Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Outwalk 'beta' is ready to use

Last night we put the Outwalk website online so you can now use it. At the moment it’s a beta version so help and suggestions would be welcome. Hopefully you’ll find it easy to use and most importantly useful!

If you have any questions or queries then please either comment on this blog or e-mail us at android.vivosystems.co.uk.

How to delete a session and view the stats.

Here is a quick pointer for viewing your stats on the website. Have a look at a session, any session will do and they’re displayed in the "Your Outwalk Session". On the far right you’ll see a two words, ‘delete’ and ‘stats’. Click the delete button and you’ll be asked if you’re sure you want to delete that session, answer ok and the session is deleted from our database, click cancel and nothing is deleted. If you want to view the stats for that session then click stats and the session statistics are displayed in human readable form under the heading “Session Statistics”

Hope this helps :-)

Google Checkout

We have just added a couple of simple Google Checkout buttons to our Vivo Systems website products section which at the moment is for the 'single page website' and the 'business starter solution'. To be honest I don't know why this hasn't been done this before; it makes buying our services so much easier and quicker for you and for us.

Hopefully it should come in useful.

Monday, August 24, 2009

Outwalk website almost done

The Outwalk website is nearly ready for people to use :-). I’m going to run through quickly how to use the site and embed a map from Outwalk into a blog or website. First you have to upload your Outwalk session to our servers, and for this you need to have an active account with us so please read this previous post on how to do this. Once the session has been uploaded you'll need to log in at outwalk.vivosystems.co.uk, if you're already logged in, then great just press refresh and your new Outwalk session will be added to the list.

Outwalk Map Example, Bournemouth Air Show 2009

All you have to do in order to see the map is to click on the Outwalk session you wish to view in the "Your Outwalk Session" section, this will then update the map with your chosen session. Once you’ve chosen a session you can now view the source and this is done by clicking the "View Source" link. Please note that when you first log in and are placed on this page the link will not work as you haven’t yet selected a map to view.

How to embed the source into a blog or website?

This is fairly simple and once you’ve done it once you should get the hang of it. First you need to go to http://code.google.com/apis/maps/signup.html and get a Google maps API key which enabled you to show the maps on your website or blog. Once you’ve signed up you’re looking for the following box, making sure the maps API version you’re using is version 2 and set the "sensor=true_or_false" to false.

Google Maps API JavaScipt include header

Google Maps API JavaScipt include header

You can add the script tag into almost any part of the website, but it is recommended that it be placed within the head section of the website, between the <head> and </head> tags. If you’re using a blog you’ll have to click on the “Edit Html” functionality to manually enter this script tag.

You’ll then need to copy the source code from the Outwalk website. If you have access to hosting then it is easier to copy the source into a new JavaScript file and place it on the web and reference it like we’re doing (see below) in the head section. This is because some blogs such as blogger which we’re using enter <br /> or new line tags into the JavaScript code which makes the JavaScript code incorrect and therefore will not work.

<script type="text/javascript" language="javascript" src="http://outwalk.vivosystems.co.uk/android/js/OutwalkExample.js"></script>

If you don’t have access to hosting then you can go through the source code and remove all new lines so the code is hard to read but on a single line and then copy this into the blog. It should read something like this.

<script type="text/javascript">function getNewMap(){var map = new GMap2(document.getElementById("map"));........}</script>

This code can typically go anywhere. In order to create the map you also need to make a div element with its id attribute set to “map” where you want the map to be displayed on the web page or blog like this, the style attributes are optional and you can configure the map to however large you want, we’ve set it to 500 pixels by 400 pixels.

<div id="map" style="width:500px; height:400px" >
//this is where the map will be displayed
</div>

Now the final touches, if you want the map to be loaded as soon as the page loads, and you have access to the HTML for this page then in the body tag <body>
Place this code onload=”getNewMap();”, if you don’t have access to this then place a call to the function in the getNewMaps script tags, for instance :

<script type="text/javascript">getNewMap();function getNewMap(){var map = new GMap2(document.getElementById("map"));..}</script62;

Additionally if you want it to be loaded from a click of a link or page element then within the page elements tags place the following code onclick=”getNewMap(); return false;”. If you’re using this in an anchor tag, then return false means that it won’t follow the hyper link, if you return true then it will follow the hyperlink once the JavaScript has been executed.

