Location API for Java ME
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The Location API for Java ME is a compact and generic Java 2 ME API that produces information about the device's present physical location to Java applications. This API can be optionally supported by mobile phone and PDA manufacturers, with the minimum Java platform required for this API being CLDC v1.1.
The Location API was developed under the Java Community Process as JSR 179, released in September 2003 and updated to version 1.0.1 in March 2006. Nokia is the main author and maintainer of this JSR.
OpenLAPI is an LGPL implementation for use in emulator environments where the Nokia reference implementation does not exist and for devices which can access a GPS device over Bluetooth.
Device independence
Previously, location service implementations were provider specific. The aim of this API was to provide a common API for retrieving the location information on a variety of devices.
OpenLAPI supports several back-ends:
- GPS over Bluetooth
- NMEA logfile (for development)
- KML (Keyhole Markup Language) (for development)
- random entry from a persistent landmark store (for development)
along with device specific wrappers.
Current state
Since many providers choose not to implement this optional JSR, the goal of universality has still not happened and developers are often required to create custom builds for different devices.