Tag: Android

MapSmart app hits the field
Laser Technology’s MapSmart app for Android is a tool for expert field data collection without complicated equipment, the company said.

The software is designed for quick and accurate mapping of anything, including stockpile volumes, with or without GPS coordinates for every data point.

The survey-quality mapping app, using the smart device’s internal GPS or the user’s own external GPS, integrates with LTI TruPulse lasers and enables users to establish an origin and begin capturing field data in minutes.

MapSmart:
- offers four mapping methods to accommodate user preferences
- provides an intuitive interface with icons and buttons
- organizes and classifies data to ease the process of decrypting field measurements in the office
- enables real-time addition of height and missing line values to mapped features
- delivers advanced image capabilities, including tablet photo association with data points and TruPoint 300 image integration
- supports a variety of report formats and wireless data transfer.
The smart features and remote-fire capabilities are especially useful for stockpiles, where users can measure and calculate the volume and tonnage of any material from a safe location.
May 24, 2017
TerraGo releases new version of zero-code platform, Magic

TerraGo Magic, a custom app designed for both iOS and Android platforms, simplifies the process of designing a custom application for specific clients and needs.

With TerraGo Magic — now available in version 2.0 — an organization’s end users can rapidly build cloud-enabled iOS, Android and web apps, customized with their unique branding, workflow and features, without the expense of mobile software development, maintenance and operations.

Surveying firms can install the tool in their mobile devicew to enable the specific collection and sharing of important data that can vary as needed. This data can overlay Google and Apple Maps and allow attachments of images and video. Overall, the app avoids the time-consuming coding process, and could significantly improve work flow for many firms.

Distribution for the customized app is through the App Store for iOS and Play Store for Android.

“TerraGo Magic means we can assemble different apps with exactly the features the customer needs at the click of a button,” said Ben Chadbourne, project coordinator at Ameresco. “With the latest version, our end users have even more flexibility and visibility into the app they’re building. Not only can they turn features on and off, but they can preview the app instantly from the app studio, allowing them to publish a custom-built app without having developers build it from scratch.”

“TerraGo Magic is really about flipping the script on the app development backlog by enabling end users to assemble apps with proven features, exposed as configuration options in an easy-to-use interface,” said Dave Basil, vice president of product development at TerraGo. “It’s the power of the ‘write once, reuse many’ adage, but instead of limiting the user base to professional developers, we’ve extended it to enable masses of end users to build their own apps, creating a productivity play for the entire enterprise.”

TerraGo Magic features are operationally proven from a global customer base and field-tested across numerous industries for all types of workflows including data collection, mapping, asset management, inspection, survey, remote workforce management, dispatch, customer service, mobile forms, field reporting, advanced GIS, high-precision GPS and other field operations.

Register now for a GPS World webinar on May 25 to learn more and see a live demonstration of how TerraGo Magic can build a custom enterprise app from start to finish in minutes.

May 22, 2017
TerraGo Magic enables design of custom applications without coding

While change is constant, one thing that has become standard is the use of handheld mobile devices. Smartphones and tablets are used by almost everyone and the professional surveying community is no different. The process of data collection for specific purposes often needs to be tailored to each project type, yet traditional surveying methods are not flexible in allowing customization easily.

TerraGo Magic, a custom app designed for both iOS and Android platforms, simplifies the process of designing a custom application for specific clients and needs.

Surveying firms can install this tool in their mobile device to enable the specific collection and sharing of important data that can vary as needed. This data can overlay Google and Apple Maps and allow attachments of images and video. Overall, the app avoids the time-consuming coding process, and could significantly improve workflow for many firms.

Distribution for the customized app is through the App Store for iOS and Play Store for Android.

A free webinar on Thursday, May 25 covers the TerraGo Magic App Platform-as-a-Service, which enables anyone to rapidly build private-label, custom Trimble apps without the expense of traditional app development and without writing any code. Users don’t need hours of training or professional development skills to do it. Using a zero-code enterprise app platform, users can create, build and deploy custom mobile app for any industry or workflow in minutes.

