Testers Required

[a2bsam]

Hi,

 

Hope this isn't too advertisey - I'm only posting as I've been following geocaching for a while and I think it might be interesting for cachers.

 

We're just starting a new location-based search engine:

 

http://www.a2b.cc

 

We're just going into beta-testing now and are looking for some GPS-savvy folk to sign up, test, and comment (either here or on the A2B forum at http://forum.a2b.cc ) - there are still quite a few things which need improving and we could really do with some comments/feedback.

 

Posting in this forum as we have a free piece of GPS software, GPSCookie, for Win95/98/2000/XP and Pocket PC OS (and Tinystocks also has full-featured, paid software called Navio which should soon contain the A2B functionality).

 

Thoughts?

 

Best wishes,

 

Sam

[+Volwrath]

So you want me to install spyware that will upload my exact coordinates (probably all my waypoints to you so you can give me the POI information that is already in my gps? Looks like a scam to me.

[a2bsam]

No spyware at all (and definitely no intention in that area, we're techies not criminals) - nothing runs in the background and GPSCookie only uploads your position when you press the button and doesn't do it automatically.... plus you can use a Hotmail address or something if you want to remain 100% anonymous. Also, we promise never to pass on any user information to 3rd parties.

 

Feel free to keep posting here or on the A2B forum (or mail me) if you've got questions about the setup.

 

Thanks,

 

Sam

[a2bsam]

BTW it doesn't do anything with the waypoints in your GPS either - just reads the NMEA messages to grab your current position and upload them.

[Swagger]

No linux or PalmOS support.

[a2bsam]

No, sorry about that.... I've got two things to say though:

 

1. Tinystocks, the company which wrote GPSCookie, has plenty of experience writing PalmOS software (as you can see from their site at http://www.tinystocks.com if you have a look), so I'm hoping we'll get a copy of GPSCookie soon for PalmOS.

 

2. The "API" for uploading your position is open (I'll be writing a PDF in the next few days documenting it) and is very simple, so people can implement A2B functionality into their own GPS software (and other positioning software). If you want a copy of the PDF once done, and/or are interesting in developing, please feel free to drop me a mail.

 

Thanks,

 

Sam

[+Volwrath]

I guess I don't really understand the point of A2B. How is it different than using POIs? Please elaborate

[+Criminal]

No spyware at all (and definitely no intention in that area, we're techies not criminals) - SNIP

How did I get mixed up in this?

[+dino_hunters]

Did a search and the closest POI to my house was over 500 MILES away. Not too usefull for me

[a2bsam]

Good question, and thanks for commenting. I guess the main difference is that A2B (well, GPSCookie) allows you to automatically upload your position from your GPS device and search automatically based on your latest position.

 

It also allows you to take the URL of any website (and soon any POI, regardless of whether it has a URL associated with it), tie it to a latitude and longitude, and add it. If the site has a GeoURL- or GEOTAG-style location meta tag in its HTML it will pull it in automatically as well.

 

Let's say there's a business down the road with a website. You know the business' lat/long, so you add the URL and lat/long to A2B, now you (and other people) can see its distance come up in a search.

 

All comments most definitely welcome... in the coming weeks/months we will be adding keyed categories, removing the requirement for a URL (so you can add POIs which don't have URLs, and we will have some interesting categories too), and adding street-address geocoding for 12 countries (hopefully more).

 

Thanks again,

 

Sam

[a2bsam]

Yeah, at the moment there aren't many links in there (although we're adding them as fast as we can). Tell me where you live and I'll try and add some near to you (or you can add some yourself).

 

I guess we're hoping (and crossing fingers that) people will be adding nearby sites and then we'll gradually build up some content. Don't forget that we're just in the early stages (this forum is the first place I've put up a link) and hope it will grow!

 

We're also hoping it will prove really useful once the small-screen site is up and those GPS-enabled cellphones/smartphones start coming along.

 

Thanks,

 

Sam

 

PS Sorry about the "criminals" reference.... ;-)

[+Sparky-Watts]

Apparently I'm missing something.....this sounds like you want the information that is already available through a few hundred websites? So that I, or another user, can search a POI the same as I can do with my little handheld GPS that lists POI's as close as 500 feet from me, whereas your search engine lists the nearest a few hundred miles away? Hmmm......nah!

[+geckoee]

Looking back on my post, I found it was rather short sited. In locations where online yellow page listings do not exist, or there is lack of a comprehensive listing, A2B fills a great void. Just not so usefull in the US.

Edited March 2, 2004 by geckoee

[a2bsam]

Well, some of the information is indeed available through other websites, but I don't think any of them allow you to automatically find the nearest links using your GPS device directly rather than typing in a street address or a latitude/longitude.

 

On the other matter, in the future we're hoping it will indeed be rather like a location-aware phone book/yellow pages, where you can drill down through the categories (or search for them), but we plan to have, in addition to the usual categories, rather more esoteric categories of POI suggested by users (example: you want to put an interesting tree into A2B, you will be able to do so, with comments, in the "interesting trees" section).

 

Thanks for checking it out anyway. Has anyone tried it with GPSCookie and a GPS device yet? We're looking forward to seeing people put in some sites and populate their towns/cities/local areas.

 

Sam

[+-=(GEO)=-]

Hummm....

 

How does this compare to something like the MapPoint Web Service ?

[a2bsam]

I think the comparison is basically:

 

1. MapPoint Web Service provides mapping data (so maps) and POIs from a database licensed from NavTech. This restricts you to a fairly limited set of normal POIs, which aren't usually connected to http URLs, and it doesn't allow people to add their own. It also doesn't allow any "innovation" in terms of POIs, which A2B will allow in the future. On the other hand, A2B doesn't do maps or routing (yet).

 

2. MapPoint Web Service (as opposed to MapPoint the stand-alone app) doesn't have a feature allowing you to grab your position from a GPS device and use this position, in combination with an Internet connection, to search automatically. We've had some real fun doing this on a GPRS-connected PocketPC device with an Emtac Bluetooth GPS device on the move.

 

Thanks,

 

Sam