GIS Mobile Comparison

This page is used to describe comparisons between GeoSpatial Mobile applications to help users select suitable applications for their requirements. 
= Abstract =
;Conference 
:
:FOSS4G 2010
;Title 
:
:A comparison of Mobile GIS applications
;Authors 
:
*Miguel Montesinos (CTO at Prodevelop). 
*Javier Carrasco (Geospatial Technical Leader at Prodevelop).
;Abstract 
:
:Free and open source software for GIS has evolved a lot from last years, faster than privative alternatives and now every FOSS4G expert has several very good tools to use on desktop PCs and web. 
:The mobile field is a bit different and few experts are using free and open source mobile GIS, despite of good applications exist. Last years with the appearance of Android OS phones a new wave of map applications have been developed. 
:At this talk, different mobile GIS applications will be analyzed, compared and tabulated. 
:The objectives are:
*To provide a detailed list of FOSS mobile GIS applications 
*Find how far are free and open source software from privative alternatives 
*Help to choose the best tool for every project
:The main aspects of the comparison will be: functionality, complexity, customizability, formats compatibility and performance and the applications compared will be: ArcPad, gvSIG Mobile, BeeGIS, TangoGPS, Google Maps Mobile, gvSIG Mini, Layar and others
= Product List =
== gvSIG Mobile ==
gvSIG Mobile is a project aimed to develop a free and open source GIS/SDI client on mobile devices. 
gvSIG Mobile is a version of gvSIG Desktop an OSGeo project under incubation, adapted for mobile devices, with support for shapefiles, GPX, KML, GML, ECW, WMS and images, capable of using GPS. Among its features there are tools for project management, display of local and remote information (via WMS standard), layers management (symbols), querying alphanumeric information of the elements, editing data using customized forms, creating GPS tracklogs/waypoints and so on. 
 
Feature 	Value
Name 	gvSIG Mobile
Version 	0.3 / 1.0 alpha
Release Date 	November 2009
Open-Source 	
Free (cost) 	
Website 	http://www.gvsig.org/web/projects/gvsig-mobile/description-2/view?set_language=en
Main Organization 	gvSIG Association
User Documentation	(English, Spanish, German)
Languages 	English, Spanish, French, German, Italian
== gvSIG Mini ==
gvSIG Mini is a free viewer of free access maps based on tiles (OpenStreetMap, ...), with a WMS, WMS-C client, address and POI search, routes, hybrid location and more things. 
 
Feature 	Value
Name 	gvSIG Mini
Version 	1.0
Release Date 	September 2010
Open-Source 	
Free (cost) 	
Website 	http://www.gvsigmini.org
Main Organization 	Prodevelop / gvSIG Association
User Documentation	(English)
Languages 	English, Spanish, German, Italian
 
== Enebro ==
Enebro allows view and editing vectorial cartogarphic information, also allows visualizing images and navigation using GPS systems. It is a useful tool for field work related with field inventory, territorial inspection, field work data revision, etc. 
 
