Wami 0.1 released

Senthil — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 16:25:28 GMT

Where Am I, a Windows Mobile app that I was working on, is now available for download. You can get the binaries from http://www.codeplex.com/wami. There is still a lot of fit and finish work to be done, but with the core functionality working fine, I decided to let it out in the wild and get some feedback.

There is RouteLogger.exe, which runs on the mobile phone and records cell broadcast information to a log file, along with the time interval between successive broadcasts. RouteEditor.exe, which runs on the PC, allows you to group the logged location information into names of places that you can recognize readily. RouteEditor saves the information into route files, which can then be loaded by wami.exe, running on the mobile phone. Wami gets the current cell broadcast location, indexes into the route information, and estimates the time needed to reach the final destination and intermediate points along the way.

Oh, and Wami is open source, so you can take a peek at the source code if you're interested. This being my first Windows Mobile app, your comments about the application, its usability and the source code are most welcome.

Where Am I

Senthil — Mon, 05 May 2008 19:19:00 GMT

That's my first Windows mobile application you're seeing below.

Most cellular service providers in India broadcast the location of the communicating cell tower to the phone. Where Am I (Wami) is a managed Windows Mobile application that uses the broadcast information to let you know where you are and when you will reach your destination. The screenshot above shows that I'm at INDIRA NAGAR, somewhere close to TIDEL PARK and that I'll reach home at 12:59 AM.

How does Wami do this? There's a sister application, RouteLogger, that automatically logs cell tower locations (INDIRA NAGAR, for e.g) along with the time taken to reach the current location from the previous location. You take the route log generated by RouteLogger, group the locations into broad categories that you can readily identify (TIDEL PARK, for e.g.) and then give those route details to Wami. Wami then uses that information, and the current cell tower location, to tell you where you are and when you will reach the final destination as well as intermediate locations.

I wrote this application to solve a specific problem - knowing my whereabouts when taking an overnight train. I travel to my hometown once a month and I usually choose to take an overnight train. When I wake up, I have no idea where I am or when the train will reach my hometown. Wami tells me both.

I figured that it will be useful to a lot of other people as well. The code is not ready for primetime yet, but I'll be releasing a beta version shortly. I'm also planning to set up a website that'll allow people to share route logs. If you are interested in Wami, please post a comment so I know and keep watching this space!

the blog => anything goes : Windows mobile C# software Where Am I

Wami 0.1 released

Where Am I