Skyhook Touts Wi-Fi Mobile Services




Startup says mobile wireless Internet can deliver location based services.May 29, 2007
By Kamika Dunlap

Skyhook Wireless, a Wi-Fi positioning system developer, said Tuesday it was launching new software that taps into mobile Internet hotspots to provide phone subscribers with location-based services.

Dubbed Loki 2.0, Skyhook’s new software can be download by people to their mobile phones and includes a toolbar and browser plug-in to access various location based services.

The company has developed a nationwide database of 18 million wireless Internet hotspots to calculate the precise location of any Wi-Fi enabled device, including handsets, cameras and in-car navigation systems.

But Skyhook faces several key challenges, including the fact other Wi-Fi startups such as Plazes and Meetroduction are aggressively pushing into location based services market, which lets subscribers look up local maps or search for a nearby restaurant or store.
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Perhaps more daunting is the challenge from GPS technology, on which a growing number of location based services companies are betting. Skyhook CEO Ted Morgan argued there were far more Wi-Fi enabled handsets compared to GPS-enabled handsets are on the market.

But data from market research firm iSuppli indicated that handset manufacturers were expected to ship almost 29 million Wi-Fi-enabled units in 2007, compared with more than 158 million GPS-enabled handsets.

ABI Research has predicts that by 2011, there will be 315 million GPS subscribers for location based services, up from 12 million in 2006.

Skyhoook argued that its Wi-Fi positioning software often performs better than many GPS devices, which can encounter accuracy issues in urban areas, when signals from satellites bounce off buildings or when GPS users go indoors or underground, Mr. Morgan said.

Still many mobile experts say the variety of location based services call for device makers, developers and carriers to provide a combination of technology to meet all the demands.

Ajay Agarwal, managing director at Bain Capital Ventures who also serves on the board at Skyhook Wireless agreed.

“No one technology is the end all be all,’’ he said.
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