Skyhook Brings its Wi-Fi Positioning to Europe

July 15, 2008

Wi-Fi positioning provider Skyhook Wireless has announced its formal launch in Europe, noting that it has mapped more than 16 million Wi-Fi access points across the continent.

The company didn't specify if it was rolling out its original service or its second-generation technology, dubbed XPS 2.0, which only debuted in the United States in June. The original version of XPS delivered what Skyhook termed multi-mode location switching between Wi-Fi-based positioning and GPS readings based on availability and error estimates. XPS 2.0 algorithmically combines raw Wi-Fi, GPS, and cell-tower readings to produce a single hybrid calculation, according to the company. In indoor and urban environments, XPS can use signals from just two GPS satellites to improve Wi-Fi location accuracy by 35 percent, Skyhook says.

Skyhook's European launch includes coverage expansion throughout the United Kingdom and on the European mainland, and the establishment of regional sales and operations offices. Its fleet of 200 European data-collection specialists has driven more than 750,000 kilometers to date and continues to expand coverage, the company said.

Skyhook has already signed on European mobile applications developers. U.K.-based BuddyPing and Rummble, and Dublin, Ireland-based Locle, are integrating Skyhook's software into their social networking and search applications, the company said.

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