I’m sure you have heard the buzz about iOS 6, Apple Maps, and alternatives to Apple Maps; in fact, at this point, I would be surprised if you haven’t! While this topic was dominating the headlines, the MapQuest mobile development team was busy putting the finishing touches on the next release of the Android Maps API. Version 1.0.4 is available for download today and includes the following bug fixes and enhancements:

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed an issue related to map tiles not showing up in certain situations
• Fixed a bug in default route narrative rendering
• Fixed alignment issues and a bug when setting focus on an item in an ItemizedOverlay

Enhancements:

• Added the option to turn off auto-starting of guidance and the ability to use custom messaging instead of the default prompt in MapQuestAppLauncher
• Added the ability to customize the background loading tile
• Added the ability for a MyLocation overlay to use a plain Drawable instead of a BitmapDrawable to more easily customize the marker
• Made drawing more efficient for larger sets of points in a LineOverlay
• Changed the pointer height and width calculations to allow for customization in an AnnotationView
• Removed enforcement of subclassing of MapActivity when using maps

The Android Maps API is designed to be a drop-in replacement for the existing mapping framework included with the Android operating system and includes many of the features MapQuest is known for, such as integrated maps and driving directions, geocoding, and the ability to switch between licensed and open data.

We always like to hear about the great apps that you’ve built with our APIs, so if you’ve built something using the Android Maps API and want us to feature it, let us know by tweeting us @MapQuestTech!

The MapQuest iOS Maps API essentially takes the default iOS mapping tools a step – or a few steps – farther, by offering features currently unavailable to iOS developers, such as integrated driving directions and the ability to choose between licensed MapQuest and MapQuest-OSM data and map tiles. Getting started is a breeze; the iOS Maps API uses the same object model as the default iOS mapping tools, so it is an easy, drop-in replacement. Simply download the API toolkit and samples, add the MQMapKit framework to your project, and ensure that the import statements are referencing the MQMapKit framework. That’s it! Code samples are included with the download and the Developer Network Forums are always a great resource for answering questions and meeting other developers who use MapQuest APIs.

The iOS Maps API 1.0.1 release also incorporates enhancements and bug fixes that have been made as a result of feedback provided by developers on the Developer Network Forums, Twitter, meetups that we have attended, and MapQuest Enterprise Solutions developers who have already started to build applications based on the beta releases. This release improves overlay rendering and memory and tile usage and fixes iOS 5 MapKit incompatibilities that were reported during the beta. A full changelog is included with the release notes, so be sure to take a look.

Not an iOS developer? We’ve still got you covered. MapQuest offers many options for mobile developers:

• Android Maps API – The Android Maps API is available to Android developers who wish to incorporate the MapQuest platform into native Android applications.
• Mobile Flash Maps API – The Mobile Flash Maps API is available to Flex developers who create native Android and iOS applications by utilizing the ‘build once, deploy everywhere‘ functionality included in the Flex SDK.
• JavaScript Maps API – The JavaScript Maps API supports touch gestures and can be used to create feature rich browser-based mobile Web applications.
• MapQuest Web Services – The MapQuest Web Services can be accessed directly by any client capable of making HTTP requests, so if the previous options are not a good fit for your project, the Web Services are yet another option available to mobile developers.

We love to hear from our developers! Tell us about the great applications you have built with the MapQuest mobile APIs, either by posting on the Developer Network Forums, or tweeting us!

Check out our Developer Network today to sign up for a Community Edition license, get access to technical information, blog posts, forums and more.

We also offer our MapQuest Enterprise Edition for businesses that are looking for technical support, a service level agreement, geocoding only licenses and a whole bunch of other benefits. Call us (888-627-7837) or fill out our online form and one of our mapping gurus will reach out to discuss what might work best for you and your business. If you’re not sure whether Community or Enterprise is the best option for you, you can check out our Ts&Cs or just reach out to us and we can help you work thru that too.

p.s. Seriously, if you don’t love free, tweet hashtag #MapQuestTech – we’ll send the first 50 of you a free t-shirt to convince you.

