by David I | Dec 22, 2016 | Developer Programs News, Developer Relations, DevRelate |
In today’s interconnected world, companies in all industries need to publish APIs and cultivate a developer community to access and use them. To be competitive today, attracting and supporting developers is essential. The key to cultivating a vibrant developer community that uses your APIs and supports your platform is a good developer relations program. “Developer Programs and APIs in the News” is a series of news items from developer programs around the world.
Developer Programs and APIs in the News
Amazon AWS – December 21 – AWS Cost Explorer Update: Reserved Instance Utilization Report – “Cost Explorer is a tool that helps you to manage your AWS spending using reporting and analytics tools . You can sign up with a single click and then visualize your AWS costs, analyze trends, and look at spending patterns. You can look at your spending through a set of predefined views (by service, by linked account, daily, and so forth). You can drill in to specific areas of interest and you can also set up custom filters.”
Facebook – December 20 – Watch Mark Zuckerberg demonstrate Jarvis AI in a Facebook video – “After a year of coding, here’s Jarvis. In case it’s not clear, this is meant to be a fun summary and not a live demo. My personal challenge for 2016 was to build a simple AI to run my home — like Jarvis in Iron Man. If you want to read about how I built it, check out the note I published yesterday: https://www.facebook.com/notes/mark-zuckerberg/building-jarvis/10154361492931634”
whitehouse.gov – December 20 – the White House releases its Artificial Intelligence, Automaton, and the Economy report (PDF) – “Advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology and related fields have opened up new markets and new opportunities for progress in critical areas such as health, education, energy, economic inclusion, social welfare, and the environment. Although it is unlikely that machines will exhibit broadly-applicable intelligence comparable to or exceeding that of humans in the next 20 years, it is to be expected that machines will continue to reach and exceed human performance on more and more tasks.”
BMW – December 20 – BMW Group combines expertise in Munich’s Unterschleissheim: New development centre for autonomous driving – “The BMW iNEXT is scheduled for release in 2021 – self-driving, electric and fully connected. A whole range of highly-automated models from all BMW Group brands are set to follow. To achieve this aim, the BMW Group is combining its development expertise in vehicle connectivity and automated driving at a new campus in Unterschleissheim near Munich.”
SugarCRM – December 19 – Here are 3 new resources for developing on Sugar 7.8 – “You may have seen that that Sugar 7.8 has now been released! We have introduced some important platform updates in this release. Have you read the developer release notes yet? Here are three additional and essential resources for you to use before you embark on new Sugar 7.8 projects: Migration Guide, Unit Tests, and Overview for Sugar Developers.”
Microsoft – December 19 – Microsoft HoloJS on GitHub: Provides a framework for creating holographic apps using JavaScript and WebGL – “HoloJS is a framework for creating UWP applications using JavaScript and WebGL. HoloJS is a C++ library that hosts Chakra to run JavaScript code, and also hosts ANGLE to handle OpenGL ES graphics calls. OpenGL ES calls are translated from WebGL calls by the JavaScript app. When running on a Microsoft HoloLens, HoloJS supports holographic rendering.”
IBM – December 15 – Look who’s talking: IBM debuts Watson Speech To Text ‘Speaker Diarization’ beta – “Today, IBM Research and Watson commercial teams working together have made a significant step forward to advance this ability to distinguish between speakers in a conversation. Watson’s Speech To Text API has been enhanced with beta functionality that supports real time speaker ‘diarization.’ Diarization derives from ‘diary’ or the recording of past events. Here, it refers to the algorithms used to identify and segment speech by speaker identity.”
Wolfram Research – December 12 – Stephen Wolfram Launches Wolfram Alpha Open Code – “Code for Everyone – Computational thinking needs to be an integral part of modern education—and today I’m excited to be able to launch another contribution to this goal: Wolfram|Alpha Open Code. Every day, millions of students around the world use Wolfram|Alpha to compute answers. With Wolfram|Alpha Open Code they’ll now not just be able to get answers, but also be able to get code that lets them explore further and immediately apply computational thinking.”
