Free download: GPSLogger v0.4.2, tested with 8800, Bold 9000, Storm 9500

It seems like many people are giving BlackBerry application development a shot these days, which is great! I came across a thread in the CrackBerry forums where member emacf1 has created a GPS tracking tool, available now for FREE!

From the description:

I would like to use the opportunity to present my first application that I have created for the BB (tested with 8800, 9000 & 9500) – It’s a quite straight forward application, that is recording your movement with your BB-phone over time – this includes Elevation and Speed (and some more data).

My main motivation to write this application was first of all to learn how to program my new Blackberry (via RIM’s Java API) – The main benefit (compared to a JavaME Midlet) is, that you have full access to the hardware (like the Filesystem) without any confirmation from the user. Of course this will restrict the usability of the application to Blackberry devices only – but well – I own now one – so I do not care
The second reason for creating a own application was that I wanted to have a GPSLogging application without any kind of online access (so without any additional costs).

…

I was able to download this application on my Curve 8900 but haven’t had a lot of time to figure it out yet. Seems to be a pretty straight forward application though.

• Download OTA: http://bb.emacf1.com/GPSLogger.jad
• Download ZIP: http://bb.emacf1.com/BlackBerry_GPSLogger_v0.4.2.zip
• Info: http://bb.emacf1.com/

Be sure to send emacf1 some feedback to help him with the development of GPSLogger. If you don’t feel like sending out an email, quickly leave a comment here about your experiences and I’ll forward them to him.

See the full list of features after the jump.

What you can do with GPSLogger v0.4.2:

• Record your movement (as long as you take your BB with you)
• Display current Position:
  • Longitude / Latitude
  • # of Satellites
  • current altitude (in WGS84)
  • current course/heading
  • current speed [Ø speed (if available)]
  • travel distance
  • travel time
• While recording you can mark your current position and specify a Note for it
• While recording you can pause & resume the recording
• 4 different Main views:
  • Path View: 2D-View of Longitude & Latitude values
  • Elevation View: Altitude over time
  • Speed View: Speed over Time
  • GPS View: Longitude / Latitude / Speed / course in a large font*
• Options:
  • Specify the initial view of GPSLogger*
  • Specify if the background should be always ON*
  • Specify the sample frequence (in which period the application will record the current position)
  • Directory on your BB device to which your Paths will be recorded (can be also SDCard)
  • Units in which the Data will be displayed (Metric/Imperial/Nautical)
  • Export Directory on your BB device
  • Export format(s): GPX & KML (GoogleEarth)
• Load previously recorded Paths
  • Navigate with the trackball though your Path
  • Navigate with the Keyboard though your Path
    • s: Start Position
    • e: End Position
    • v: 15 Positions back
    • b: 1 Position back
    • n: 1 Position forward
    • m: 15 Positions forward
  • Load previously recorded paths into the Background (as many as you like) to compare the current (e.g. recording) Path with previously recorded Paths. [e.g. to compare your actual hiking or biking route with the ones you did in the past]
• The exported KML files can be loaded into GoogleEarth and you can get a detailed view of your paths

*new in Version 0.4.2

Additional Notes

• Even if I own a Storm myself there is no TouchScreen support (yet) – but once there is a stable/complete version of GPSLogger there will be a Strom enhanced Version, that allows to browse though a recorded Path via the TouchScreen (instead of the Keyboard)
• GPSLogger currently only support build in GPS-Antenna – so currently no external (e.g. Bluetooth) GPS receivers are supported.