Laptop Got Smartphone Envy!
Until now, the location based aware apps on the laptop rely on the IP address, while is OK at home, the accuracy is far from perfect when moving around town.
Most modern smartphones have GPS built-in in addition to the AGPS (assisted GPS) capability provided with the cell towers. Smartphone users seem to enjoy the latest craze of location-based apps such Foursquare, Foodspotiing, Gowalla, etc..
iStartedSomething and Rafeal Rivera of Within Windows just created a Windows 7 sensor driver that connects the location platform of Windows 7 with geo-location service providers. The new tool, called Geosense for Windows, is now available for download from both of their websites (click links above).
The Geosense application is essentially a workaround for that limitation as it provides a way to connection the location platform in Windows with various geo-location providers. The providers match and triangulate known cell towers and wireless access points to estimate latitude and longitude.
The caveat is laptop manufacturers have to include GPS-enabled chip in their new laptops before developers could take advantage of this feature.
[Thanks Scott from Channel9]
No comments yet.