SoftGPS Evaluation Program

Want to try out SoftGPS? Devicescape provides a evaluation version for Windows which lets you try the service on a PC, free of charge. You can download the Windows binary here (note Vista and Windows 7 only).

If you want to try out SoftGPS for your device or application, we have a simple evaluation program which makes SoftGPS available free of charge during the evaluation period. We can also grant a free license for personal and non-commercial uses. Request an evaluation license from Devicescape by clicking here.

Installation of SoftGPS for Windows

SoftGPS supports Windows Vista, and Windows 7 (note: currently no XP support). You need a PC equipped with a Wi-Fi adapter.

SoftGPS can be installed into its default folder or the executable can be manually saved and run. Once started, SoftGPS displays its icon in the system tray / notification area. You can enable automatic startup with Windows by right clicking on SoftGPS and selecting "auto-run".

Usage

SoftGPS determines the current location by contacting Devicescape's SoftGPS server with details of the surrounding Wi-Fi environment. This communication can happen over any network connection, including Wi-Fi, 3G, wired network, etc, and returns the latitude and longitude. If the network connection allows full access to the internet, then SoftGPS will also query the address of the location.

On a location change or a network event (new association, new adapter, etc) SoftGPS will popup the location dialog for a few seconds.
Left clicking the icon will open the location dialog. A left click also refreshes the location request if, by any chance, the location is out of date.
Hovering over the SoftGPS icon will show the lat/long, or the address if available.
Right clicking will bring up a menu.

Menu Options

Open Easy Wi-Fi: launches a browser to easywifi.com with the map view centered around the current location.

Open Google Maps: launches a browser showing Google's map view centered around the current location.

Auto-run on Windows startup: enables or disables SoftGPS starting up with Windows.

Popup locations: when enabled, SoftGPS will show the current location for a few seconds after every network event (typically association or the WiFi adapter waking up).

Evaluation Scenarios

1. Finding the Location Over a Wi-Fi Connection:

This is one of the most common scenarios. With a connection to a Wi-Fi network, SoftGPS will lookup the location and address using the current association and scanlist.

2. Finding the Location Using Public Wi-Fi, Without a True Connection:

With an association to a public, "captive portal" Wi-Fi network, but prior to any authentication, SoftGPS can lookup the location using the current association and scanlist. This allows SoftGPS to function at hundreds of thousands of commercial networks all over the world. Since there is no true connection to the internet, SoftGPS cannot resolve an address from the coordinates.

3. Finding the Location without a Wi-Fi connection:

This scenario demonstrates SoftGPS' capability to find the location based on Wi-Fi surroundings without making any connections to APs. Ensure you are not associated to any Wi-Fi networks around you, but that you see at least one AP in your scanlist. If you have a data connection available, over wired ethernet or 3G for example, SoftGPS will use the connection to lookup the location and address using the Wi-Fi scanlist.

Note: in addition to demonstrating SoftGPS behavior on a 3G-enabled device this scenario can be useful to simulate the functionality of SoftGPS with a locally stored location database, where SoftGPS can use Wi-Fi scanlists and is entirely self-contained.

Privacy

The SoftGPS evaluation client reports your device's MAC address along with the SSID/BSSID of the Wi-Fi networks surrounding you. Currently this data is used for look-up and then discarded. Devicescape anticipates future applications which use this data, however we have a very strict privacy policy and none of your data will ever be used in a personally identifiable manner, or without your explicit permission. Read our privacy policy here.

Common Questions

Meaning of Location Unknown

Although SoftGPS has a large and growing database you will likely encounter unknown locations. You can add new locations into the SoftGPS database by using one of Devicescape's Easy Wi-Fi clients on a device with GPS (see www.easywifi.com/download)

No Address Is Shown

Although SoftGPS can query the location over a public network prior to authentication, it can only lookup the address on a true internet connection (via Google). This message is shown when SoftGPS can't access Google over the Internet, or if there is no address for the given location.

Questions and Problems?

SoftGPS saves a logfile in \Users\your-username\AppData\Local\softgpslog.txt. You can look in it for more information or send it to Devicescape if you think there is a problem.