Version 1.42.01 - Touch screen updates (August 22nd, 2009)

Changes in the new version:

  • Detection of Windows Mobile was improved to enable support for GPSGate/GPSPort connectivity on all WM phones.
  • Handling of up key ('u') was fixed on Blackberry. You can still use the trackball as the recommended alternative to move the map.
  • Support for full-screen map on LG phones was fixed.
  • An icon for switching maps is displayed again on all touchscreen phones.
  • Added larger buttons for high-res touch screens (over 640x480). Tip: If map text is displayed too small on your high-res screen, enable Double size in Settings/Display.
  • Map versions were updated.

Version 1.39.21 was also released and includes most of these changes.

gMapMaker v0.7.3.1 (August 18th, 2009)

A new version of gMapMaker is available, it includes a number of fixes and improvements:

  • Updated map versions to fix support for all map types.
  • Fixed a bug with parallel downloads
  • Fixed the size of the download progress window
  • Merged Damien Debin's last version (v0.7.0.0) that updates support for proxy lists and adds a Reset button to reset MGMaps settings to defaults.
  • Merged Ray Gilbert's changes, he added support to select the map area to download when downloading a single zoom level.

Download it from http://www.mgmaps.com/cache.

MGMaps v1.42 (June 29th, 2009)

We have recently updated support for touchscreen in MGMaps, v1.42.00 and v1.39.20 are out with the following changes:

  • Icons for touchscreen phones were changed, the application now shows a bar at the bottom for more convenient zooming.
  • Other touchscreen improvements and fixes: double click to zoom in, click a placemark to view details.
  • Support for internal GPS on Nokia phones was improved. Also fullscreen support for Nokia touchscreens (5800 and N97) was fixed.
  • The Blackberry version fixes support for internal GPS, adds all the touchscreen improvements on Storm, and includes some other tweaks.
  • Other bug fixes.

Get the latest versions from the download page.

MGMaps updated versions (March 31st, 2009)

MGMaps was updated this month to use the latest map versions and fix some bugs. You can now download v1.39.18 (stable) and v1.41.04 (development) from the download page.

Name confusions (March 14th, 2009)

Is this application named Mobile GMaps or MGMaps? Both actually, Mobile GMaps is the "long name" and MGMaps is the "short" one. Is there any connection between gMapMaker and Google Map Maker? No connection, just a name overlap. How is GMap-Track related to MGMaps? GMap-Track is a website that integrates with MGMaps to provide friend-tracking.

All these are rather confusing, so I'm turning to you, the users, to suggest the best way out of this. Please see the MGMaps Forum for a detailed discussion.

gMapMaker update (v0.7.2) (February 20th, 2009)

gMapMaker was updated to version 0.7.2.1. It includes a few bug fixes/new features:

  • Map versions were updated to show the latest map data.
  • Support for Ask maps was removed, Ask.com now uses Microsoft Live maps.
  • The download window now shows a pause/resume button, useful if you are downloading a lot of maps and need more bandwidth or just want to suspend your computer.
  • The cancel button stops the download immediately, instead of waiting for all download threads as it did before.
  • The cancel button changes to close when the download is complete.
  • Added support for OpenStreetMap Cycle Maps.

You can always get the latest version of gMapMaker from http://www.mgmaps.com/cache/. The map version updates will be added as soon as possible to MGMaps too.

P.S. I noticed today some display errors on the MGMaps homepage, all should be fine now.

Recent Updates and 2009 Plans (December 31st, 2008)

It's been a long time since the last post here. Because some people asked, let me start by saying that this project is far from dead. There were no code changes or new features added lately because I worked on some other projects, but there's still a lot of activity on the forum at http://forum.mgmaps.com. In fact you should check the forum for updates, especially related to Windows Mobile phones, stored maps and GPS support. And there's some very good news, the MGMaps project is going to be available under an open-source license... more on that in a future post.