This past Friday, I attended an AT&T Mobile App Hackathon and had the pleasure of speaking about the MapQuest APIs in front of some of southern Florida’s top developers, entrepreneurs and other technology enthusiasts. They were a friendly, fantastic group who spent the evening (and well past midnight) forming into teams, collecting their thoughts, and devising a plan for the all-day hackathon event the following day.

As with many applications built today, geolocation plays a large role in creating context and relevance, and is considered an expected feature among top apps. With the hack’s geolocation theme, teams spent all day Saturday coding and designing with this in mind. The unanimous winner, Volvo Ocean Race – Ultimate Fan, was a beautiful, well polished app with MapQuest APIs and geolocation built in to engage race fans around the world during the nine-month competition.

Volvo Ocean Race – Ultimate Fan App

Developed using HTML5 by David Ponevac and Marek Drugac, the app allows fans to submit questions to their favorite teams (e.g. “Can you shoot a video of what it’s like having to cook breakfast while on board?”), view geotagged photos taken by other fans, check the distance of the closest yacht as they approach shore, and more.

David and Marek were able to utilize the MapQuest Open JavaScript API to geolocate the user, display their location and plot geotagged photos of the race onto an interactive map – all of which were completed in the last hour of the hackathon.

David Ponevac (left) and Marek Drugac (right)

When asked if they were nervous about implementing MapQuest in such a short time, Marek Drugac replied, “No. The documentation is written quite well, so we did not worry at all.”

They also mentioned the benefits of MapQuest’s terms over other geolocation APIs, which you can read more about in the Terms Overview.

“With Google we actually hit the point where they want to charge us. We’d love to pay but the service is not generating enough cash to cover such expense. So we are looking for something that can take us a bit further without spending too much money,” added Marek.

And for those waiting for the Volvo Ocean Race – Ultimate Fan app, David and Marek are currently working with Volvo to make slight modifications before releasing the app hopefully before the end of this year’s race.

Mobile App Hackathon Recap

As this was my first hackathon, I was pleased to see how successful the event was and how genuinely curious developers were to see what MapQuest had to offer. The Static Map Service proved to be popular as mobile developers wanted a lightweight option for simply displaying a map on their device. And, if you missed it, MapQuest also has a native Apple iOS API and Android API, as well as mobile support using the JavaScript and Flash APIs.

Thanks again to AT&T for hosting the event and the NON-STOP FOOD! Can’t wait for our next hack!

Both APIs have been designed as “drop in” replacements for the native Google mapping APIs.  To switch simply include our API instead of the native API.  We used the same object model as the native API, while of course extending it to add great features such as integrated driving directions plus the ability to use OpenStreetMap data or our licensed datasets.

Just like all of our APIs, our native mobile APIs feature no preset limits on maps with our free Community Edition license.  See the Terms Overview for a fuller explanation of our license options and limitations.

Both the Android and Apple iOS Map APIs come with a full set of samples to show off many of the great features available, which include:

Android Maps API

• Advanced routing options and ability to display the route directly on the map
• Built-in geocoding and reverse geocoding
• Smooth animation when zooming/panning
• Ability to rotate the map
• Support of shape and image overlays
• Developer’s Guide

Apple iOS Maps API Beta

• Advanced routing options and ability to display the route directly on the map
• Reverse geocoding
• Smooth animation when zooming/panning
• Support of shape and image overlays

For those interested in using OpenStreetMap data, simply don’t pass a key and the API will automatically default to using OpenStreetMap data and services.

So in summary, you can replace your native API with hardly any effort and get more features plus no preset limits on map transactions!  What are you waiting for?  Check out the documentation and samples at the following links:

Android Maps API

Apple iOS Maps API (Beta)

Please let us know what you think on our forums and please please tell us about any great apps you’ve built.  We’re excited to see what you come up with.

What’s new you ask?  Primarily two things.  First, we overhauled the touch interaction with the map.  This includes vast improvement to pinch zoom, as well as the expected defaults of double tap to zoom in and two finger tap to zoom out. The easiest way to check these improvements out are by downloading our Flash Maps API Showcase app in either iTunes or Android Marketplace.  If you want to see how it was built, you can download the sample mobile map application source code.

