Mobile Geospatial Applications: A New GIS Paradigm
Technology
The following is a brief review of the various technologies that makes mobile GIS applications possible.
There are four major areas of emphasis, which include computer hardware, platform architecture, GPS,
wireless communications, and software.
Computing Hardware
The ideal computing platform for mobile GIS is one that combines power, portability, and durability.
Portable computing platforms in ever-decreasing size and cost and with ever-increasing performance
profiles have made cost an irrelevant issue. The typical platform for mobile GIS tends to be a laptop computer, although smaller pen based systems and PDAs (personal digital assistants) are becoming
more popular and are more ergonomically suited for mobile work.
PDAs and handheld devices – For mobile platforms the emphasis is now on size (referred to as the
form factor), overall external design, ease of use and communications capabilities. PDAs, pen based
systems, smart phones, and other hand held computing devices have a great potential in that they offer
new user interface modalities that allow the form factor to continue to shrink. Laptops and portables are
limited by the ergonomics of the keyboard. Also keyboard -based devices are difficult to use under
certain conditions such as driving. A voice-activated interface is another desirable feature. PDAs and
handheld devices are diskless and, in general, tend to be more rugged than laptop computers. GIS
applications are inherently graphical and therefore well suited for pen-based systems.
Platform Architecture
Laptop based systems essentially duplicate the desktop environment (Windows NT/98, MacOs, and
Linux). In terms of innovation and potential what is promising are the OS and architectures for the new
hand held devices.
Palm OS and the Palm Architecture – 3COM has done an excellent job in designing the Palm
architecture from the ground up and as a result has garnered extensive accolades and strong demand for
the Palm platform. There are now over 10000 applications and 50000 registered software developers
writing applications for the Palm Pilot. In addition, 3Com has agreements with Sony to incorporate the
Palm OS into consumer electronic devices, and an agreement with Quallcom to incorporate Palm OS
into its CDMA digital phone.
Microsoft Windows CE - Microsoft entered the market late in the PDA arena but its Windows CE OS
for hand held computing is delivering the promise of a robust OS for handheld devices. It can run
tailored down versions of Microsoft applications
Java – Java gave us interoperability across platforms thanks to the Virtual Machine technology. JINI, a
networking Java based technology will allow all kinds of software and hardware components to coexist
seamlessly on a network. Various players (Sun, IBM, Ericcson) are currently working on a variety of
projects, including Java OS for phones, PDAs, and other devices.
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