[djscribble]

Getting Location Information on Sprint PCS Cellphones

DISCLAIMER: I have not tried any of this, so don't blame me

For quite some time commercial cell phone carriers have been building in location based services (LBS) in comply with the E911 initiative. Unfortunatly, most carriers with exception of Nextel have not been making this information available for developers. After doing some research today, I think that for Sprint PCS this information is beginning to be available, albeit not publicized.

For a few years developers have been complaining to Sprint about lack of LBS support. If one goes through the developer forums at Sprint, it is full of nasty comments on lack of LBS support. However at the same time, Sprint has begun to offer two options for using LBS, but not making it very public yet:

1. J2ME / MIDP 2.0.
For phones that have MIDP 2.0, LBS services are available but restricted. All together four APIs are listed as restricted on Sprint's developer site (go to "Market", "Device Activation"). They are "LBS: Location Based Services", "JSR-135 Mobile Media 1.1 API", "JSR-120 Wireless Messaging 1.1 API" and "JSR-75 Personal information Management (PIM)". To bypass the restriction two options are possible: either a $400 digital certificate from VeriSign OR disabling the restriction on specific phones via the developer site. The assumption is that if you manage to bypass the restrictions, the LBS API is open. Unfortunatly, on my Treo 600 this is not an option since PalmOne or IBM does not ship these APIs with their JVM. Hopefully when Sprint launches "Vision 2.0" AKA MIDP 2.0, these will become available.

After browsing through Sprint PCS's J2ME toolkit for MIDP 2.0, I came across the actual APIs that are used for this. Instead of using any of the proposed JSR APIs, Sprint chose to use Qualcomm's Java Application Extensions (QJAE). Sprint's toolkit does not include the actual API, but the documentation can be downloaded from Qualcomm's site after filling in a licensing form. It includes one package called "com.qualcomm.qloc.gps" which contains the actual APIs for GPS. Sprint's toolkit actually includes all of the GPS compiled class files in the "Emulator/lib/midp.zip" folder and the GPS simulator in "Emulator/bin/traveler". Assuming you got around the restrictions mentioned above by deactiving your phone through the developer site, this API should be available. Make sure to check that your phone is MIDP 2.0 compliant.

2. Business Mobility Framework.
Sprint has also posted information on their developer site about the "Sprint Business Mobility Framework" (under "Developer Resources"). This framework is a set of web services that can be called with the phone number of a Sprint PCS subscriber and return location information. Of course, in order to do so access to the gateway is needed and that is something that only Sprint PCS can provide. Combine this with the web services kit for J2ME that IBM is working on, and it might be possible to use these directly from the phone.

UPDATE: If you will lucky enough, you can try out this small J2ME GPS testing utility I wrote. Another possible try is to press ##4771 (##GPS1) on your phone.

http://www.shaftek.org/blog/archives/000139.html

[lgmayka]

Originally Posted by djscribble

http://www.shaftek.org/blog/archives/000139.html

Unfortunately, the GPS test utility has been removed from that Web page. Did anyone save it before it disappeared? I plan to buy an MM7400 for a relative soon, and it would be very cool to demonstrate the GPS capability for him.

[eppitek]

did anything develop any further from this ?

[andy71600]

i have the .jar file for that app, but it does not seem to run on my 7400 if anyone else wants to try the url is http://www.shaftek.org/tmp/GpsTester.jar

[fl00d_pr0z]

So according to that, it wouldn't have worked with the T600 anyway right ?

[andy71600]

no clue, sorry. When i try to run the app i get as far as to selecting "Get Location" in the menu, and then the app terminates.

[fl00d_pr0z]

I'll have to see if I can get it to do anything when my GF gets home with her 8200 since my T600 doesn't do anything with it.

[andy71600]

I just got off the phone with CS. I was told that Sprint is not in the process of developing their GPS technology due to the face that nextel will soon be a part of Sprint, and they already have the infrastructure in place in order to utilize the GPS functionality of our phones. So i guess we just have to wait...

[The Lance]

Originally Posted by andy71600

I just got off the phone with CS. I was told that Sprint is not in the process of developing their GPS technology due to the face that nextel will soon be a part of Sprint, and they already have the infrastructure in place in order to utilize the GPS functionality of our phones. So i guess we just have to wait...

Yep.. waiting.. I just wonder how long that is going to be.. our Phones has been GPS capable for 2 years..

[Clash]

From what I've heard around this messageboard, it should be around the beginning of the summer... hopefully this is correct, but alas, you can never-be-too sure.

[topher694]

Originally Posted by andy71600

I just got off the phone with CS. I was told that Sprint is not in the process of developing their GPS technology due to the face that nextel will soon be a part of Sprint, and they already have the infrastructure in place in order to utilize the GPS functionality of our phones. So i guess we just have to wait...

That's BS. As Clash said it'll be early this summer... it's currently being tested 'n stuff.

[andy71600]

Well I have been exchanging e-mails with the division of Qualcomm that is dealing with all GPS related development and "Today there are about 25 application developers actively using our service, with hopes of being selected by Sprint or Verizon for service when they do launch."

[fl00d_pr0z]

And why would Qualcomm share that info with you ?

[andy71600]

Originally Posted by fl00d_pr0z

And why would Qualcomm share that info with you ?

Simply because I explained our situation, asked if anything was being done about it, and asked if I could aid in any testing that needed to be done.

Here is the e-mail:
http://img227.echo.cx/img227/8314/proof7hf.jpg

[andy71600]

ah dang more news...

We’ve definitely gone beyond that point, having furnished an API to Sprint over a year ago, and worked with a third party who developed demo apps for their execs. The problem is not in the positioning area, but clearly something on the business side that has them concerned. I personally worked and worried with them two years ago over privacy concerns, which is still a big worry.

It seems as if everything is almost done just awaiting aproval by the big guys...