Second, we upgraded our API to the recently released Adobe Flash Builder 4.6.  Adobe played Santa early this year and stuffed their latest release with a number of nice goodies. The addition of native extensions allows you to complement your Flash Builder app with native code, allowing you to access native features of mobile platforms that were unavailable before.  Also, for those who have griped about having to separately download AIR when installing a Flash Builder built application, the new captive runtime feature alleviates that concern.  In addition to these features, Adobe introduced several new mobile components that will provide even more options when designing your perfect app.

For many ardent Adobe developers, the name Dev Girl has a special place in our hearts.  My personal first experience with Holly’s wisdom was when I was trying to navigate the iTunes app store submission process. Holly, my wife and kids thank you for the extra 8 to 10 hours they got to spend with me rather than hearing daddy scream at his computer.

Holly helped fix some issues we faced during development, and has since written a nice overview piece on developing with our Mobile Flash Maps API.  I encourage you to check it out and follow her blog, as I guarantee she will save you development time down the road.  Thanks for all the help Holly!

In addition to our new transactional limits (or lack thereof!) we wanted to clarify where and how you can use our APIs with a Community Edition license.  You CAN develop paid mobile applications for app stores using our Community Edition licenses.  You can also use SSL.

For all the details, check out the following Map API Licensing and Terms Overview.  Also check out the Terms of Use for all the legal specifics.  I’ve included the handy chart available from the overview below.  Head over to the MapQuest Developer Network to sign up for a free map API key and start developing!

	ENTERPRISE	COMMUNITY
	Licensed Data	Licensed Data	Open Data
Maps	(No preset limit)*	(No preset limit)*	(No preset limit)*
Directions	(No preset limit)*	(5000 calls/day)	(No preset limit)*
Geocoding	(No preset limit)*	(5000 calls/day)	(No preset limit)*
Search	(No preset limit)*	(5000 calls/day)	(No preset limit)*
Route Matrix	(No preset limit)*	(5000 route pairs/day)
Traffic **
Non-Commercial or Public Web Apps
Non-Commercial or Public Mobile Apps
Private and/or Paid Commercial Web Apps
Paid Mobile Apps
SSL
Forum Support
Premium Support(24/7 Phone & Email Support)
System Performance Levels
Account Management

* MapQuest operates a shared service and reserves the right to limit access to prevent service degradation.  Please contact MapQuest to discuss applications with heavy traffic volume expectations.

** The Traffic API Web Service cannot be used for real-time navigation, in conjunction with in-car or stand alone portable navigation devices, or be used as the primary purpose of your website or application.

The SplitViewNavigator in Flash Builder 4.6

Hello from cloudy and cool Los Angeles! Adobe MAX has been humming along so far and there’s a lot of excitement about the types of mobile applications possible with Adobe Flash Builder 4.5, as well as the improvements coming with Flash Builder 4.6.  Naturally with mobile apps come mapping, directions, traffic and more, and so far we’ve seen a warm welcome to our new Mobile Flash Maps API.

I set out at MAX to determine sentiment around the overall Flash Builder foray into mobile applications. The folks I spoke with were generally pleased and excited by the possibilities of coding once and deploying everywhere, not the least of which, significant cost savings. I had forgotten how much people love Flash Builder as a tool to design, build and debug applications – when compared with developing in other web languages, Flash really spoils you.

As far as actual mobile applications built with Flash Builder 4.5 in the market, the most notable is Politico. However, several folks I spoke with were in active development on some new apps, so the next 3-6 months should be interesting to watch.

The pre-release of Flash Builder 4.6 has generated a stir, most notably with the performance enhancements, native extensions, new mobile components and an improved deployment for Android so that users don’t have to separately install AIR. These first two features should really close the gap between what a Flash-built native app can do versus a natively coded app.

From my perspective, it’s exciting to be on the forefront of a technology that has such great potential. I’m pleased to see the features Adobe has in 4.6, as they match up well with MapQuest’s roadmap. (We’re trying to keep up with several great features of our own planned in the next several months.)