Now the map will be displayed on your web page. Please leave comments if you have any problems.

You can learn more about Google Maps and JavaScript by clicking the links.

One final thing; your web browser must support JavaScript and have it enabled in order for most of this to work.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Outwalk's live

It’s gone live!...

Outwalk logo

Outwalk is now live and on the Android^TM Market, We hope you enjoy. As in our previous two earlier blogs about Outwalk (why upload your Outwalk sessions, and Outwalk features), you can find out more about the application before you buy. The Outwalk web site is still under construction but will be live by Monday August 24th.

Have fun with the App and send any questions, queries and ideas to android@vivosystems.co.uk.

Below is a picture of the Outwalk login page.

Monday, August 10, 2009

Why upload your Outwalk sessions?

We have been posting a fair few updates on our blog over the last couple of days for the up and coming launch of the Outwalk application for the Android^TM operating system.

Outwalk is being launched onto the Android^TM Market on Monday, August the 17^th 2009 and we are very happy to announce that Outwalk is complete so unless our servers and all our backups get destroyed by an EMP Outwalk will be launched on schedule. We are at the moment working hard to get the main online feature for Outwalk up and running, we are hoping it is finished by Friday but if it is not, then it will be finished in the following week.

Our previous Outwalk Features blog entry shows a brief overview of the Outwalk application but as it is not core to the Outwalk application itself, the work done on the Vivo Systems servers was not really mentioned and this is what this article is about.

Right, so as mentioned in the Outwalk Features article, Outwalk has been made so people can feel proud of their accomplishments, be it walking, running, orienteering and so on, as they have a piece of software which will tell them what they've done, which is great, right! However, it is hard to show people what challenges you have taken part in when all the data is stored in one place, your mobile phone. Outwalk lets you upload your accomplishments and challenges to our servers and view the details of your Journeys online, you'll be able to view each sessions statistics, including distance travelled, elapsed time, average speed and more, but you will also be able to view the route you travelled on a map powered by Google. This is all great right, but now we have to log onto the Vivo Systems servers to view our hard work!.. Well yes, sort of; for Outwalk to be able to upload a session the user must register for an Outwalk account with Vivo Systems and then match this account with their phone so that when a session is uploaded the servers knows that this session is for this user and when that user logs onto the Vivo Systems server to view their uploaded sessions, they are viewing the sessions they uploaded and not somebody else's.

For us, the most important part of the uploading process is this; You can view your maps on the Vivo Systems Outwalk web pages if you wish, or Vivo Systems provide the source code which you can copy and modify and place in your own web sites, blogs, articles or what ever, so you can show the world!.

Registering for Outwalk

Registering for Outwalk is easy, all we need are three pieces of information, a user name which must be unique, a password for your account and a valid e-mail address. When your ready to register for Outwalk go to either of the following addresses; http://android.vivosystems.co.uk/Applications/Outwalk/ or http://outwalk.vivosystems.co.uk. At this address you’ll see the little registration form in the bottom right which is what you will in, once your details are in, and you’re happy with them then press

register, if your details are valid an e-mail will be sent to the supplied e-mail address with a link which you need to follow in order to validate your new account. Once you’ve clicked this link, your account is now activated.

When you add your account to your Outwalk application on your mobile phone, you simply have to launch Outwalk, click “Outwalk Options” and then “Register User Details” and enter the user name and password you entered to register for the application (above), once done press add and as long as your account has been activated and you have a network connection your account will be verified on our servers, at this point you can upload your sessions and show the world

One last thing
You can get your hands on Outwalk through the Android^TM Market on your Android^TM powered smart phone.

