Here is a list of upcoming features, many of them suggested by Mobile GMaps users:
- Offline Maps — using maps stored on the memory card would be a great feature as it would eliminate the need of an internet connection on the phone. The maps could be downloaded beforehand on the computer, transferred to the phone and then used regardless of internet access or phone coverage.
- Online GPS Tracking is already implemented (see GMap-Track.com), with more features to come like support for uploading saved tracks, viewing friends' locations and tracking friends on the phone.
- Mashups — More Google Maps mashups will be supported soon.
- More Map Types will be added, for example Google Maps China (ditu.google.com).
- Fix GPS support for Blackberry phones — GPS features on this platform are not yet supported by MGMaps due to the custom Java implementations they have.
- Split map and satellite tiles on the server — this would especially help devices with smaller memory, since they would download smaller tiles, and would improve speed overall. Unfortunately, it would also break the license for the map/satellite tiles, since it would involve changing these images.
- Port MGMaps to other platforms — MGMaps already works on Palm, Symbian, Pocket PC / Windows Mobile devices, as long there's a Java environment installed. However, native versions for each of these devices would take better advantage of their specific features.
- Re-implement caching — currently, the cache system is just a LRU queue of a specific number of map or satellite tiles. Also, it gets cleared whenever the zoom is changed. This should be re-implemented to use the heap memory and the RMS/MMC and to automatically adjust the number of tiles stored.
- Other small enhancements or fixes planned:
- Indicate when a map tile is loading by marking the place where it will be displayed.
- Use another set of icons for high-res phones
- Take screenshot and save it to flash (or multimedia card)
- Send screenshot via MMS — take a screenshot and send it via MMS to another cell phone (kinda like an "I am here" message).
- Addons — this would be the ultimate feature, there are a few types of enhancements that I can think of:
- other sources for maps or satellite imagery. Currently, Mobile GMaps supports Google Maps, Yahoo! Maps, Windows Live Local (MSN Virtual Earth), and Ask.com Maps. They can all displayed detailed maps for the U.S., however none of them covers the entire world — or even the entire Europe.
- search plugins — allow special keywords in the search form to search other servers using different engines.
- custom overlays and map pins — this would be similar to what the current Google Maps API provides, i.e. display custom map pins and overlay information.
Any suggestions for other features? Check the forum or send me a message.