Blackberry – December 8 – BlackBerry Unveils Comprehensive Mobile-Security Platform for the Enterprise of Things – “BlackBerry’s new platform is designed to be the foundation that drives the company’s ongoing move to software, is cloud enabled and addresses the entire enterprise from endpoint to endpoint. This platform completes the integration of the company’s prior acquisitions of key technologies such as Good Technology, WatchDox, AtHoc and Encription. The totality of the BlackBerry solution is called BlackBerry Secure and is grounded in the company’s mobile software security platform. It helps companies manage and secure their mobile devices and connected things and secures communications for all messaging and file types – ultimately opening up new markets for BlackBerry where multiple endpoint mobile security management and applications are critical.”
Google – December 8 – Start building Conversation Actions for Google Home – “The Google Assistant brings together all of the technology and smarts we’ve been building for years, from the Knowledge Graph to Natural Language Processing. To be a truly successful Assistant, it should be able to connect users across the apps and services in their lives. This makes enabling an ecosystem where developers can bring diverse and unique services to users through the Google Assistant really important.”
Microsoft – December 7 – Microsoft empowers new development opportunities in mixed reality, gaming and cellular PCs = “Terry Myerson, executive vice president, Windows and Devices Group, Microsoft, was joined on stage in Shenzhen by Navin Shenoy, senior vice president and general manager for the Client Computing Group, Intel Corporation, and Cristiano Amon, executive vice president, Qualcomm Technologies Inc., and president of Qualcomm CDMA Technologies. Together, the companies showcased new ways for partners to build modern devices that will empower the next generation of creators.”
Oxford Dictionaries – December 5 – Oxford Dictionaries launches API for access to world-renowned dictionaries data – “Oxford Dictionaries is pleased to announce the launch of the Oxford Dictionaries API which, for the first time, will enable developers to access and utilize Oxford’s leading lexical content and provide a gateway to our innovative Lexical Engine and Platform (LEAP), where our multilingual[1] dictionary data is optimized and semantically linked.”
Unity Technologies and Xioami – November 21 – Unity and Xiaomi Partner to Grow Global App Economy: Developers will be able to access MIUI app store, licensing support and new revenue streams in China – “As one of the top Android device makers in China, Xiaomi boasts one of the world’s most engaged audiences, with the MIUI app store seeing more than 50 billion downloads to date. Unity developers will have unparalleled access and distribution support across a key market of players seeking high-quality original experiences.”
HERE – November 9 – Release notification: New Enhancements to HERE Platform services – “Updates to Geocoder API, Geocoder Autocomplete API, HLP Routing API, Map Image API, Map Tile API, Public Transit API, Venue Maps API, Custom Location Extension, Route Match Extension, Toll Cost Extension, Waypoints Sequence Extension, Platform Data Extension, HERE Android SDK, HERE iOS SDK and Map Data.”
Send me your Developer Programs News!
If you have news about your Developer Relations Program, send me an email about the news.
David Intersimone “David I”
Vice President of Developer Communities
Evans Data Corporation
davidi@evansdata.com
Blog: https://www.devrelate.com/blog/
Skype: davidi99
Twitter: @davidi99
by David I | Dec 9, 2016 | APIs, Developer Community, Developer Outreach, Developer Programs News, Developer Relations, DevRelate |
Do you know the way to San Jose? I’ve used Mapping APIs to build map based applications using Google Maps API. I have not tried using Apple maps since their first fumbled introduction, but I have built and iOS app that uses MapKit. I had also used Navteq’s maps API for another demo. Navteq was purchased by Nokia which also had their own Nokia Maps. Nokia renamed the Navteq brand to HERE. In 2015 Nokia sold HERE to co-owners Audi, BMW and Daimler. HERE has a developer portal with mobile SDKs (iOS and Android), JavaScript API, REST API, Platform Extensions and Data Lens data visualization toolkit. One of the great things about being a developer, you get to play with a wide range of mapping SDKs, APIs, Frameworks and tools. One of the tough things about being a developer is choosing which mapping API or framework to use. You might decide to integrate two or more of the APIs into your apps: directions from one, images from another, and current location from a third.
