Research In Motion Introduces New Geolocation Feature to Locate Service

Waterloo, Ontario-based Research In Motion announced today the introduction of a new Geolocation Feature to its existing BlackBerry Locate Service, a platform which allowed applications to convert a users’ latitude and longitude into an address. The new Geolocation Feature will allow developers to create applications that can determine the location of users using just cell tower information. That means that no GPS, which is known to be a battery hog, is required.

RIM states:

“The location data provided by the Geolocation service is quick and general, so not as specific as GPS information, but perfect for applications that need to point to close by areas of interest or other geographical points/information without going into too many details. And once a user is back in GPS coverage, the application can call for more detailed information, if needed.”

Do take into account that the new Geolocation Feature might not be as accurate as GPS. However, it’s still quite helpful. The service is only available to devices running BlackBerry OS 5.0 or higher. The Geolocation Feature along other BlackBerry Locate Service features are available to developers for free.

For more information, visit the BlackBerry Dev Blog. Developers can obtain the respective APIs here.