Feature 	Value
Name 	Enebro
Version 	2.0.37
Release Date 	August 2008
Open-Source 	
Free (cost) 	
Website 	http://www.juntadeandalucia.es/repositorio/usuario/listado/fichacompleta.jsf?idProyecto=490
Main Organization 	Junta de Andalucía / Guadaltel
User Documentation	(Spanish)
Languages 	Spanish
== ArcPad ==
ArcPad is designed for GIS professionals who require GIS capabilities in the field. It gives field-based personnel the ability to capture, edit, analyze, and display geographic information easily and efficiently. 
Feature 	Value
Name 	ArcPad
Version 	10
Release Date 	June 2010
Open-Source 	
Free (cost) 	(aprox. $700.00 single-user license)
Website 	http://www.esri.com/software/arcgis/arcpad/index.html
Main Organization 	ESRI
User Documentation	(English, Spanish ¿other languages?)
Languages 	Chinese (Hong Kong), Chinese (Simplified), Danish, Dutch, French, German, Hebrew, Hungarian, Japanese, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Romanian, Spanish, Swedish
== tangoGPS ==
tangoGPS is an easy to use, fast and lightweight mapping application for use with or without GPS. It runs on any Linux platform. By default tangoGPS uses map data from the Openstreetmap project. Additionally a variety of other repositories can be easily added. 
Feature 	Value
Name 	tangoGPS
Version 	0.99.4
Release Date 	June 2010
Open-Source 	
Free (cost) 	
Website 	http://www.tangogps.org/
Author 	Marcus Bauer
User Documentation	(English)
Languages 	English
== FoxtrotGPS ==
FoxtrotGPS is an offshoot of tangoGPS application, with a focus on cooperation and fostering community innovation. It runs on any Linux platform. It aims at covering some features of TangoGPS not 100% open-source (used Web services, templates for GUI generation, ...). It's in a preliminary stage as of Sept-2010.
Feature 	Value
Name 	FoxtrotGPS
Version 	1.0.1
Release Date 	May 2011
Open-Source 	
Free (cost) 	
Website 	http://www.foxtrotgps.org/
Author 	Community around a mailing list at OSGeo
User Documentation	(English)
Languages 	English
= Open-Source Comparative =
Here, a comparison of important open-source features is displayed for every product being analyzed. 
Name 	Progr. Language 	Open Source	License 	Public Version Control	Public Bugtracker	Mailing List 	Developer Doc.	Active Development	Contributors
gvSIG Mobile	Java ME - CDC 	 	GPL 2+ 	(SVN) 	 	(Very Active)	 	 	7
gvSIG Mini 	Java ME CLDC / Java Android	 	GPL 2+ 	(SVN) 	 	(Active) 	 	 	4
enebro 	C++ 	 	Non-standard/Under request	 	 	 	 	 	
ArcPad 	C++ 	 	 	 	 	(Very Active)	 	 	
TangoGPS 	C 	 	GPL 2 	 	 	(Active) 	 	 	Marcos Bauer + helps
FoxtrotGPS 	C 	 	GPL 2 	Yes 	Yes 	Yes 	Partial 	 	3
= Target Platform Comparison =
Name 	Open Source	W. Mobile 	Java CLDC	Android 	iPhone	Linux PDA 	Windows PC 	Linux PC
gvSIG Mobile	 	(WM 2003/5/6)	 	 	 	OpenMoko, Maemo	(W 2000/XP)	
gvSIG Mini 	 	(JVM) 	 	(Android 1.5 - 2.2)	 	 	 	
Enebro 	 	(WM 2003/5/6)	 	 	 	 	(W 2000/XP)	(Guadalinex v.3.0.1)
ArcPad 	 	(WM 2003/5/6)	 	 	 	 	 	
TangoGPS 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
FoxtrotGPS 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
= Feature Comparison =
TBD 
Feature 	gvSIG Mobile 1.0 alpha 	gvSIG Mobile 0.3 	Enebro 	tangoGPS / FoxtrotGPS 	ArcPad 	gvSIG Mini 	Layar
Multilayer 	 	 	 	 	 	 	Only public point layers
Multiple coordinate systems 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Symbology (change representation) 	Symbology (change representation)	Symbology (change representation)	Symbology (change representation)	Symbology (change representation)	Symbology (change representation)	Symbology (change representation)	Symbology (change representation)
— Simple 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
— Scale 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
— Labeling 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
— Range 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
— Unique value 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Hyperlink 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Find by attributes 	 	 	 	 	 	Online only 	Online only
Offline support 	Offline support 	Offline support 	Offline support 	Offline support 	Offline support 	Offline support 	Offline support
— shapefiles 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
— GML 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
— KML 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
— GPX 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
— ECW 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
— MrSid 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
— Jpeg2000 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
— tiles 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Online support 	Online support 	Online support 	Online support 	Online support 	Online support 	Online support 	Online support
— WMS 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
— WFS 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
— WFS-T 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
— tiles 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
— ArcIMS 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
GPS 	GPS 	GPS 	GPS 	GPS 	GPS 	GPS 	GPS
— Satellite information 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
— External GPS support 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
— GPS aided editing 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
— tracklog storage 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
— waypoint storage 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
— Real-Time DGPS 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
— Vertex point averaging 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Editing 	Editing 	Editing 	Editing 	Editing 	Editing 	Editing 	Editing
— Geometry editing 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