Mapping APIs
Here (no pun intended) is a list of developer relations programs that support Mapping APIs. Check out their documentation and code examples at each of the sites.
- Google – https://developers.google.com/maps/ – “Millions of websites and apps use Google Maps APIs to power location experiences for their users. Google Maps APIs are available for Android, iOS, web browsers and via HTTP web services.” Code samples are available on GitHub – https://github.com/googlemaps/. Keep up to date on the Google Maps Blog – https://googlegeodevelopers.blogspot.com/. Ask questions on Stack Overflow – http://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/google-maps. Follow Google Maps on Twitter – https://twitter.com/googlemaps. Videos on YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/user/googlemaps
- HERE – https://developer.here.com/ – “Maps for developers. APIs and solutions to build location-aware web and mobile apps.” Follow the HERE developer news at https://developer.here.com/blog. Code examples and API explorer at https://developer.here.com/api-explorer/maps-js/v3.0. Ask questions on Stack Overflow – http://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/here-api. Follow HERE on Twitter – https://twitter.com/here/. Videos on YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/user/heremaps/. “Who wants ice cream!?” — A HERE Maps API for JavaScript Tutorial in 8 parts.
- Digital Globe – https://developer.digitalglobe.com/maps-api/ – “DigitalGlobe Maps API delivers the world’s best satellite imagery, straight to your app. Beautiful, current images and precise map labels, all from a simple, speedy API. Get the best for your location-enabled web or mobile app. Cloud-hosted and easy to build on, now you can access the world’s most accurate collection of high quality, current satellite imagery as well as 15-years of complete geospatial content.” Read the latest developer news on the Digital Globe blog – https://developer.digitalglobe.com/category/developer-blog/. Maps API docs and examples are at http://mapsapidocs.digitalglobe.com/docs. Follow Digital Globe on Twitter – https://twitter.com/DigitalGlobe. YouTube videos available at https://www.youtube.com/user/digitalglobeinc/
- Microsoft Bing Maps – https://www.microsoft.com/maps/choose-your-bing-maps-API.aspx – “The Bing Maps platform provides multiple API options for your application including Web Control, a Windows Store apps control, a WPF control, REST Services, and Spatial Data Services.” Bing Maps Dev Center – https://www.bingmapsportal.com/. Developer Code examples at https://code.msdn.microsoft.com/site/search?f%5B0%5D.Type=SearchText&f%5B0%5D.Value=bing%20maps. Documentation available at https://www.microsoft.com/maps/documentation.aspx
- Open Street Map (OSM) – http://www.openstreetmap.org– “OpenStreetMap is a map of the world, created by people like you and free to use under an open license. OpenStreetMap is built by a community of mappers that contribute and maintain data about roads, trails, cafés, railway stations, and much more, all over the world.” Includes open and licenses data. Check out the REST based API at http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/API. Additional information is available on the OSM foundation site – http://wiki.osmfoundation.org/wiki/Main_Page. Keep up to date on the OSM blog at https://blog.openstreetmap.org/
- MapQuest – https://developer.mapquest.com/ – “All of your geospatial needs. One subscription. All-access to the tools and resources needed to map the world. With MapQuest API and SDK products, you’ll gain access to in-depth documentation and a community of Developers through our forums.” Multiple APIs (maps, directions, geocoding, search, traffic, etc) and SDKs (iOS, Android, available at https://developer.mapquest.com/products/maps. Developer documentation at https://developer.mapquest.com/documentation/. JavaScript API at https://developer.mapquest.com/documentation/javascript-api/. Open APIs at https://developer.mapquest.com/documentation/open/. Follow MapQuest on Twitter – https://twitter.com/MapQuest
