Windows Phone 7 Series

This is what I’m working on.

Deep down in the O/S you will find a location application programming interface. Below that you will find code that converts the existence of Wi-Fi and cell tower radio signals into a latitude and longitude. That (and a few other things) has been my job for the last several months.

This is just one small piece of a very large and impressive picture.

As Sean just said a minute ago in an IM, “Wow. You showed me some neat stuff Friday, but I was still impressed by today’s reveal. With this piece of the puzzle, I get a tingling feeling up and down my leg. Like we really might be entering a new golden age for Microsoft.”

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7 thoughts on “Windows Phone 7 Series

  1. It fills me with warm fuzzies that so far the reviews state the worst thing about the phone so far is the name.

  2. I can see how a cell signal can be used to determine position, wouldn’t the wi-fi signal need to come from a “known” location before it could be used as a reference?

    I know that my wi-fi pop is not registered with anyone, and the internet locations services think my IP is several hundred miles to the west of it’s actual location.

    PeterT

  3. PeterT,

    There are people out there right now driving up and down the streets “registering” the Wi-Fi access points that are visible. The GPS computes the lat/long the Wi-Fi and cellular radios report what is visible and the entire set is sent to a server.

    There is enough data in the system now to get good results in most cities. When the customers actually use the phones as they go about their business they will contribute more and maintain the server data.

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