Apple Thoughts: iPhone is Boon for Location Apps and Companies

"Nearly two years ago, I outlined five reasons Apple's iPhone will change the wireless business, the foremost being increased web usage on mobile phones. I should have added another item to that list: catalysing location-based services and applications that use geolocation data to enhance their functionality. One company that's benefiting from this trend is Boston-based Skyhook Wireless. The 6-year-old company got a big boost when Apple decided to include its core technology in the iPhone platform."

Skyhook is a company sells location data it obtains by using GPS, Wi-Fi and cell towers. It sells this data to a variety of mobile device companies but it really took off when Apple included it's core technology in the iPhone platform. Hitching your wagon to Apple seems to pay off in a big way for a number of companies that you never really hear about. It sounds like it has also been a jump start for an increasing number of developers that develop location based applications. It will be interesting to see how Skyhook does in the coming year or two though, Google has jumped into the fray and is offering similar services for free.