Archive for the ‘Software Development’ Category

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First alpha release of xGPS Maps Manager

Sunday, October 26th, 2008

Due to the large number of people reporting that they cannot download maps successfully on the iPhone (due to an Apple bug by the way, thanks Apple!), we have decided to already release the very very first version of the xGPS Maps Manager which allows to download maps from a computer to use it on the iPhone. So please be aware that this version is a really first version and not all the functionalities are implemented. It is reserved for advanced users as there is currently no option to directly transfer the maps to the iPhone, you have to do it manually.

To download a maps from the computer and then put it on the iPhone or iPod Touch use the following procedure:

  1. Be sure to have Java 1.5 or greater installed on your computer (installed by default on Mac OS X)
  2. Download the software xGPS Maps Manager  Use this one instead: xGPS Maps Manager 3
  3. Double-click on the downloaded file
  4. The program should now be opened
  5. Use the left scroller to adjust the zoom level to be able to select the right part of the map you want
  6. Then click on “Add region” and then click on the map to draw a closed polygon.
  7. Repeat the step 6 the number of time you want. Regions can also be overlapped. The software will not download two times the map.
  8. When you are ready with your map regions, select the zoom level at which you want to download the maps. To do so enter a number between 0 (the most detailed zoom level) and 17 (the less detailed one) in the text box right after “Download maps at zoom-level:”.
  9. Press “Download selected maps regions” to start the download.
  10. To download maps at multiple zoom level, just repeat the step 6 to 8 for a different zoom level.
  11. When it is finished, close the program.
  12. Go to the same directory where you have downloaded the software.
  13. A new file should have been created called “xGPS_map.db”
  14. You have to put this file in the iPhone at /var/mobile/Library (overwrite the current one if it exists). To do it you can use WinSCP or any other SFTP file transfer utility.
  15. Launch xGPS on your device and the new maps are here! Success!

As we said, it is reserved for advances users. A more simpler version will be available in the future.

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Posted in Software Development | 31 Comments »

New GPS to be sold

Tuesday, October 14th, 2008

We cannot reveal all the details but we will sold new GPS for iPhone / iPod Touch. In order to see how many people are interested we are providing the following form to register yourself to be able to buy one. So if you are interested in buying one of these GPS Modules for iPhone 2G and iPod Touch 1G please subscribe to the form below.

Just a little word about the xGPS Software. We have finally found the bug which sometimes crash the application. It’s a huge bug and will require a certain time to correct it. We hope to make a new fixed release next week.

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Posted in Sales, Software Development | 6 Comments »

Small update

Wednesday, October 8th, 2008

We have just released a small update for the xGPS Software (Version 1.0.1-3). All changes can be find in the Changelog page. For people which had problems for downloading large areas of the map, it should be now corrected.

However we would like to call attention to the change of the “GPS Enable” button. This button has now 3 modes: Enable GPS and Disable GPS in blue or in gray-blue. When the Disable GPS with blue background is displayed, it means that the map will follow your moves according to the GPS position. If the Disable GPS button is displayed without the blue background (with a gray-blue background as the other buttons) it means that the map will not follow your moves (i.e the blue pin will not stay on the center of the screen).

For the last xGPS modules we have in stock, we will probably open the orders the next week. Unfortunately there will be only 2 to 3 items to sell. So be sure to come on this blog or to subscribe to the RSS feeds to know when the orders will be open.

We also are finalizing our software to download the maps on the computer and then send it to the iPhone. The software will be released, first, in a beta version which not all the features available but it will be sufficient to download and send maps to the xGPS software. The software is written in JAVA so it will run on Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. Maybe on other plateform but it will not be tested on.

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Posted in Software Development | 10 Comments »

New release of xGPS Software

Saturday, September 27th, 2008

We are proud to present to you the new version of xGPS Software numbered 1.0.1-1. It corrects a lot of bugs and adds the support for iPhone 3G GPS and iGPSD cables. For more information about the changes, go to the ChangeLog page.

