Trek Buddy App

From borderlandsHacklabWiki

www.trekbuddy.net wiki.trekbuddy.net

“Trekbuddy is a J2ME software to be used with a GPS receiver. It is designed to work with every Java-based mobile device. It features capabilities such as

   * GPS Lat and Long
   * Image based maps
   * Compass
   * Cockpit screen (CMS)
   * Sending SMS to people with your location

and many more.”

After multiple attempts, Trekbuddy could not be installed on the Motorola i455 for usability testing. Upon installation, user receives a “VM Class Loading Error.” A post on the site forum regarding the issue was found here: http://www.linuxtechs.net/kruch/tb/forum/viewtopic.php?t=249 However, the supplied fix did not work on the i455. Trekbuddy versions 0.9.56 and 0.9.57 beta were also tested without success. According to the wiki, “Motorola phones are very problematic for Trekbuddy.”

Trekbuddy does work on the Java Wireless Toolkit v2.5.1 Emulator, however exploring the program is difficult due to the fact that the user’s GPS location must be manually entered into the emulator. Browsing through the site forum and wiki revealed many features of the Trekbuddy application that might be considered to include in the Transborder Immigration Tool.

   * Maps – Trekbuddy does not access the Google API over the web, but users can pre-upload .tar format maps to the phone. These can be found at http://osm.bandnet.org/browse (although no maps exists for the San Diego-Arizona area).

   * Like the Geko201 Trek buddy has a compass which points the user in the direction for a desired waypoint.

   * Track logs – Trekbuddy does maintain a track log. The j2me application can store the logs in either nmea or gpx xml format. This allows users to easily download or upload track log and waypoint information to and from the phone. Can also store routes. Some web applications (such as GPS GPX Interactive Map or GPS Visualizer) support the .gpx file type for superimposing track logs over maps.