— New layers creation 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
— Alphanumeric editing 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
— Custom Forms 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
— Attribute table editing 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
— Split and union 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
— Sketch 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
— Snapping 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
— Export 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Extensibility through plugins 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Custom toolbars 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Prices 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Ease to use 	Medium 	Medium 	Medium 	Easy 	Easy 	Easy 	Easy
Ease to install 	Hard 	Medium 	Easy 	Easy 	Easy 	Easy 	Easy
Spread (google search results number)	35.500 	35.500 	12.200 	18.200 + 6.180 	147.000 	3.970 	2.200.000
Speed 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Camera support 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Rangefinder support 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Code language 	J2ME CDC PP 	J2ME CDC PP 	C++ 	Java 	VB 	Android + Midp2 	Android
= Perfomance Comparison =
== Used Datasets ==
For testing the perfomance of the applications, OSGeo available datasets for FOSS4G 2010 have been used. Shapefiles fo several sizes have been loaded on a PDA for vectorial comparison.
For raster comparison, an official ortophotograph coming from the Spanish National Mapping Agency (CNIG - Centro Nacional de Información Geográfica) of Barcelona area has been downloaded in ECW format. This image has also been clipped to two image sizes. GDAL utilities has been used for clipping and resampling.
The layers used for the speed perfomance test have been these ones:
Datasource 	Geometry Type 	Number of Features	Category 	Size
Vectorial Layers 	Vectorial Layers	Vectorial Layers 	Vectorial Layers	Vectorial Layers
point-layers-for-geometry.shp	Point 	265 	Small 	241 KB
motorway.shp 	Polyline 	79 	Small 	106 KB
settlement.shp 	Polygon 	257 	Small 	152 KB
ramp.shp 	Polyline 	635 	Medium 	334 KB
industry.shp 	Polygon 	5070 	Large 	1,34 MB
contour.shp 	Polyline 	3429 	Large 	12,8 MB
Raster Layers 	Raster Layers 	Raster Layers 	Raster Layers 	Raster Layers
bcn_recorte_5000.ecw 	Raster (ECW) 	5000 x 5000 px 	Medium 	7,5 MB
bcn_recorte.ecw 	Raster (ECW) 	14273 x 21693 px 	Large 	82,9 MB
== Designed Tests ==
=== Methodology ===
The heterogeneity of platforms and products makes it difficult to desing a common test for all the products. A common test have been designed for Windows Mobile platform, the most powerful in terms of GIS features so far.
The formats supported by the different products are not homogeneous. For instance, only gvSIG Mobile can load vetorial formats other than SHP (GML, KML, ...). On the other hand, gvSIG Mobile only supports ECW as wavelet raster formats, and not MrSID or JPEG 2000. So only common tests have been made in order to get the differences.
Access to remote services hasn't been compared, as ArcPad only accesses ArcIMS/ArcGIS servers, and not standardized ones (WMS, WFS, ...).
Note: As of today, we haven't been able to load a ECW in ArcPad, although it supports this format. (Maybe ArcPad doesn't like GDAL ECW clipping or resampling results).
Speed tests have been made in the same PDA. All of them have been made with no other application running on the PDA. Datasets have been read from the storage card.
=== Time measurement ===
The binaries have been used in a PDA to measure the results. The times have been taken manually with a stopwatch. In order to minimize the human error, all the measurements have been taken at least 3 times, and an average have been made. 0,2 seconds have been substracted to all measured times, for removing human response time effects. 
Some of the measurements are too fast to be measured by a manual action with a stopwatch. So all measures under 0,2 seconds have been homogenized to 0,2 seconds, with the understanding that it's fast enough to not perceive a delay from the point of view of the user.
=== Speed test cases ===
For the three Windows Mobile GIS products (gvSIG Mobile, enebro and ArcPad), the following test have been performed:
* Vectorial support:
** Adding a new SHP layer.
** Zooming by rectangle to a small area.
** Panning when in the small area.
** Fit all (zoom to extent).
* Raster support:
** Adding a new raster layer.
** Zooming by rectangle to a small area.
** Panning when in the small area.
** Fit all (zoom to extent).
These tests have been executed for every layer.
=== Device details ===
The device used for testing has been this one:
* Model: Acer S200.
* Processor: Qualcomm QSD8250, running at 1 GHz.
* SDRAM: 256 MB.
* ROM: 512 KB.
* Screen: 480x800 pixels.
* Operative system: Windows Mobile 6.5
== Perfomance Results ==
Perfomance results have been grouped in 3 categories:
* Low and medium sized vectorial tests. These tests have shown very fast time response.
* Large sized vectorial tests. Due to slow time responses, a different group has been made to not share a common scale time with low and medium tests.
* Raster tests.
=== Low & medium vectorial speed tests ===
A chart with the response times is displayed below:
=== Large vectorial speed tests ===
A chart with the response times is displayed below:
=== Raster speed tests ===
A chart with the response times is displayed below:
When trying to zoom to very small areas, Enebro doesn't finish the action (at least within first 5 minutes, which we've considered to be long enough as a user waiting time out before cancelling) neither in medium nor large raster sizes. We've preferred to include the good response time of Enebro in the chart, instead of infinite response time.
Category:FOSS4G2010
Category: Comparisons