InstaMapper. LBS comes to my BB.
In keeping with 2009 being the Year of Location Based Services, InstaMapper, a free GPS tracking application, is now available for BlackBerry’s via BlackBerry App World.
While the iPhone has arguably driven much of this interest in LBS services, its inability to walk and chew gum at the same time makes it one of the worst LBS-savy smart phones. In fact, in the InstaMapper F.A.Q. you can read this telling Q&A:
Is my phone being tracked all the time?
Your phone sends tracking data only when our application is running. On the iPhone, the software must stay in the foreground. Other phones allow the software to run in the background.
After a day of use, I’m already quite a fan of this little app. Tracking is well configurable–including a nice buffering capability for when your IP connection is interupted. Data is presented using the google maps API a InstaMaps.com.
InstaMapper Live Tracking
You can easily save tracks from your Live Tracking data. I did a very quick walk over lunch–forgetting that I was being geo-tracked by the BB in my pocket–and saved the loop as a track later in the day:
InstaMapper Track
InstaMapper provides several means of data sharing and claims its free status will be “forever”.
This will be a nice addition to the Photo Walk I am leading tomorrow night in Old Town Fort Collins.