Location-based services overview

You can create location and maps-based apps with the Location-Based Services APIs that the BlackBerry Java SDK provides. You can use these APIs to retrieve the location of a BlackBerry device, display location information in a map, and navigate to a location.

You can retrieve location information for a device with following services:

  • GPS: Provides location information by using GPS satellites
  • Geolocation: Provides an approximate location by using cell tower positioning and WLAN access points
  • Geocoding and reverse geocoding: Provides geospatial coordinates for a street address (geocoding), and provides a street address for geospatial coordinates (reverse geocoding)

Once you have a location, there are other Location APIs that you can implement to help make your application even more location-aware. For example, you can receive proximity alerts when a user enters the perimeter of a geofenced location, and you can retrieve the bearing between a start location and an end location.

To display location information, you can embed and build a custom mapping application with the Maps API that is provided in the net.rim.blackberry.api.maps package, or you can integrate your application with BlackBerry Maps.

To provide navigation information such as the estimated time of arrival, you can use the Travel Time API that is provided in the net.rim.device.api.lbs.travel package. The Travel Time API uses current and historical traffic data to provide an estimate for the total travel time and distance for automobile travel to destinations in the United States and Canada.

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