(Click here for larger image of Loki screenshot)
Skyhook's database of WiFi access points in New York City
(Click to enlarge) |
Loki is a location-based search and navigation toolbar based on Skyhook's
WiFi Positioning System (WPS) that determines a WiFi-enabled device's location by reference to nearby WiFi access points. The toolbar can be personalized with "channels" that provide specific location-based content, the company said.
Skyhook says that Loki's JavaScript API can location-enable web content by "embedding a few lines of JavaScript" into the HTML content. With the Loki API, a user who has "pro-actively and explicitly" granted opt-in permission to share their location with a Loki-enabled site can automatically get directions to the nearest store, mapped locations of nearby friends, access to pictures, movies, and music about the immediate area, or any other location-relevant content.
The Loki 2.0 toolbar is a free download currently available for Windows Mobile, Windows XP, and Mac OS, with support for Vista "coming soon," according to Skyhook. The JavaScript API with documentation and examples is available
here.
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