This version has also the support to search for cities or locations. Please keep in mind that if you want to search for a street you HAVE to enter also the city name. Because the search is Google based, you will have to have an Internet connection to search for places. Other important improvement is the support for other languages in the interface (Italian, German, French and Dutch for now). If anyone is interested to translate this software in another language feel free to contact us.

For those who want to use the xGPS software with iGPSD cable (sold here: http://store.igpsd.com), they have to provide a license number in the software. For the people they have bought a cable before the 27th September 2008, they have to acquire the license number on our store: http://store.xwaves.net. For the other you should have received your license number along with your cable.

Unfortunately we have a problem on our store. It is not currently possible to place an order because of some problems in our payment system. It will be restored on next Tuesday. Any news about this problem will be posted here.

Concerning the hardware question, we will not produce anymore xGPS Modules but support will still be available for this product. However we have still a few pieces in stock and they will be sold when the time comes (in about one month). More information about this will be also posted here. However we have made a partnership with the iGPSD team to provide a powerful GPS solution with their cable and our software.

We will end this post by thanking all the people helping us to develop this software. We have 3 people working on the translations of the software and one on the graphic part. So we would gracefully thanks:

  • Suondmao (Website: http://www.suondmao.altervista.org) for the Italian translation, the xGPS Logo and other graphical parts.
  • Gerard for his Dutch translation
  • Difensiphone for the German translation
We will now concentrate ourselves on the maps drawing engine which will display the driving directions.
If you have any questions about the software, please read the pages here: http://store.xwaves.net/?inc=products&id=2 before asking.
Thank you all for your support.

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Posted in Software Development | 23 Comments »

Status update

Saturday, September 6th, 2008

We are happy to say that all orders have been shipped (or will be shipped on Monday as the weekend is not working days). If you don’t already have received a shipment confirmation email, you should receive by Monday. If you still not have received it on Monday, please contact us.

The xGPS and xGPS Util softwares have some known bugs which include:

  • The speed doesn’t get refreshed (or doesn’t work at all in some case). It is a software problem and NOT an hardware one.
  • The software sometimes says that the xGPS Module is disconnected although it is connected. It is also a bug in the software and it is not due to the xGPS Module.

Next week will be holiday week for us. We will still answer to urgent email, but support will be less responsive for a week. Then we will start hardly developing the xGPS software to get something really stable.

For the iGPSD customers, we are currently in touch with this team to make our software working with their cables / products. So keep you updated by reading this blog.

Thank you all for your interest in our project.

Posted in Sales, Software Development | 21 Comments »

First public release of xGPS

Tuesday, September 2nd, 2008

We finally get a more or less usable version of our xGPS software (we are late of 2 hours, yes :-) .

Before wanting to try the software, please make sure to understand the following sentences:

The current version of the software (1.0.0-1) is the first public alpha version. It means that not all the features are implemented and a lot of known bugs are present. You are entirely responsible to use this software.

The current version does not implement the driving directions or the possibility to search for a city. It will be implemented in the near future. The current version has also a problem with the detection of the xGPS module. Sometimes the button “Enable GPS / Disable GPS” disappear even if the xGPS module is connected. If you get that, you can relaunch the software if you want.

To download maps for using it offline, you can tap on Settings and then manage maps. Then you can select an area of the map and tap download to download it. Yes, we know that it is difficult to select an area without pushing the zoom buttons. It is being corrected :-) .

This version is just here for testing purpose and it is in either cases not supported. We will not answer to any question if the software doesn’t work.

The xGPS software is only compatible on firmware 2.0 and greater (2.0.1 and 2.02 etc…) and works only with xGPS Modules (you can also use it without a GPS).

To install it, add the following repository to Cydia (if you don’t know how to do it, just read the quick start guide of xGPS module again):

http://cydia.xwaves.net/

Then browse the Navigation category and select xGPS.

