Design and Development of "GlobeTrotter" - An Innovative Location-Based System using J2ME

Summary GPS (Global Positioning System) is the most popular system for determination of location and navigation in the world. GPS works in all weather conditions and has become a widely used aid to navigation systems worldwide and a useful tool for map-making, land surveying, commerce and scientific uses. More recently GSP has been integrated into mobile systems such as car navigation system, which use maps directly stored on a mobile device. However, in order to catch up the progress of map development, users have to update their maps frequently and pay high charges to their providers. There is urgent need to develop a new dynamic mobile application to allow users to get access to the latest information without any additional cost. A location-based system called “GlobeTrotter” based on J2ME architecture is proposed. It integrates GPS and Internet mapping technologies using J2ME (Java 2 Micro Edition). It aims at display the current user location on the screen of a mobile system in real time on a map like Google Maps, Yahoo! Maps, MSN Maps or Ask.com Maps. In the paper, first J2ME is examined. Then current and future applications for mobile devices are summarized. The design and development of “GlobeTrotter” and integration of Internet mapping with mobile devices are presented in detail. The successful implementation of “GlobeTrotter” provides an innovative solution to current and future development of J2MEbased applications and it has an enormous economic potential to meet customers expectations in mobile services