The webinar covers:

• creating custom mobile apps with branding and selected features using a click app studio
• integrating custom mobile apps with Trimble GNSS and many other enterprise platforms
• publishing to the AppStore, Google Play and the cloud with
• deploying cloud-based or private-hosted enterprise servers
• reducing development costs

May 10, 2017
CNES offers new Android apps for GNSS

PPP Wizzlight.

French space agency CNES has made available two applications on the Google Play store for Android apps. Both are compatible with Android N (Nougat).

RTCM Converter: This app aims to convert the smartphone GNSS raw measurements to Radio Technical Commission for Maritime Services (RTCM message type 1077) and send them to a caster, for use by third-party software.

PPP WizzLite: This app is a port of the CNES PPP client (code and Doppler only, light version) on Android. Accuracies of 1-2 meters can be reached in kinematic mode, and sub-meter in static mode (using external SBAS data). To do so, users need to pull external RTCM streams for orbits/clocks corrections and broadcasts, such as ones available from the International GNSS Service Real-Time Service (IGS RTS).

Both apps have been validated on a Nexus 5X device with no phase support.

April 24, 2017
TerraGo includes Trimble GNSS Direct SDK in mobile products

TerraGo has joined Trimble’s Developer Partner Program, bringing Trimble GNSS Direct SDK to TerraGo’s mobile solutions. TerraGo Edge and TerraGo Magic now include Direct SDK to deliver high-accuracy positioning data from Trimble survey-grade receivers to iOS and Android mobile devices.

“We are excited that TerraGo is now part of our developer program. This relationship will enable TerraGo to embed Trimble technology into their products, and deliver GNSS position data that is fully integrated with TerraGo applications,” said Dan Colbert, manager of Partner Programs at Trimble. “The goal of this partnership is to create new opportunities and added value for TerraGo customers desiring to seamlessly bring Trimble GNSS receivers into their existing workflows by providing any level of accuracy they need for the job at hand.”

“This is great news for customers, resellers and integration partners that want the highest levels of GNSS performance from Trimble combined with the ease of use of TerraGo’s iOS and Android apps,” said Dave Basil, vice president of Product Development at TerraGo. “Many TerraGo Edge customers need better accuracy and richer positioning data than can be achieved with consumer devices. Now they can get the best of both worlds with ‘out-of-the-box’ survey-grade accuracy for all types of demanding applications including survey, utilities, energy and engineering work. At the same time, TerraGo Magic enables organizations to build their own branded, customized apps in minutes that integrate with Trimble GNSS devices, without writing any code.”

TerraGo Edge and TerraGo Magic including the Trimble GNSS Direct SDK are available today. Download the free iOS or Android app.

TerraGo is offering a live demonstration of the Trimble GNSS Direct SDK with TerraGo Edge in a Dec. 13 webinar.

November 29, 2016
Eos Positioning launches Arrow Gold high-accuracy GNSS receiver

Eos Positioning Systems has announced its most advanced high-accuracy Bluetooth GNSS receiver, the Arrow Gold. The Arrow Gold is the first high-accuracy iOS, Android and Windows Bluetooth GNSS receiver to implement all four constellations (GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou), three frequencies (L1, L2, L5) and satellite-assisted RTK.

The Arrow Gold provides 1-cm real-time accuracy in more places, and on all iOS, Android, and Windows devices. The palm-sized Arrow Gold works with any data-collection app designed for iOS, Android or Windows, which means that apps like Esri Collector, Esri ArcPad, Survey123 and others work with Arrow Gold right out of the box.

The Arrow Gold introduces an innovative RTK feature for poor cellphone coverage areas — SafeRTK. The SafeRTK feature uses satellite corrections to fill in when the user’s RTK network connection is lost. Even in populated urban areas, wireless connectivity has dead spots. For traditional RTK receivers, this is a deal-breaker. For the Arrow Gold, SafeRTK takes over when wireless coverage fails, allowing users to continue working with centimeter accuracy for up to 20 minutes, free of charge.