For now, here's a list of changes and news since the last post:

  • Stored maps updates:
    • gMapMaker was updated to v0.7.1.9 to fix a few problems.
    • There are a few other stored maps utilities on the forum, see this topic for links and tutorials.
  • Updates for Windows Mobile phones:
    • A few versions of Esmertec Jbed are available for download on the forum.
    • GPS on Windows Mobile is available through third party applications like GPSGate (commercial) or GPSPort (free). More info... again on the forum, here or here.
    • Coming soon: improved support for touchscreen devices, with larger and better arranged icons.
  • If all goes well, 2009 will find MGMaps ported to more devices. We plan to improve support for Blackberry and Windows Mobile, create a PC version to display offline maps and support GPS connectivity, add support for Android phones...
  • Applications based on MGMaps are starting to take form, I developed the J2ME mobile version for Trapster, a speed trap sharing system. If you want to add mapping features to an existing J2ME application or just need a new mobile app developed, contact me!

A Happy New Year to you!

MGMaps v1.39.17 (September 8th, 2008)

The latest MGMaps v1.39.17 includes the following changes:

  • Fixed several bugs in GPS support for blackberry.
  • A new option in Advanced settings allows you to add a string to all web connections made by the application. This option is useful only on Blackberry phones. You can select ";deviceside=true;interface=wifi" to use the WiFi interface, or one of the other predefined options if you're using online maps and the map doesn't show up. Restart the application after changing this option to (re)load the map.
  • A bug was fixed in zoom/map type switcher, the map was sometimes incorrectly moved when switching map types in zoomed-in levels.
  • Several other problems were fixed.

If you find any bugs or problems in the new version, leave a message on the forum.

Status Updates (August 3rd, 2008)

After a break of two months, we're back with a few updates:

  • MGMaps v1.41.03 fixes a few problems in earlier versions and brings a few updates:
    • Added support for Walking Directions and Avoid Highways options. These are configurable in the Search screen.
    • Application user-agent was changed to fix some compatibility problems with custom map providers and some operators.
    • Advanced settings menu was fixed, it was not functional before.
    • Poland and Czech Republic were added to the list of "home" countries in the search screen.
    • (since v1.41.02) A new GPS option is available on Windows Mobile phones, GPSGate. As the internal GPS is not supported by default on most WM phones, this option allows MGMaps to connect to a 3rd party software (such as GPSGate or GPSPort) that provides a virtual GPS port. For more information see the topic on the forum.
    • Other minor bugs were fixed.
  • MGMaps v1.39.16 is also out, it includes some of the fixes in v1.41.03 — user-agent fix and GPSGate support.
  • gMapMaker was updated to v0.7.1 beta 4, it includes the user-agent fix described above.
  • Dmytro Dykhman is working on a few updates to MGMaps for Blackberry, he has added support for Offline Search (search for an address within a preloaded list of geocoded addresses) and a few other features. For more information and download links, see the forum.
  • The Verisign certificate that I'm using is expiring in less than three weeks. I have applied for a new one, but the current versions of MGMaps signed with the old one will not install after August 22. I have started a topic on the forum where you can post requests to re-sign specific versions that you may need to install or re-install on your phone.

Stay tuned for more important announcements coming this month!

Development Version 1.41.02 - Import/Export Favorites (June 1st, 2008)

A new development version of MGMaps is out, with the following changes:

  • You can now export favorites to a KML file in the filesystem or import them from a previously saved list. In order to do this, open Menu->Favorites and select Export KML or Import KML in the menu. Tip: you can import placemarks from any KML file into the favorites list using the Import KML feature.
  • Added support for OpenStreetMap Cycle Map, you can enable it in Settings/Map Types.
  • "Cancel" now closes the menu completely, instead of going back to the parent menu. You can navigate through the menus using the arrow keys, up/down - scroll menu, right - open submenu, left - go back to parent menu.
  • The "Startup" favorite is no longer shown in the favorites list.
  • Fixed problem with odd/even zoom levels.
  • Map versions were updated to point to the latest maps/imagery.
  • Other minor problems were fixed.

Download the new version from the Download page, select "Development Version" and your desired platform.

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