Developers agree that the Android Location platform is not satisfactory for location-aware applications
BOSTON, MA - February 3, 2009 - Skyhook Wireless, the provider of the patented Wi-Fi Positioning System (WPS) and hybrid location system (XPS), today announced partnerships with German Android applications including AndNav2, City Slikkers, and PlaceLnk. The Android Marketplace was released to the German market on February 1st, and German developers have already turned to Skyhook Wireless to improve location performance. The Skyhook Wireless Android SDK is available for download here.
AndNav2 is an Android navigation app that provides turn-by-turn directions, text-2-speech voice-guidance, and route tracing. "Android is a great platform for AndNav2, but the Android location platform does not provide location results reliable enough to support a viable navigation application in all places," said Nicolas Gramlich, developer of AndNav2. "Especially in metropolitan areas, Skyhook Wireless fills the gap that Android has left in high-quality location performance."
Skyhook Wireless provides developers with location results that are faster, more accurate, and more reliable than those delivered by the standard Android location platform. Skyhook's Android SDK provides developers with access to a massive coverage database of over 80 million Wi-Fi access points and cell tower locations, GPS data, patented algorithms, and even simpler deployment methodologies than provided by the standard Android platform.
Stuttgart-based City Slikkers is a location based game in which all gameplay is tied to real-world, urban locations. "Our game simply demands fast location and reliable location lookups in urban areas. The location platform alone on Android cannot provide us with this level of performance. To provide iPhone-quality location to our users, we rely on location from Skyhook Wireless." said Joerg Hildenbrand, developer of City Slikkers.
"Location from Skyhook Wireless is important for PlaceLnk," said Florian Hartung, Frankfurt-based developer of PlaceLnk, an application that uses a unique approach to LBS and allows users to link a website to a physical location. "From our observations, the accuracy of requests from our Android users has an average of about 1,000 to 1,500 meters. This is inferior to the requests coming from the iPhone users."
Developers can license the Skyhook SDK on a per unit/user basis. Ad revenue share models are also available in conjunction with Skyhook's advertising partners. The Skyhook SDK supports Android, Linux, Mac OS X, Maemo, Symbian S60 & UIQ, Windows CE, Windows Mobile 5.x & 6.x, Windows Pocket PC, Windows Smartphone, Windows Vista, and Windows XP.
