location

Q: What's the difference between portable navigation devices (PNDs) and smartphones with built-in GPS? Why do we have to pay for GPS service on smartphones, even they have built-in GPS antennas, whereas for in-car GPS, we don't need to pay a monthly subscription? Is there a smartphone which will also function as a PND that will avoid paying monthly subscription to mobile companies? --Wize Chap via e-mail

A: Wize Chap, I completely understand your confusion. On the surface, PNDs and GPS-enabled smartphones seem to offer the same services and navigation tools--maps, points of interest, turn-by-turn directions--so why in … Read more

As expected, Mozilla Labs released a Firefox plug-in Tuesday called Geode that lets Web sites figure out a person's approximate geographic location and use it in online services--as long as you grant the software permission to access the information.

Geode, a preview of technology to arrive in Firefox 3.1, taps into technology called Loki from Skyhook that deduces a computer's location from the signals of nearby wireless networks, according to a Mozilla Labs blog post on Geode.

To show the technology off, Mozilla shared an application called Food Finder that shows the user's approximate location and … Read more

Chipmaker Broadcom is adding Wi-Fi positioning technology from Skyhook Wireless to its semiconductors to help provide more accurate location-based services.

Broadcom plans to use GPS (Global Positioning System) and Wi-Fi to help provide accurate location-based information for mobile devices, the company said. Location-based services are becoming hot, especially since the launch of Apple's iPhone 3G, which comes with GPS. The location applications that use GPS have been among the most popular applications downloaded from the Apple App Store.

But GPS has its limitations. Skyhook's Wi-Fi location technology can use known Wi-Fi hot spots to augment GPS. The service … Read more

Updated at 12:30 p.m. on September 9, 2008 with more details about Google Maps' location accuracy.

This week, Google's mobile team let loose with an updated version of MyLocation, a feature of Google Maps that geolocates your position based on cell-tower triangulation. It fixes a minor, but distinct drawback: an overly generous target.

MyLocation, which launched about a year ago, was the first implementation of its kind we've seen for a mobile app, and it gave a taste of GPS to users whose low and midgrade phones were without it--the majority of the cell-phone-owning population. However, the best MyLocation could do was inscribe you on the map within a mile radius of your actual presence. Not bad when you compare it to the entirety of global geography, but not as precise as you'd like if you're, say, on foot in bustling New York City.

Google promises that the blue bubble mapping your location will become more precise, shrinking in size if you're amid dense population. In the way of specifics, Google's knowledge of mobile towers lets the map application nail down your location relative to your position among the cell towers. While that's nothing new, improvements to Google's cell-tower database directly informs accuracy, so the more towers its got in the system, the smaller the circle can be and the closer its center will be to where you've planted your feet.… Read more

On Thursday Google announced an easier way for Windows Mobile users to find the nearest restaurant with the release of Search with My Location.

Previously, when you went to google.com from your phone and performed a local search, the results were tailored to the last location you entered. Now, taking advantage of the Gears Geolocation API, Search with My Location approximates your position using the same Cell ID technology used in Google Maps for Mobile.

So, say if you're on a hot date--or even not-so hot, OK the amount of hotness doesn't matter right now--and you've … Read more

If you thought that the National Security Agency's warrantless wiretapping was limited to AT&T, Verizon and Sprint, think again.

While these household names of the telecom industry almost certainly helped the government to illegally snoop on their customers, statements by a number of legal experts suggest that collaboration with the NSA may run far deeper into the wireless phone industry. With over 3,000 wireless companies operating in the United States, the majority of industry-aided snooping likely occurs under the radar, with the dirty-work being handled by companies that most consumers have never heard of.

A recent … Read more

Placefav is a social-bookmarking service for places. It was pitched to me as a cross between the currently defunct Muxtape and Delicious. A better thing to compare it to is the list-making feature on reviews service Yelp.

The ultimate aim is to pass your list along to someone else as a self-contained city guide. Things like this are useful when somebody asks you for a list of places or things to do if they're visiting your hometown, or a vacation spot you might have a little extra local knowledge of. The site also offers the option to favorite other … Read more

Google announced two services Thursday that programmers can use to build services into Web sites that employ a site user's location.

The first is a tool for Web sites built with the Ajax programming method. The Ajax client location property provides Web sites with a rough estimate of a user's location based on his or Internet Protocol address, said Google engineer Steve Block on the Google Code blog. The property can be seen in action in the "news by state" feature on Google's 2008 election site API (application programming interface).

Second is an expected change to endow Google's Gears software with the ability to employ more detailed location information. … Read more

For the most part, the only person you can socialize with on a handheld GPS navigator is the chick who tells you to turn left after 100 yards.

Garmin wants to change that. The device manufacturer has partnered with location-based app company ULocate to bring its Where.com software, previously available only on compatible cell phones and carriers, to some of its devices. (It hasn't said which ones specifically.) This will give Garmin owners access to Where's own Buddy Beacon software, which shares users' current locations with friends. It can be hooked up to Where's Facebook application, … Read more