.2 (buildbot@darner) (gcc version 4.1.2) #104 PREEMPT Thu Mar 12 11:32:33 EDT 2009
  • which is slightly older than the version in the instructions (probably because the person who wrote the instructions has an experimental, newer version)

Typos and minor bugs in the R1.4 Root FS upgrade procedure:

  • on the Mac, e2fsck and resize2fs are in /usr/local/sbin

Here's what the GPS is showing

command is:

cat /dev/ttymxc/1

(since GPS is in slot 1)

("V" on the GPGLL lines mans "void" i.e no GPS FIX AFAIK!) - Antenna is pointing out the window which means it should get a fix since my other GPSes i.e. E71 and LD-4W have no problem getting a fix there!)

$GPGLL,,,,,081149.577,V*18

$GPGSA,A,1,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,*1E

$GPGSV,3,1,12,11,89,179,27,24,76,162,,08,57,214,,27,32,183,*72

$GPGSV,3,2,12,07,28,280,,19,28,046,,28,24,317,,03,17,062,*74

$GPGSV,3,3,12,20,17,150,,13,03,220,,23,-1,196,,29,-1,293,*77

$GPRMC,081149.577,V,,,,,,,170309,,*23

$GPVTG,,T,,M,,N,,K*4E

$GPGGA,081150.577,,,,,0,00,,,M,0.0,M,,0000*5E

$GPGLL,,,,,081150.577,V*10

$GPGSA,A,1,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,*1E

$GPGSV,3,1,12,11,89,179,27,24,76,162,,08,57,214,,27,32,183,*72

$GPGSV,3,2,12,07,28,280,,19,28,046,,28,24,317,,03,17,062,*74

 

 

Nokia Beautiful Connections Text Art - what if it were GPS based?

NokiaBC-Msg-00

Text art is part of the Nokia Beautiful Connections (this URL does not rock, IMHO it should be something like nokia.com/beautiful-connections) project. It draws your text onto a algorithmically generated graphic (see above pic for an example). It's cool but wouldn't it be cooler if the art that was generated was rooted in the GPS coordinates and the place, e.g. if you were in Stanley Park, it drew art based on algorithms written by Salish aboriginals?

From Nokia E71: Beautiful Connections:

QUOTE

I recently had the privilege of being commissioned by Wieden + Kennedy to creating an artwork for Nokia’s new smartphone E71. It’s a new model featuring a full QWERTY keyboard, and is intended to function as a complete communication platform for people on the move. As a response to this purpose, W+K’s campaign focused on the idea of “Beautiful Connections”.

My contribution was a mobile app that allows the user to type in a short SMS-style message, which is then used as the basis for a generative animation that results in a visual compositions of curling forms. The final image can then be sent to other users as a MMS or saved to the phone memory for use as a wallpaper.

END QUOTE

 

Free Nokia viNe and Sports Tracker tutorials for Vancouverites in exchange for coffee

It appears nobody in Vancouver uses Nokia phones and ShoZu even though it's FANTASTIC because nobody has taken me up on my free ShoZu help in exchange for coffee offer. Bloodied :-) (ok, not really!)  I am but undaunted as well, here's another offer: Free photo GPS tagging tutorials using Nokia ViNe and Nokia Sports Tracker and Nokia phones in exchange for coffee. Interested? Email roland AT rolandtanglao.com or text me: 604 729 7924 or twitter rtanglao

From Geotags help locate photos by Jeffrey Simpson in the Georgia Straight

QUOTE

An avid cyclist, Tanglao takes photos during his rides and has more than 44,000 photos on Flickr, a great many of them geotagged. Recently, he’s been taking pictures with a Nokia N95, a smartphone with a five-megapixel camera whose image quality rivals that of some basic stand-alone digital cameras. With a built-in global-positioning-system receiver, the N95 automatically tags photos with geographic data

END QUOTE

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