On 9/12/07, Rahul Nair <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > At Yahoo! Research Berkeley we have developed an API that allows for > personalized cell-id based positioning for non-commercial use. You can > check it out at http://developer.yahoo.com/yrb/zonetag/index.html
Why non-commercial use only? Slightly better terms than Wigle, but still restrictive, especially when people are contributing their own data. > It includes read and write apis as well as way to get suggested tags > for your location. Currently we have pretty good coverage of the Bay > Area as well as parts of New York, Los Angeles, London, Helsinki and > Budapest. > > Rahul Nair > Yahoo! Research Berkeley > -- > http://www.rahulnair.net/blog > > > > Date: Wed, 12 Sep 2007 17:29:37 -0600 > > From: Martin May <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > Subject: Re: [Geowanking] iPhone Geolocating technology? > > To: [email protected] > > Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > > > > On Sep 12, 2007, at 12:24 PM, Andrew Turner wrote: > > > Depends on where you are - and like you point out with Wigle - it > > > comes down to the data. > > > > True, it does come down to the data. Christopher started an effort to > > collect location data for GSM cells at http://gsmloc.org/, and I > > personally mapped most of the Denver area a few years back (for T- > > Mobile) using my own software. Cellspotting has a similar database, > > although I'm not sure if they have lat/long info for the cells. > > > > The nice thing about GSM cells is that they probably don't change > > quite as often as Wi-Fi hotspots, cover a larger area per cell, and > > are present in more places. The drawback is that you have to collect > > the data for each provider (maybe similar to Ian's duct-tape cell > > bundle ;) > > > > > What, specifically, were the licensing qualms with Wigle? Multiple > > > people have said something similarly vague, but nothing specific as to > > > why. > > > > It's basically as Dan said, they only allow use on one single > > computer for one user, pretty much ruling out anything useful that is > > web-based. They offer a commercial license, but I have no idea how > > much they charge for it or what terms apply to that. > > > > Martin > > > > -- > > Martin May > > CTO, Brightkite.com > > > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > T 720-299-4027 > > > > > On 9/11/07, Martin May <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > >> > > >> I've looked at the Wigle database about a month ago, and it seems > > >> that while > > >> the database itself is a great source for geocoded SSIDs (and more > > >> importantly, MAC addresses), the licensing is somewhat restrictive. > > >> > > >> With regards to the iPhone, another interesting question is > > >> whether we can > > >> access the API that the field test app i using to show currently > > >> visible > > >> cell towers with signal strength. This information could then be > > >> used, > > >> similarly to Wi-Fi, to geolocate the handset. Since the GSM > > >> network has > > >> better coverage than individual Wi-Fi networks, this could be a more > > >> worthwhile technique > > > > > > Depends on where you are - and like you point out with Wigle - it > > > comes down to the data. > > > > > > What, specifically, were the licensing qualms with Wigle? Multiple > > > people have said something similarly vague, but nothing specific as to > > > why. > > > > > > > > >> > > >> Martin > > >> > > >> -- > > >> Martin May > > >> CTO, Brightkite.com > > >> > > >> [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > >> T 720-299-4027 > > >> > > >> > > >> On Sep 11, 2007, at 6:16 PM, Mike Liebhold wrote: > > >> > > >> There's news today that there might be something useful here for > > >> building > > >> iphone wifi geolocation: > > >> http://code.google.com/p/iphone-wireless/ it looks like > > >> it's possible to scan for an AP SSID: > > >> http://code.google.com/p/iphone-wireless/wiki/Apple80211Scan > > >> > > >> ideally, if you have a db of locations of AP SSIDs then all you > > >> have to do > > >> is scan and compare visible APs with known AP locations to > > >> determine your > > >> location. > > >> > > >> so the question remains, (aside from the skyhook/loki commercial > > >> db) what is > > >> the best source of a db of geocoded wifi AP SSIDs? Drew, Is > > >> wifimaps.com > > >> the best, current source? also, I'm wondering if anyone has had > > >> any recent > > >> experience with the wigle db? > > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> Drew from Zhrodague wrote: > > >> > > >> Do you or any of these others publish the associated datasets, eg. > > >> under > > >> Creative Commons or other open license? Seems there's a problem > > >> getting > > >> critical mass of data for such efforts... > > >> > > >> We're releasing the wifimaps.com data under the GPL, as soon > > >> as we can > > >> package it into a useful format! > > >> > > >> The next question becomes -- what format do people want their > > >> wifi > > >> locations in? WFS? KML? Something made-up? Again, I'm looking for > > >> some kinda > > >> help on this project, as I'm in way over my head =_) > > >> > > >> > _______________________________________________ > Geowanking mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.burri.to/mailman/listinfo/geowanking > -- Andrew Turner [EMAIL PROTECTED] 42.2774N x 83.7611W http://highearthorbit.com Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA Introduction to Neogeography - http://oreilly.com/catalog/neogeography _______________________________________________ Geowanking mailing list [email protected] http://lists.burri.to/mailman/listinfo/geowanking
