Today, RIM announced an update to its BlackBerry Locate Service that will allow developers to use GPS-free cellular triangulation to acquire location information in their apps. As RIM states:

Users can be indoors with no GPS coverage, but your app will still be able to guide them to restaurants or points of interest (POI) around them. Although the accuracy of the fixes obtained from the Geolocation service may not always be as high as with GPS, it has use cases for apps that require highly accurate GPS fixes as well as apps that do not. Apps that require high accuracy can use this service to quickly show the user an approximate location while it waits for a more accurate location fix using GPS. This can offer a huge user experience improvement. For applications that do not require high accuracy, this service can be leveraged as a simple yet effective mechanism to provide location information.

Obviously this technology is not new, as it has been in use by many platforms for quite some time, but it is nice to see RIM continuing to add functionality to the BlackBerry platform, and we know from first-hand experience, that this is a very, very useful service for BlackBerry developers.

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Samsung and Skyhook Wireless confirmed Friday that the Korean handset manufacturer will incorporate Skyhook’s Core Location Platform into its mobile handset lineup. Not surprisingly, the first handset to get Skyhook’s impressive location service will be the Bada-powered Samsung Wave S8500. Samsung did not single out any additional handsets for Skyhook integration but presumably the Wave will be the first of many handsets to feature this precision location information. Full press release is after the jump.

SKYHOOK WIRELESS PARTNERS WITH SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS FOR LEADING LOCATION SYSTEM

Consumers and developers to enjoy superior location performance on Samsung mobile devices

BOSTON, MA – July 2, 2010- Skyhook Wireless®, provider of the Core Location Platform, today announced that Samsung will deploy Skyhook’s technology across multiple Samsung mobile devices. The first handset to launch with Skyhook embedded will be the Samsung Wave (Model: S8500). The Wave is the initial handset to be released with Samsung’s new, open mobile platform, Samsung bada, and is the cornerstone of the company’s commitment to provide a smartphone for every lifestyle. With the addition of Skyhook, Samsung devices, such as the Wave, will better enable all location-aware applications by providing the most precise, reliable, and fastest location information available.

Geo-location is at the center of mobile innovation and is fundamental to many emerging mobile services. Today, there are thousands of mobile applications that incorporate location as a part of their user experience. Precise location enables consumers to check-in with friends, find nearby concerts and exhibits, or get directions to the destinations of their choice. For some experiences, such as turn-by-turn navigation or local search, location is the central feature, but increasingly applications such as Twitter, Shazam and OpenTable incorporate location to simplify user experience and to personalize content delivery.

“Samsung is committed to delivering the maximum benefits of smartphones for our customers and developer partners,” said Hyungmoon Noh, Vice President of R&D Planning Team at Samsung Electronics at Samsung. “Precise location is central to the mobile experience, and Skyhook’s Core Location will provide Samsung mobile devices with market-leading location capabilities.”

Skyhook is the recognized leader in geo-location technology and fulfills hundreds of millions of location requests every day across over 100 million handsets, netbooks and cameras.Skyhook’s ground-breaking Core Location system uses a combination of Wi-Fi, cellular and GPS readings to produce a single, accurate location quickly and in all environments.

“Samsung creates innovative mobile platforms and user experiences,” said Michael Shean, Founder & SVP, Business Development, Skyhook Wireless. “Skyhook is thrilled to further enhance the Samsung smartphone experience with superior location accuracy and availability on Samsung bada and other platforms.”

About Skyhook Wireless

Skyhook is the worldwide leader in location positioning, context and intelligence. In 2003, Skyhook pioneered the development of the Wi-Fi Positioning System to provide precise and reliable location results in urban areas. Today, Skyhook’s Core Engine provides positioning to tens of millions of consumer mobile devices and applications.

For more information visit www.skyhookwireless.com.

For further information

Beth Winkowski

Skyhook Wireless

Phone: (978) 649-7189

Email: beth@skyhookwireless.com

Yesterday, social networking site foursquare announced that it had successfully secured an additional $20 million in series B venture capital funding from: Union Square Ventures, O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz. Foursquare, explains exactly what the VC will be used for:

With this new round of financing, our main priority will be to expand our organization to supplement the amazing core team we’ve assembled already. [...] We’re hoping to build a world-class engineering organization, based primarily in our headquarters in the New York City to help us develop the next generation of mobile + social + local products that will excite our users and provide unique value for local merchants.

Currently, foursquare has over 2 million users who voluntarily “check-in” to restaurants, bars, shops, and other locations via their mobile device, earning badges and titles along the way. How many of you out there 4sq?

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Google has launched its new Gears Geolocation API for mobile and desktop browsers. Websites using this API can provide targeted information based upon your current location. The API determines your location using GPS or cell phone triangulation for cell phones and the IP address for desktop browsers. If you are in the UK, you can see the Gears Geolocation API in action on supported Windows Mobile devices at the European Travel site, lastminute.com, and the social discovery tool, Rummble. Point your mobile browser to m.lastminute.com or m.rummble.com, install the Gears application, and get your location based web content served up to you. Gears currently is only available for Internet Explorer Mobile on Windows Mobile devices and for Firefox and Internet Explorer on the desktop. Expansion to include other devices and operating systems such as Android is expected. It is also free for both developers and users. All in all, not bad guys, not bad.

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