Skyhook Wireless Announces Beta Availability of ‘Loki’ for Location-Based Internet Search
Free Download Automatically Incorporates User Location into Internet Search, Navigation and Communications to Create First Mass-Consumer LBS Application
LAS VEGAS, NV – April 5, 2006 -- Skyhook Wireless, provider of the industry’s first Wi-Fi based positioning system, today announced at CTIA WIRELESS 2006 the Beta availability of Loki™, a location-based Internet search, content navigation and location-sharing browser toolbar. Leveraging Skyhook’s Wi-Fi Positioning System™ (WPS) to automatically define a user’s exact physical location, this customizable toolbar not only turns a Wi-Fi enabled laptop into a virtual GPS device, but it also integrates that location into the user’s Internet search, browsing and communications. For the first time, Internet user’s can easily integrate their view of the digital world with their physical location.
“Loki is the first true local search toolbar on the market,” said Greg Sterling, principal, Sterling Market Intelligence. “The fact that Loki identifies the user location automatically and offers a broad range of valuable local content greatly streamlines and enhances the local search user experience.”
Search, Tag & Share
With the Skyhook WPS platform automatically and accurately defining the user’s physical location, Loki then delivers one-click navigation to location based content and services through its pre-configured 'Channels' and one button interfaces. Even when in a new and unfamiliar town, the user can use his location for countless personal services such as to plot his location on a Yahoo!® map, email that location to a friend using Microsoft Outlook®, instantly find a movie playing nearby via Fandango®, chart directions with Google™ Maps, choose a pre-movie restaurant nearby using Zagat's®, visit GasBuddy to find a gas station on the way, search for a local “ice cream shop” with Ask.com™ and look up the evening weather at Weather.com®. He can even find a date from the neighborhood through Loki’s interface with Match.com®. Because the Skyhook WPS platform automatically localizes the content from these leading providers based on the user’s current physical location, Loki enhances the user experience by making it more personal, relevant and timely. User’s can even build their own location channels using the Channel Editor and share those new channels with other Loki users.
Loki gives users the ability to share their location with friends, family and colleagues or publish it to other applications or services. Now a user can location 'tag' a picture on photo sharing sites like Flickr™, an entry in a blog via TypePad™ or, through Skyhook partners like Socialight and uLocate™ Communications, share places and locations with others.
Partners
“With Loki, Socialight users can now create a 'StickyShadow™' message in a physical space and automatically define its location with a click of the Loki 'GeoTag' button, making for a great user experience,” said Dan Melinger, CEO of Socialight. “This interface with Loki and our integration with the Skyhook WPS platform has allowed us to instantly extend our solution from mobile phones to the hundreds of millions of Wi-Fi device users, greatly expanding the addressable market and potential user base for own service.”
“Loki allowed uLocate to expand its WHERE.com platform quickly by adding automatic location determination for users with Wi-Fi enabled laptops,” said Walt Doyle, president and CEO of uLocate Communications, Inc. “WHERE.com was originally developed with mobile phone users in mind but adding the Loki technology to our platform has enabled us to expand the addressable market for our location enabled services dramatically.”
“With Loki, Skyhook Wireless brings to market a free, open and customizable local search capability that greatly improves the web experience,” said Jed Rice, vice president of market development for Skyhook Wireless. “Instead of having to rely on the wireless carriers or having to purchase expensive add-on hardware, average consumers can now integrate true location capabilities with their everyday use of the Internet through the same Wi-Fi enabled computer they use today.”
LBS Challenge Finalist
Loki was recently named as a finalist in the NAVTEQ™ Global LBS Challenge, a competitively judged program evaluating the performance, accuracy, function and applicability of new LBS applications. The winner of the Global LBS Challenge will be announced at CTIA WIRELESS 2006® in Las Vegas on April 6th.
The beta version of Loki is available for download at www.loki.com for Windows XP users and supports both Internet Explorer and Firefox. Please visit the coverage maps section to see where to obtain the most accurate location.
About Skyhook Wireless
Founded in 2003, Skyhook Wireless has pioneered the development of the first-ever metro-area positioning system that leverages Wi-Fi rather than satellites or cell towers to deliver precise location data supporting the growing market for location-based services. The Skyhook Wi-Fi Positioning System (WPS) requires no new hardware, works indoors and outdoors, provides an instant location and is more accurate than current technologies in congested downtown areas. WPS is currently available in the top 100 US metro areas and is on target to serve 70% of the US population by the end of 2006. Skyhook Wireless is headquartered in Boston, MA and is privately held. Investors include Bain Capital, Intel Capital and Nokia Innovent. For more information visit www.skyhookwireless.com, send email to info@skyhookwireless.com or call 617-314-9802.
- Contact
-
Beth Winkowski
Winkowski Public Relations
(978) 649-7189
bwinkowski@att.net