Hi,
I just wanted to chime in on this Wireless conversation. While MapInfo's
pre-packaged solutions are Java/Oracle based, that doesn't mean that wireless
mapping can't be done with MapInfo products without Java and Oracle. All that's
required is a server-side application that supports the WAP protocol which is
very well documented -- check out Nokia's site at
http://www.forum.nokia.com/main/1,6668,1_1,00.html (requires you to sign up, but
it's free and includes a very cool wap-enabled phone simulator for testing).
Another good resource is The Wireless FAQ at http://allnetdevices.com/faq/
As a test, I wrote an Active Server Pages application using MapXsite
(significantly less expensive than MapXtreme!) to do a scaled-down dealer
locator. It worked fine with the Nokia simulator. I haven't tested it with
anything else, but as a proof of concept I think it was a success. The only
real difference between what I wrote and a traditional MapXsite application is
that instead of spitting out HTML, the application has to write WML (which is
similar to HTML). Of course, MapInfo would prefer to sell larger (read more
expensive) solutions in this arena because the players tend to have a lot of
dough. To be honest, I like to make money, too. But if we can leverage
existing, lower cost products, then I think we have the ability to make our
money on the application development side and still provide a lower-cost
alternative to the customer.
I believe that the real challenge is not from a programming standpoint, but from
a cartographic. How can we make useful, engaging maps that display on a
monochrome screen within miniscule real estate? I'm not sure how big the
PalmPilot screen is, but I think the Nokia phone is only 96 pixels wide by 65
pixels high! I'd love to hear some discussion on this topic, especially
considering the fact that these devices are likely to get smaller and smaller.
I think I heard somewhere that IBM has developed a prototype wristwatch with
wireless capability. How are we going to display maps on that?!?
Gary Schwartz
Manager Application Development
Mapping Analytics
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