On a related note, we have a cool demo to share from WebMapSolutions. While we’ve built our own demo application (which Android users can install directly from Android Market), the good folks at WebMapSolutions have been working on several of their own. Check out the following video they put together of one of their apps.

Just a reminder, tomorrow (Wednesday, Oct. 5) at 10 a.m. we’ll do a deeper dive into the capabilities of the API and what’s next in our Unconference panel.

I’ve been involved with many a mobile project over the years, and, frankly, they are a huge pain.  To build an app available to most users means building the same code several times over, once for each major platform.  Today, we’re excited to announce a new API combined with an Adobe technology that should alleviate that pain.

For those who have been following Adobe lately, you’ve seen some very exciting developments within their Flash Builder (Flex SDK) development tools.  With the release of Flash Builder 4.5, you can deploy native mobile applications to Apple iOS, Google Android and Blackberry Tablet from a single code base.  Yes, code ONE time and deploy native applications everywhere.  For those used to Adobe Flex, Flash Builder is the new name of the development tool to deploy applications using Adobe Flex SDK or ActionScript.

Our Mobile Flash Maps API provides interactive mapping features to use within Flash Builder 4.5 native mobile applications.  This includes support for touch gestures, as well as making our controls and POIs mobile friendly. So now you can easily combine the great features of our web services, such as searching for traffic or optimizing your route, with an easy way to deploy to a mobile device.  Check out the video below to see just a small sample of what you can do.

To me, there’s nothing better than finding the perfect piece of sample code when I’m looking to develop an application.  The mobile application featured in that video is available to jumpstart your next mobile project.  If you’re on an Android device, you can run this app directly on your phone by checking out the MapQuest Mobile Flash Maps API Showcase in the Android Market.  You can also download the source code for our mobile mapping app here.

We couldn’t squeeze all the features of our web services in a single app – here are some other features you might be interested in.

• Searching for traffic incidents along a route
• Search by drive time or drive distance, either around a point or along a route
• Alternate routing
• Optimized routing (re-order stops to make the overall trip more efficient)
• Reverse geocoding
• Bicycle routing and elevation charts using open data

Along with those features, you have your choice of using either our licensed data (what we use on MapQuest.com) or our open data (such as OpenStreetMap).  While the Mobile Flash Maps API is different from our web/desktop Flash Maps API, you’ll still find many of the samples we provide on our desktop/web API will be useful to see the possibilities of what can be built.  Here is a full list of differences between the mobile and web/desktop versions of our Flash Maps API.

This is just the beginning – we’re excited to meet Flash Builder and Flex developers here at Adobe MAX and hear what features they’re looking for from us going forward.  We have an Unconference discussion at 10 am on Wednesday if you would like to see the Mobile Flash Maps API in action.

If you’re not at the show, head over to our Flash Maps API Forums at let us know what you think.  We already have some additional improvements on the way.

Catch up with us at MAX (@MapQuestRoman)!

Sample application using advanced routing options.

This is why we’re announcing today the first beta release of the MapQuest Android Maps API! Additionally, we’re providing a large number of samples to showcase our toolkit and provide the source code for each. The following describes just a few of the features you’ll find in this beta release:

• Advanced routing options and ability to display the route directly on the map
• Built-in geocoding and reverse geocoding
• Smooth animation when zooming/panning
• Ability to rotate the map
• Trackball gesture detector
• Support of shape and image overlays

But that’s not all! The OpenStreetMap (OSM) community may be pleased to learn that, similar to our free Android app, our popular OSM tiles and Open Services are all available as part of the MapQuest SDK for Android! By simply leaving the android:apiKey attribute blank, the map and its related services will default to the Open tiles and directions, and use Nominatim for searching/geocoding.

To download our documentation and samples, please refer to the following links.

MapQuest Android Maps API and Android Samples
API Reference Guide

Don’t forget to help us improve our API by sending feedback and reporting any bugs to AndroidSDK@mapquest.com. All feedback is greatly appreciated. Enjoy!