LBS in Opera Mini?
Posted by ronan 4 years 12 weeks ago
Random thought: if Google can manage to make cell ID-based location information work in its J2ME map applications, couldn't Opera do the same with Opera Mini? Right now, according to Google's FAQ page on their My Location feature, this works on the following devices:
- BlackBerry devices
- Some recent Motorola devices
- Some recent Sony Ericsson devices
- Many Windows Mobile devices
- Nokia Series 60 3rd Edition devices
This is a big enough list of devices to be useful. If Opera Mini were to support a similar feature and send some sort of location information in the HTTP headers it sends, it could instantly become a much more powerful environment in which to run mobile web applications.
Hopefully someone in Opera is thinking about this..
Posted by ronan 4 years 12 weeks ago
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Posted by yeswap 4 years ago
I think something like this will happen before long from Opera or someone else. A while ago I wrote in a review of now defunct LBS search site mojeo.mobi;
"I have this dream of Opera creating a version of Opera Mini that can read the GPS information and pass it to sites like Mojeo - now that would be something! It probably won't happen, though - Opera needs to sell to carriers and doing this sort of end run around them won't help."
Opera's had a fair amount of success placing mini on branded handsets so you'd think they have less incentive to making their free browser location aware. But the climate is changing with Open as the new mantra. Sprint is now passing location data to MS Live Search, the iPhone has location aware Google maps and Android which will surely include Google location services of some sort. If Opera offered location in Mini it might be attractive to carriers seeking to complete with Android and the iPhone.
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Posted by keithahern 4 years ago
I agree.
I think an open source database of cell tower IDs needs to be created to stop Googles Android from becoming the "Internet Explorer 6" of mobile phones i.e. proprietary [1] and non-standard. Android has a location API built into the OS which means all Android apps can be location aware. Don't get me wrong this is fantastic but I think it would only be a good thing if there was an free, open source of this data.
What should we call this?
CTURFL - :-) cell tower universal resource file?
TowerDB?
OpenTower?
I think the only companies that could pull it off are Opera like you said but also the manufacturers such as Microsoft and Nokia. Since cell id information is often low level information that java doesn't have access to (I believe Opera is only a java app). Nokia/Symbian are in a better position to get more cell ids since they are closer to the hardware.
Keith
[1] I know android is open source, but there are many baked in google API calls, e.g. location services, which are NOT open source. The recipe is free but some of the ingredients are only available from Google.
Posted by ronanhigg 3 years ago
Opera could to the same with Cell ID as Google Maps does. Google is already doing it with Google Gears for Windows Mobile Internet Explorer Mobile and plan on adding Gears to other phone systems.
I spoke with the head of NetFront Access at a conference a few weeks ago and he didn't indicate that cell-ID or even GPS location access was a priority for their browsers. Most likely addressing the operator (wireless carrier) resistance issue.
Ronan Higgins
Posted by ronanhigg 3 years ago
Opera could to the same with Cell ID as Google Maps does. Google is already doing it with Google Gears for Windows Mobile Internet Explorer Mobile and plan on adding Gears to other phone systems.
I spoke with the head of NetFront Access at a conference a few weeks ago and he didn't indicate that cell-ID or even GPS location access was a priority for their browsers. Most likely addressing the operator (wireless carrier) resistance issue.
Ronan Higgins