- FourSquare – https://developer.foursquare.com/ – “The Foursquare API gives you access to our world-class places database and the ability to interact with Foursquare users and merchants. Start using the only location API you’ll ever need.” Overview of the API – https://developer.foursquare.com/overview/. API endpoints – https://developer.foursquare.com/docs/. The FourSquare engineering blog is at http://engineering.foursquare.com/. Follow FourSquare developer API on Twitter at https://twitter.com/foursquareapi
- MapBox – https://www.mapbox.com/developers/ – “Mapbox is the mapping platform for developers. Build maps and applications on our simple and powerful APIs, and use our open source libraries for interactivity and control. We want to change the way people move around cities and understand our planet.” JavaScript, iOS and Android SDKs are available. Check out the getting started with MapBox page at https://www.mapbox.com/help/#get-started-with-mapbox. iOS SDK – https://www.mapbox.com/ios-sdk/. Android SDK – https://www.mapbox.com/android-sdk/. Keep up to date on the MapBox blog – https://www.mapbox.com/blog/. Follow MapBox on Twitter – https://twitter.com/Mapbox
- Apple Developer Maps – https://developer.apple.com/maps/ – “Give your apps a sense of place with maps and location information. Present maps with custom annotations, highlighted regions, and overlays. Offer your users full control to pan, rotate, zoom, and move the map around in 3D, and show users their current location or guide them to their next destination using direction APIs.” Apple MapKit and Framework info at https://developer.apple.com/reference/mapkit. Apple Core Location Framework documentation at https://developer.apple.com/reference/corelocation. Find loads of Apple developer videos at https://developer.apple.com/videos/
- ArcGIS – https://developers.arcgis.com/– “Bring the power of location to your apps with ArcGIS – a mapping platform accessible to developers. Create and manage geospatial apps regardless of your developer experience. Build web, mobile, and desktops apps that incorporate mapping, visualization, analysis, and more.” ArcGIS for JavaScript – https://developers.arcgis.com/web-api/. Runtime SDKs for Android, iOS, Java, macOS, .NET, and Qt – https://developers.arcgis.com/arcgis-runtime/. You can also script ArcGIS with Python – https://developers.arcgis.com/scripting-and-automation/. Follow the ArcGIS news on their blog – https://blogs.esri.com/esri/arcgis/category/developer/. Sample code on GitHub – http://esri.github.io/. Use the hashtab #ArcGIS to follow on Twitter – https://twitter.com/hashtag/ArcGIS?src=hash
- Amazon Maps – https://developer.amazon.com/maps – “With the Amazon Maps API v2, you can easily add interactive 3D maps to your Fire tablet. The Amazon Maps API v2 helps you offer mapping functionality in your app to create a richer experience for your users. Amazon Maps are fast, fluid, and offer a seamless 3D mapping experience, including rich 3D landmarks.” You can download the Amazon Maps SDKs at https://developer.amazon.com/sdk-download. There are SDKs for Fire OS & Android, iOS, Unity, Xamarin, Adobe AIR, Cordova, and Web. Getting started with Amazon Maps includes setting up your development environment and getting started with code – https://developer.amazon.com/docs/maps/get-started.html. Read the Amazon FAQ for additional developer details – https://developer.amazon.com/docs/maps/faq.html
Am I missing your Developer Relations Program’s Mapping APIs?
Send me an email if I haven’t listed your developer program that includes mapping APIs. Do you developer programs and APIs have additional features that should be highlighted?
David Intersimone “David I”
Vice President of Developer Communities
Evans Data Corporation
davidi@evansdata.com
Blog: https://www.devrelate.com/blog/
Skype: davidi99
Twitter: @davidi99
