About this project
This project was created just for fun since I recently bought a Blackberry 9530 which happened to have GPS built into it. Also, I happen to be going on a cross-country road trip this summer. I thought it would be cool to allow the Blackberry device to automatically update my position on the map so that my friends and family can see where I am as I travel. Also I plan to have a mobile version of the site which is less heavy on graphics that I can use with the blackberry itself to see how far I am away from specific locations and to estimate travel times. By allowing the computer to do most of this calculation and displaying it as a webpage for my blackberry it may be cheaper than doing the computation directly on the device (both in terms of CPU / battery and monetary costs) This is because much of the information relies on internet traffic which could get very expensive (especially as I start to roam).
About the Technology
For the web portion of the application, I am using PHP, MySQL and Javascript (JQuery and the Google Maps API ver. 2). The Blackberry Application was built using the Blackberry Java Development Environment. It was tested first using the Blackberry Emulator and was designed for the Blackberry Storm 9530. I plan to make the source available when I get a chance to clean it up a bit and document it a bit better. The 9530 has some great features that allow for interesting applications. The embedded GPS unit is my favourite so far since it is what allows this type of application very easily. This is especially useful for the photo gallery, which has a somewhat unique feature. The blackberry supports geo-tagging images taken with the built-in camera. So when the image is uploaded to the site it can appear in an exact location on the map. This feature already exists in google maps, however it is unique that the geo-tagging is automatic. It also makes it easier for a personal website such as this to geographically sort pictures in a gallery.