Yandex Acquires KitLocate, Israeli Geo-Location Developer

March 19, 2014  - By
Image: GPS World
Image: GPS World

The Israeli startup KitLocate, developer of energy-efficient cloud location technology for mobile devices, is joining the Yandex mobile search team.

KitLocate’s technology, packed into a developer-friendly SDK, provides location capabilities, including geo-fencing, motion detection and social location, for location-based apps on the user’s iOS or Android smartphone. While doing that, it lowers battery power consumption to less than 1% per hour. KitLocate’s algorithms allow location-based apps to request the device’s geographic coordinates less frequently without losing precision, which considerably extends the phone’s life between charges.

The Israeli team’s technology has already been successfully implemented in a mobile app, which helps drivers to find available parking spaces in their immediate vicinity. Popular in Israel financial service, Isracard uses KitLocate’s technology to deliver its offerings to users’ phones based on their current location.

Yandex’s mobile products that don’t need continuous GPS synching, such as its location-based search, will be augmented by KitLocate’s smart solution. With KitLocate’s technology, Yandex will be able to deliver search results, as well as product or service offers, on the user’s mobile phone or tablet, relevant not only to a specific user, but also to their current location. The cloud solution looks especially promising for location-based recommendation apps, Yandex said.

Yandex’s previous experience working with a startup from Israel was investment in a facial recognition technology developer, Face.com, which was later acquired by Facebook. After joining Yandex, KitLocate’s team, based in Tel Aviv, will continue to be available for implementation in other location-based apps that don’t require continuous geo-tracking.

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