Any comments you have about the application, please, please e-mail us with the details to this address android@vivosystems.co.uk. New features, improvements, bug fixes etc, will be built into Outwalk based on your requests so please let us know and we will post on here the updates we're working on.

For more information on Outwalk, please visit our Outwalk page by clicking here.

* Prices may change.

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Outwalk Features

Outwalk Overview
Outwalk is the first Android^TM application to be released by Vivo Systems. The reason we have written this application is so people can feel they have accomplished something when they arrive back after a walk or a drive and see that, wow, I walked over 8 miles today! Or wow, I've driven 300 miles today in five hours. Outwalk gives you the tools to show everyone what you have achieved. You can upload your sessions to our servers on to your own account* and view them on-line, you will also be able to copy the source code so you can embed the maps in your own website or blog allowing you to talk about what it is you have done, and show the world.

Outwalk Features

Outwalk Home Screen - taken from Version : 1.4.beta

Below we have a look at some of the main areas of Outwalk, how they work and why they are here. When you launch Outwalk you are shown the home page for the application, from here you have three options, "Outwalk Tracker", "Outwalk History" or "Outwalk Options", by clicking on any one of these features there activities are launched.

Outwalk Tracker
The tracker can be argued to be the core of the application, without it none of the other features would matter. The Outwalk Tracker is what tracks your location and when it is loaded you are shown a map which is defaulted to "Map Mode"**, which means you are viewing the map as if it were an ordinance survey type map. The map also has a grey window at the top which when a session is started shows the basic statistics for the current Outwalk session, you will see we have the following fields in the window.

Average Speed, by default this is in metric units, Kilometres per hour or Kp/h.
Distance, by default this is in metric units, Kilometres.
Elapsed Time, is measured in seconds, minutes and hours.
Rate, which is measured in meters, this is the min distance between location fixes.
Mode, is the profiles which has been selected; the profile depicts the rate.
State, is the state of the Tracker, either "Stopped" or "Tracking".

When you click the menu button a menu is displayed, with the following options, going from left to right; Start, Stop, Statistics, History, Map Mode and Units.

Outwalk History
In the Outwalk History, you will see every Outwalk session you have created, as long as you haven't deleted any. The Outwalk History is what provides you with the ability to upload your sessions to our server, it is literally as easy as this; once you have registered with Vivo Systems, launch Outwalk and then Outwalk History and hold your finger on the session you want to upload, once the menu comes up, press upload, that is it! Obviously you need signal to be able to upload, and preferably 3G or above connection speeds or the progress window may be displayed for a while. Here are some other features of Outwalk History;
By pressing the menu button :-

Filter by preference
Change Order, which is done by date created, either ascending or descending.
Delete all, you are prompted, just in case this is a mistake.
Export to Xml, this exports the database to an Xml file in the following directory /sdcard/Outwalk/ but will only work if there is an SD card in the phone.

Menu created by holding you hand down on a session :-

View Session Statistics
Compare two Sessions
Merge two Sessions
Upload Session
Delete

Outwalk Options
Outwalk Options allows the user to make some basic Outwalk configurations, it also allows the user to view some information about there current Outwalk installation. The configuration options are as follows :-

Outwalk Installation Information
Launch Profile Editor
Default Display Height
Default Map Mode
Default Zoom Level
Outwalk Tracker Status Window
Register User Details
Default Units

Profile Editor
There are two ways to launch the profile editor, one is by clicking the "Launch Profile Editor" in the Outwalk Options menu, the second is by pressing the menu while in the Outwalk Options activity and clicking "Manage Profiles". Once the profile editor has been launched a list is displayed of current profiles, by default Walking and Driving with sample rates of 100m and 1000m respectively. The list shows the names of the profiles and below their corresponding sample rates in meters.

For more information please read Outwalk Features pdf

* In order to upload a session, you have to register with Vivo Systems. For more information on how to register and what the benefits are please click here.
** The map mode can be changed in the "Outwalk Options".

Vivo Systems