Concerning the shipment of the xGPS modules, we have still a little delay. We hope to finish to send all the orders by the end of the week.

Thank you for your interest in our project.

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Posted in Software Development | 23 Comments »

Shipping delays

Tuesday, August 26th, 2008

Unfortunately there are never only good news. We are experiencing some shipping delay due to a late shipment from our suppliers and some delay on the production line. First orders have been shipped today (Tuesday 26th August 2008). Some others will be shipped later on the afternoon. You will receive a shipment confirmation email when your order has been shipped. The current delay should be about one week (5 working days). We are very sorry for that. We are working day and night to make up for lost time.

Concerning the software we are making our best effort to try to release a very first alpha version with minimal features on the first of September. We cannot say more now, we simply don’t know more :-) .

Again, we are very sorry for the encountered delays. Thank you to be patient.

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Posted in Sales, Software Development | 8 Comments »

Progress report

Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008

A small post to summarize the work done until now. Because of some legal problems we have delayed the opening of the orders. But now we will focus all our efforts to be able to accept orders on the 31th of July. The final product photos and videos will be presented on this date too.

On the software side we have solved a lot of bug and have quite finished the driving directions support.

Many have asked the following questions:

- Will this software be compatible with firmware 2.0 ? Yes it will be.

- Will the software be on the AppStore: No. Because of the very restrictive conditions of use of the Apple SDK. Moreover the serial port is not accessible anymore on non-jail-broken devices.

- Will the software be free: Yes.

- To which countries are you shipping: Worldwide.

- Does driving directions work in my country ? Check on Google Maps. If it works on Google Maps, it will work in xGPS.

Thank you for your interest in the project.

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Posted in Hardware Developement, Sales, Software Development | 9 Comments »

First public software preview available

Wednesday, July 9th, 2008

From the last time we wrote, a lot of work has been done.

First a little word about the hardware. We are still waiting some crucial components to finalize the product but it should be (and MUST be) finished next week. We will then open the orders.

We have worked a lot on the software side. It is not still finished but it is at least somehow usable. You can scroll a map, download a map, get driving directions to a place / address and get your GPS position showed on the map. There is even voice support. It means that driving directions are spoken into your earphones. Just try to push the Go To button and enter the desired driving directions. Then click on Go To and listen to. You should hear the first driving direction.

As you will see there is still some work to do. There is no way to go to a place by entering its name. Driving directions should change according to the GPS position but it’s not currently the case and finally scrolling the map is really hard. It will be improved. And last things: to zoom in / zoom out, double tap the map with one / two fingers. It should be also improved :-) .

You will also notice the ability to download maps to be used offline, without any Internet connection. To use this feature, just tap on the Maps button. Then use your two fingers to select an area of the map you want to download. Click on download and the map is downloaded and can then be used offline. You have to know that the maps are downloaded at the deepest zoom level only (the zoom level which is set at the launch of the software).

How to test this first version:

  1. Just use the Installer and add the following repository: http://irepo.xwaves.net
  2. Refresh your sources and then go to the Xwaves category and install the xGPS software.
  3. Exit the installer and launch the new xGPS software that appears on your home screen. It will work even if you have no GPS and should work both on iPod touch and iPhone.

Please notice that there is no support for this version of the software. It is only proposed for testing purpose.

Stay in touch for hot news, next week.

Here is the main screen. Thank you to the iSpazio team for the screenshots of this article.

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Posted in Software Development | 24 Comments »

Welcome

Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008

Welcome to the new website of the xGPS project. This project goal is to develop an open GPS hardware and software solution for the iPod touch and the iPhone. It is work-in-progress project. Please don’t ask when it will be finished because we simply don’t know :-) !

We have finished the first part of the UI. The first version will be integrated into the Maps applications. See below for a screenshot.

Posted in Software Development | 25 Comments »

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