Another pioneering feature of the Arrow Gold is 8-cm real-time accuracy anywhere in the world, at a revolutionary price point. On all iOS, Android and Windows devices, the Arrow Gold Basic delivers 8-cm real-time accuracy anywhere in the world using all four satellite constellations and the Atlas satellite correction service.

The Arrow Gold is built for tough environments. It is palm-sized, waterproof, dust-proof and weighs under one pound. It works in the rain, dust, dirt and in rugged environments. The user can mount the Arrow Gold on a range pole or slide it in a vest pocket. The Arrow Gold’s long-range, rock-solid Bluetooth radio stays connected to your mobile device up to 1,000 meters away, and it’s field-replaceable rechargeable battery pack lasts all day.

Owing to its support of all global satellite constellations (GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou) and all planned satellite signals, the Arrow Gold will provide cutting-edge, high accuracy for the next decade, providing a return on investment (ROI) that will serve its users for years to come, Eos Positioning said. It doesn’t matter if user decides to switch from iOS to Android to Windows during the same project or years from now, the Arrow Gold has universal Bluetooth compatibility that supports all mobile devices for the forseeable future.

The Arrow Gold is targeted at high-accuracy applications such as GIS, environmental, agriculture, electric/gas/water/telecom utilities, surveying, machine control, and federal/state/local government.

October 11, 2016
Google rolls out emergency service

With more than 70 percent of calls to emergency services coming from mobile phones, getting necessary help — fast — to the caller can be challenging if they don’t know where they are or can’t communicate for any number or reasons related to the emergency. Current emergency solutions rely on cell-tower location, with a location radius of up to several kilometers, or assisted GPS, subject to errors indoors and unable to establish a floor level in tall buildings.

The U.S Federal Communications Commission estimates “improved location accuracy which results in reducing wireless E911 response time by one minute can result in saving over 10,000 lives annually.”

Google has created and rolled out in two European countries the Emergency Location Service in Android, with other regions to follow. The feature, when supported by the caller’s network, sends location from phone to emergency services when an emergency number is dialed. The feature is solely for the use of emergency service providers, and the caller’s precise location is never seen or handled by phone apps, integrating Wi-Fi, GPS, and cell towers to produce a more reliable emergency location indoors and outdoors.

Emergency Location Service is supported by more than 99 percent of existing Android devices (version 2.3 out and upwards) through Google Play services. The service activates when supported by the mobile network operator or emergency infrastructure provider.

The new geographical location system can identify the source of a mobile phone emergency call to typically within 0.003 square kilometers (less than half the size of a football field) instead of an average of around 12 square kilometers.

According to a British telecomm communiqué, “We see 84 percent being less than 50 m radius, with 16 percent up to 9 meters, 27 percent between 10 and 19 meters’ radius and 41 percent with 20–49 meter radius.”

When an emergency call is made with an enabled Android smartphone, the phone automatically activates its location service and sends its position by text message to the 999 service. This usually takes less than 20 seconds. This text message is not visible on the handset and is not charged for.

The text is automatically matched to the voice call and compared to the network’s cell-based information to ensure it is valid. The location is then made available to the appropriate emergency service, supplementing the cell-based information.
Because Google has tweaked its core Android Play Services software, it no longer needs each handset manufacturer to modify their handsets. Instead they can all be enabled as part of Google’s regular updates to its Android mobile operating system. This means the service will reach more handsets much more quickly.

September 17, 2016
Pokémon GO: Location-based app leads to accidents
We have to stop. It’s a Jigglypuff!

Common sense tells us not to hold a smartphone while driving. But a new game is so addicting, it’s causing people to forget that rule.

Released July 6 for both Android and iOS, Pokémon GO instantly became the top free app and the top grossing app on Apple’s App Store, shattering social media records and shooting Nintendo stock through the roof. And it hasn’t even been introduced in Europe and Asia yet. (Japan, of course, is the birthplace of Pokémon.)

The game uses augmented reality to place the coveted virtual monsters (Pokémon) into real-world locations, so users have to travel to add to their collections.

