Online basemaps

Online basemaps collectively refer to ArcGIS Server tiled map services and ArcGIS Online map services. They are sets of map cached tiles (precreated images) residing on the server. As with offline basemaps, they work as background reference map layers. Online basemaps have several distinct advantages:

• They are stored on the server, therefore they don't take up device storage space. They are retrieved only when the field crew navigates to an area covered by the tiles.
• The ArcGIS for Windows Mobile applications can create a temporary small size cache for the area being navigated, therefore if the network connection is lost, your field crew are still able to view the basemap through the local cache.
• ArcGIS Online provide three categories of high resolution basemaps, including imagery, street map and topographic maps for free. There are also a demographic map, reference map and other speciality basemaps.

Note:

The ArcGIS Online street map basemap is different from StreetMap for ArcGIS for Windows Mobile. While both of them serve as basemaps and contain street data, the ArcGIS Online street map data are stored online and are read-only. You access them via an internet connection. The StreetMap for ArcGIS for Windows Mobile is an offline basemap from which you can extract the data for your project's geographic extent and add it to your mobile project. The data reside on your mobile device and allow you to perform geocoding.

ArcGIS Server tiled map service

A tiled map service is a map service for which you have created cached tiles after publishing the map. The tiles are a set of static images which reside on your server.

Your field workers can connect to your tiled map service and display them on their Windows or Windows Mobile devices when connected in the field. With the ability to have your field workers connect to your own hosted services, you can publish map services in the projection of your choice and you can include the content that is most useful for your project. When you update the tiles, your field crew will also be able to receive the updates.

ArcGIS Online map service

ArcGIS Online hosts a number of basemaps from which you can choose to add to your mobile project. You will need to have internet connection on your mobile device to use these basemaps and the data are read-only. The scale of the basemaps is based on the availability and resolution of the individual dataset.