Intel's Placelab (www.placelab.org) was a great privacy -sensitive wifi
based positioning system developed at their Seattle Lab. But its since been
handed over to Microsoft as part of Virtual Earth and they are going to keep
ll your personal location data and do anythign they want with it
On 12/15/05 8:53 AM, "Rob Kelley" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> We've heard that GPS doesn't work well in the city (too many
> skyscrapers, not enough open sky). Wifi-based location tracking seems
> to be an alternative worth considering. The idea is to have the device
> identify (but not necessarily connect) to surrounding access points and
> then determine its location by triangulation.
>
> A little research has shown a couple wifi efforts. But before checking
> the options, it'd be wise to to formulate a couple requirements from
> the savvy wireless consumer's point of view:
>
> 1. Open infrastructure, open protocol and open source (no proprietary
> funniness)
> 2. 802.11 but not platform-specific (windows, linux, macintosh)
> 3. Able to have API to build services on top of it ("Wifi positioning
> says I'm here")
> 4. User privacy (user chooses who gets their location information on a
> case by case basis)
> 5. AP owner privacy (respect owner's wishes)
>
> So what do we have? A quick ''informal'' Google search reveals two
> wide area options (speak up if you know of others):
>
> ''SkyHook Wireless''
> [http://skyhookwireless.com/ ]
> This Boston firm has press releases all over the place (financing,
> contracts, awards). They used to be QuarterScope. They use a client
> software on PocketPC and Windows Mobile, with something coming out for
> Palm later. They also point to theft identification of stolen laptops.
> They claim to have mapped a network on 1.5 million access points. How?
> Like this:
> [http://www.skyhookwireless.com/scanning/upload.php ]
>
> ''HereCast''
> [http://www.herecast.com/ ]
> By comparison, check out HereCast. This is a developer community
> working to provide an open infrastructure for wifi positioning. It is
> not a hotspot directory, but simply a directory of access point
> location. The directory is made up by submission.
>
> ---
> It's interesting to see how this space will develop. It seems any
> municipal wifi would do well to consider having a location-based
> service of its own. For example, if Hoboken deployed Access Points on
> each lamp post, the city could then provide simple wifi positioning
> information from them.
>
> Rob
>
> @@@
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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