skyhook

LONDON--Skyhook Wireless, whose technology uses Wi-Fi signals to pinpoint a mobile phone's location, is in something of a tight spot. On the one hand, it's embroiled in a major lawsuit against Google, and on the other, Apple stopped using its services beginning with the iPhone 4.

In other words, the two biggest rising powers in the mobile market are not exactly on the Boston company's side. So perhaps it's a bit surprising that Chief Executive Ted Morgan is as optimistic as he is.

The way Morgan sees it, though, there's plenty of room for … Read more

Competing app stores, the Samsung Galaxy Tab release date nears, and Google is sued again! Plus we talk about the Audible app, and cover a tip that harkens back to the Windows PC. This week's special guest: Senior Editor of cell phone reviews Kent German!

Report: Apple, RIM losing market share to Android http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-20016647-94.html

V CAST App Store to compete with official Android Market? http://androidandme.com/2010/09/carriers/v-cast-app-store-to-compete-with-official-android-market/

Avaya Unveils … Read more

Samsung Galaxy Tab pricing shows up on Amazon UK, and it's well over a thousand dollars U.S., presumably to force you toward subsidized prices so you'll end up paying the same amount or more for with-contract tablets. Which ... seriously? No. Also, Craigslist says the adult services section is gone for good, and Google's music service appears to be imminent--much to Spotify's demise--er, dismay.

Google's legal department has another pressing case on its hands, this time courtesy of location-services provider Skyhook Wireless.

Google was sued in both federal and state court in Massachusetts Wednesday by Skyhook over patent infringement claims as well as what GigaOm called "business interference," according to its report. Skyhook is claiming that Google used its control over Android and Google Maps to bar Skyhook's mapping technology from Motorola's Android handsets in favor of the search company's own technology, and that Google's mapping technology violates four Skyhook patents.

Specifically, the complaint regarding business interference … Read more

After I heard that Skyhook Wireless was announcing a deal that would put its geolocation technology into a line of Dell Netbooks, I talked with the company's CEO, Ted Morgan. I'd last talked to Morgan three years ago when he pitched me on the merits of Wi-Fi over traditional satellite GPS location-finding technologies. Ironically, the Dell deal puts Skyhook technology only in those Netbooks ordered with the optional GPS hardware in them, even though all Netbooks have Wi-Fi. But as Morgan described it to me, the best real-world solution for geolocation today is a combination of GPS and … Read more

Opera, announced Thursday that it has inked a deal with Skyhook Wireless that will bring geolocation to its browser. According to the company, those who download the geolocation-equipped Opera browser will be able to share their location with any site that supports it and get information about related products and services in their area.

Skyhook played an integral role in making the geolocation possible. The company's Wi-Fi Position System makes it possible for any computer or mobile phone with a wireless adapter to be located.

In conjunction with the release of a new Opera build that supports geolocation, the … Read more

BARCELONA - Skyhook Wireless announced on Monday at the GSMA Mobile World Congress here that Texas Instruments will use its hybrid positioning technology in its mobile chips, so that cell phones can provide more accurate location information.

Skyhook has developed a hybrid technology that uses GPS satellite technology and Wi-Fi to help provide geolocation services. Skyhook's technology is used today on Apple's iPhone, among other services and devices.

The way it works is that Skyhook will use Wi-Fi access points to triangulate and get a fix on known Wi-Fi hot spots. The company has a database of where … 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