Microsoft DevRadio: Using the GeoLocation API for Your Windows 8 Apps (Channel 9)

Microsoft DevRadio: Using the GeoLocation API for Your Windows 8 Apps

Posted: Mar 11, 2013 at 4:00 AM

By: Jerry Nixon, DevRadio, ChrisCaldwell

(1)

32,703 Views

5 Comments

Video format

Option selected may change based on video formats available and browser capability.

Auto

Use our suggested format for this video.

Smooth Streaming

Adaptive bitrate streaming - little buffering but lower video quality at times of low bandwidth. Silverlight 5 required

Progressive

Traditional buffered video format. Silverlight 5 required

HTML5

For browsers that support H.264 MP4 or WebM video playback such as:
IE9+, Firefox 4+, Chrome 5+, or Safari 4+.

Flash

For browsers that have the Adobe Flash Player plugin installed.

Follow the Discussion

Follow
Oops, something didn't work.

Try again?

Sign In to be begin to follow these comments

What does this mean?
Following an item on Channel 9 allows you to watch for new content and comments that you are interested in. You need to be signed in to Channel 9 to use this feature.

Getting "follow" information

Stop following these comments

Start following these comments

What does this mean?
Following an item on Channel 9 allows you to watch for new content and comments that you are interested in and view them all on your notifications page.

Removing your "follow"

Setting up your "follow"

Did you know you can
sign up for email notifications?
- Subscribe to this comments

George

Mar 14, 2013 at 10:28 AM

Thanks for the amazing video.

I have a question regarding the way how the GeoLocaton API can retrieve information about a certain position. It was explained brilliantly when it comes to GPS and WiFi. My question is if it's possible to get this information from mobile cellular net (the mobile provider)? I mean when you have a device, for example phone, with a SIM card and a necessary connectivity to a mobile provider can GeoLocation API use this connectivity to obtain information about the position from the mobile provider's cells?

Thank you.
jerry_nixon Jerry Nixon

Mar 15, 2013 at 7:55 AM

@George: Yeah. The API is clever enough to look for every available avenue. It's a heuristic that measures batter cost, bandwidth cost, and accuracy. Should a SIM be in the device, as I understand it, that's a very valid and very good source of location data. So, yes. Of course, were we to be talking Windows Phone, that location API pretty much starts there first, right?
moin

Mar 16, 2013 at 9:08 AM

thank you
George

Mar 16, 2013 at 4:21 PM

@Jerry, thanks a lot.
Not clever, just a magical API! I'm going to try it out. Straightaway! Such a "magic black location box" is exactly what I need.
MarkInderhees

May 08, 2013 at 8:58 AM

A quick clarification for @George and @jerry_nixon, the Win8 inbox Windows Location Provider will not use Cell tower information to provide location, so there is no inbox Cellular location provider to the Geolocation API. That is, just having a SIM in a Win8 device will not automatically start providing location from cell towers. But a developer could create a location sensor driver (no easy task: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/ff545919(v=vs.85).aspx ) that consumes cell data and exposes the location to the Geolocation API so that any app developer can easily use that location data via Geolocation API along with the location data from other sources already available (Wi-Fi, IP, GPS).

Windows Phone, however, does use cell tower based location by default as that is always available. The Win8 and Win Phone 8 Geolocation APIs (WinRT) are aligned so app developers can easily share code across those platforms.