However, much like in the early days of GPS navigation, when people ended up driving down railroad tracks or into ponds, the Pokémon GO app has led to accidents. Some users are playing the location-based game from inside their vehicles, stopping suddenly, while pedestrians are staring at device screens as they walk through busy cities, sometimes onto private property.

In the first week:
- A 28-year-old Auburn, New York, driver ran his vehicle off the road and crashed into a tree.
- A Massachusetts man woke up to a garden full of wandering Pokémon players after his home — once a church — had been marked as a “gym” (multi-player battleground).
- A group of Missouri teenagers were arrested for armed robbery after allegedly using the app to anticipate secluded locations for holdups.
Police departments around the country are warning that anyone caught using the app while driving or jaywalking could end up with a hefty fine.

But there’s an upside, too. Gamers are going outside, getting exercise and making new social connections.

And, apparently, helping police. One 19-year-old Wyoming woman, on a quest to catch a Pokémon from a natural water resource, instead discovered a dead body floating in the Big Wind River.
August 5, 2016
Say Goodbye Proprietary GPS Devices, Hello TerraGo Edge

Broadcast date: Thursday, May 28, 2015
Sponsor: TerraGo
Moderator: Alan Cameron, Editor-In-Chief and Publisher, GPS World
Speaker: Michael Gundling, Vice President of Product Management, TerraGo
Summary: Say goodbye to expensive, single-use GPS handheld devices. That’s not the way it works anymore. TerraGo Edge replaces single-use GPS handheld devices and enables mobile workers and field crews to easily collect field data, share that data with others in real-time using any iOS or Android device and sync that information with headquarters at a fraction of the cost. With TerraGo Edge, you can save a significant amount of money, increase the ROI on your current GIS investments and improve productivity.

July 15, 2016
Google to provide raw GNSS measurements
User location takes center stage in new Android OS

Raw GNSS measurements from Android phones. Yep, they are coming. At Google we have been working with our GNSS partners to give application developers access to raw GNSS measurements from a phone.

This is really exciting, and marks a new era for our GNSS community. At Google I/O in May, we announced that raw GNSS measurements are available to apps in the Android N operating system, which will be released later this year. This means you can get pseudoranges, Dopplers and carrier phase from a phone or tablet.

When can you get it? Well, it will take some time to proliferate throughout the ecosystem, but the first phone that will provide raw measurements will be the Nexus phone that we will launch later this year, and then next year you will see new Android handsets start to support it, as it will become a mandatory feature in Android.

Tutorial. At the Institute of Navigation’s ION-GNSS+ conference this September, Frank van Diggelen and I will teach a tutorial where you can learn to access and use these raw measurements. This will be a hands-on course where you collect, view and process raw measurements. You will leave the class with the data, Google software tools, and the knowledge of how to use them.

This tutorial is open only to ION-GNSS+ attendees. To register for the conference, visit www.ion.org/gnss/registration.cfm.

Then, to tailor this tutorial to your own needs, visit this online form and let us know what you’d like us to cover in the class.

The keynote presentation at Google I/O 2016, held May 12-20 at Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, California.

More from Google I/O

Finally, I’d like to give you some highlights from Google I/O, the annual developer-focused conference held by Google in the San Francisco Bay Area.

During the keynote, Google CEO Sundar Pichai made many references to location, context and places. This was really exciting to see. We are innovating and working on a lot. It is amazing, even to me, after more than 13 years in the field of location, arriving at Google just under two years ago, to see how location and a user’s context are at the center of our connected world.

At Google, we are exposing as much as we can to the ecosystem so that innovation can thrive around us.

Sundar Pichai’s keynote address shows that user’s location is at the center for the knowledge graphs that we are building.

Conversational examples were shown on Google Assistant and on how it can be used to get things done in the world. Sundar spoke on how location and context are the key to this future, noting that a user standing next to a famous sculpture can simply ask: “Who designed this?”

