Developing Android Applications with Adobe AIR

Maps

Several geocoding systems and companies offer web services for the consumer market. They all provide similar features. A map is received. It is drawn or a composite of satellite pictures or street tiles is drawn, the latter being more common for mobile devices. It can pan and zoom. Geographical locations or points of interest are represented in the form of markers. Additional features include custom itineraries, the display of specific areas in color, driving and biking directions, and business searches.

Some of the better-known geocoding systems are Google Maps, Yahoo! Maps, Bing Maps, GeoNames, and USC Geocoder. As the technology is rapidly growing, this list may soon expand or change. A lot of map services get their information from NAVTEQ and Tele Atlas, companies that sell databases of geodata, or from MaxMind which sells IP geolocation data. Google now has its own full set of geodata, gathered by its street-view cars.

Launching Google Maps

As we previously discussed, you can collect a point location (latitude, longitude) using the Geolocation class, and pass it to the device using a URI handler. It then presents the user with the option of using the native Maps application or launching Google Maps in the browser:

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET" /> import flash.events.GeolocationEvent; import flash.net.navigateToURL; import flash.net.URLRequest; import flash.sensors.Geolocation; function onTravel(event:GeolocationEvent):void { geolocation.removeEventListener(GeolocationEvent.UPDATE, ...