All Google I/O talks from the Android Location and Context Team can be found at these YouTube links :
July 10, 2016
Laser Technology shares new time-saving mapping tools at Esri UC

Laser Technology Inc. (LTI) is offering a close-up look at its new geospatial information systems (GIS) technology at the 2016 Esri User Conference, which is being held June 27 to July 1 in San Diego, California.

Attendees are invited to stop by booth #2525 to discover how LTI can help professionals stay connected and map smarter by using its lasers and a personal smart device. The company will be handing out vouchers for a complete mapping solution, which could save GIS professionals hundreds of dollars.

The New TruPoint 300 with MapSmart on Android, by LTI.

The company’s MapSmart on Android software combines all of the sophisticated technology that is typically required to collect field data and puts it into a straightforward app for smart devices. The software simplifies the mapping process by allowing users to establish an origin quickly and begin mapping in minutes, LTI said.

With MapSmart now available on Android, users gain an improved workflow that includes wireless data transfer, a larger display and built-in help support. Users also have the ability to integrate location data by utilizing the GPS from a smart device or improve accuracy with an external antenna.

LTI is redefining the traditional total station with its brand-new TruPoint 300. A lightweight, compact, simple point-and-shoot laser with survey-grade accuracy, the TruPoint 300 costs a fraction of alternative technology. The unit measures the distance between two remote points and has onboard solutions for volume, heights and 2D and 3D areas.

Users can collect 3D measurements from a single location using a personal smart device and capture a photo of every shot taken. With the ability to collect on-site, extremely precise data in half the time, the modern total station is a go-to tool for collecting measurements quickly, easily and safely, LTI said.

“Achieving survey-grade accuracy with a compact and affordable unit is very exciting,” says Derrick Reish, senior product manager for Laser Technology’s Professional Measurement division. “Having the TruPoint 300 and our flagship TruPulse laser products communicate with MapSmart on Android allows us to offer a complete solution for field measurement and mapping.”

Imagine if you didn’t have to occupy the location you needed to map. LTI has made this possible with LaserGIS for Esri’s ArcPad data-collection software. This software allows users to fully maximize field work productivity. Working seamlessly with the current ArcPad platform, LaserGIS improves the data-collection process by making laser integration faster and easier. Users can now cover more ground in less time and measure the slope distance, inclination, azimuth and position remote features with one, simple shot.

Laser Technology Inc. is a Colorado-based designer and manufacturer of reflectorless laser measurement devices for GIS, forestry, natural resource management, general construction, utilities, mining and telecommunication applications.

June 24, 2016
myWorld Inspection & Survey v2 supports iOS, Android and Windows
Ubisense Group plc, an enterprise location-intelligence solution company, has released version 2 of myWorld Inspection & Survey. Version 2 of the software offers a host of new features to transform the way utility and telecommunications teams conduct inspections and surveys.

myWorld Inspection & Survey enables field workers to collect inspection data on any mobile device, eliminating paper-based processes and is a dramatic improvement on first-generation software solutions, Ubisense said. Users now have the flexibility to run the system on iOS, Android or Windows and dynamically push both data and application code updates, significantly reducing IT management costs, UbiSense said.

Based on discussions with existing customers, Ubisense has also incorporated a range of new workflow and data capture features to make day to day inspections and management even easier. Users of myWorld Inspection & Survey are now able to:
- Carry out multiple surveys concurrently, significantly improving productivity.
- Assign multiple crews or surveyors to a single survey or inspection order, enabling support of a wider range of existing business processes without requiring any product customization.
- Support for “dual pass” surveys, in which each survey item needs to be visited twice in order for the survey to be regarded as complete.
- Enhanced map filtering, to allow users to only display items relevant to the survey(s) that they are currently working on.
- Process checks to automatically turn off surveying when the vehicle speed exceeds a specified value, avoiding accidentally marking something as surveyed incorrectly.
“We know that our customers want the flexibility to use any device in the field,” said Peter Batty, Geospatial CTO at Ubisense. “We allow them to run iOS, Android or Windows with a single application giving them more flexibility in device selection and future proofing their hardware decisions.”
June 21, 2016