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Geode Brings Location Awareness To Firefox
Posted by Adam Pash at 5:00 AM on October 8, 2008
Firefox only (Windows/Mac/Linux): Firefox extension Geode adds experimental geolocation features to your browser. Done well, that could make a big difference:
You've arrived in a new city, a new continent, a new coffee shop. You don't really know where you are, and are looking for a good place to eat. You pull out your laptop, fire up Firefox, and go to your favourite review site. It automatically deduces your location, and serves up some delicious suggestions a couple blocks away and plots directions there.
That's still a dream, since most web sites don't yet support that sort of location awareness, so Mozilla Labs offers up a couple of demo apps you can use to try it out. So the big question is: How will Geode find me, and how well does it work?
When you first install Geode and restart Firefox, you'll be directed to the Geode welcome page, which will ask permission to use your location.
To locate you, Geode uses previously mentioned Skyhook Loki's Wi-Fi positioning tools, which maps Wi-Fi signals. According to the Mozilla Labs post, Loki can find you within an accuracy of 10 to 20 meters in under a second. So did Geode live up to those standards?
I used Geode on my laptop (you have to be on a Wi-Fi connection for it to work), which is connected to my wireless home network, and Loki found me immediately and with startling accuracy. Next I tried the barebones demo app, called The Food Finder. It used that impressively accurate location information to list coffee places on a Google Map within walking distance of my location, and again, worked exactly as advertised.
Geode is available from the Mozilla Labs post now, but the technology that it's using will be built directly into Firefox 3.1 when it's released. While Geode doesn't have a lot of support across the web yet, this is the kind of functionality that will—given time—transform your mobile computing life. If you give it a try, let's hear what you think—and how accurately it found you—in the comments.
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
grewal1212
Posted 6:18 AM 8/10/08
its like "They Know."
grewal1212
nironan12
Posted 6:36 AM 8/10/08
:D
nironan12
APer3Caper
Posted 6:35 AM 8/10/08
I have Geode installed but I can't seem to get any of the demos to work. Any ideas? I live in a more rural area so that might be the issue.
APer3Caper
Platypus Man
Posted 6:32 AM 8/10/08
Meh. I installed it and it was kinda close (it's somewhere within my university, so that's good, but on the wrong side of campus). I'd rather just show it where I am and let it tell me where stuff is based on that. I mean, I guess it might be helpful if you don't know where you are, but you could probably just ask someone if that's the case.
It works better on an iPhone than a laptop because most people don't walk around a city with their laptop on them. At least not to my knowledge.
Platypus Man
teddyumd
Posted 7:03 AM 8/10/08
first got to get a laptop then will write one:)
teddyumd
Gabryael
Posted 7:01 AM 8/10/08
I'll have to give it a try on my mini 9 once it shows up.
Gabryael
twoeightnine
Posted 6:55 AM 8/10/08
Found my location no problem but didn't show me anything. I know I live in a small town but there's a pizza shop basically on my block and it was nowhere to be found.
twoeightnine
xgad
Posted 6:50 AM 8/10/08
"Error getting your position. Mea Culpa!"
Nop, not working out for me. :|
xgad
Tony Bullard
Posted 6:48 AM 8/10/08
It's kinda funny how this is something neat on computers, when this functionality is almost expected in new phones.
I wish I lived a lifestyle where I found myself in strange places all the time. Sadly, I pretty much know where I'm going several days in advance...sigh.
Tony Bullard
theblackdog
Posted 8:10 AM 8/10/08
I could see using this on my Asus eee when I am traveling, but my sense of wanting to stay private is flipping out at the thought of even using such a thing.
theblackdog
HarcourtArmstrong
Posted 7:55 AM 8/10/08
I'm willing to bet my VPN will render this tool useless.
HarcourtArmstrong
urukhaifive
Posted 7:44 AM 8/10/08
I don't really understand why it needs to guess when you could just say... input your address?
urukhaifive
Deprong Mori
Posted 8:45 AM 8/10/08
Just input your approximate street location (cross street, city) into Google Maps and you get the same basic functionality.
Deprong Mori
Deprong Mori
Posted 8:41 AM 8/10/08
And on the road, you can just input the cross streets and city into Google Maps ("pine and taylor, san francisco, ca").
Deprong Mori
urukhaifive
Posted 8:28 AM 8/10/08
@urukhaifive: Oh nevermind, I see. It's not really an at home thing, it's a on the road thing.
urukhaifive
wjh31
Posted 9:52 AM 8/10/08
but am i right in thinking that due to using that skyhook thing it will only work in the US and imperfectly at that based on some of the comments, however adverts for sites with adult profiles seem to have been doing it for ages 'meet girls for sex in your area/in *town* tonight, i've always assume this is determined on your ip or something, but either way they are usually close enough as far as i can tell, why not just use whatever that is for anyone in a 'blind' area
wjh31
Deprong Mori
Posted 10:12 AM 8/10/08
The biggest problem is that this only brings location awareness to Firefox. It's a poor-man's version of what already exists on the iPhone and iPod touch.
At some point, Apple with probably roll up Location Services into Mac OS X so that any application could have access to this, along with the possibility of turning it off by application or globally on the system.
That way Google Earth, Dashboard widgets, etc. would all have access to Location Services, much like the iPhone and iPod touch apps currently enjoy.
Deprong Mori
EricL
Posted 12:50 PM 8/10/08
Found me easily, within half a block, using my home network. Unfortunately, there was no food within walking distance of my house (which is actually pretty much true, to the best of my knowledge).
EricL
jflaming
Posted 3:29 PM 8/10/08
This is tagged for Mac/Windows/Linux, but when I tried to install it into Ubuntu (Intrepid) the web page said it wasn't available for linux...
jflaming
urmston
Posted 3:59 PM 8/10/08
@jflaming: Sadly, too true.
urmston
WikzoDk
Posted 12:21 AM 9/10/08
@jflaming: Same thing here, using Ubuntu 8.04.
WikzoDk
baron_army
Posted 1:01 AM 9/10/08
Hello big brother! In a world filled with things like carnivore and it's ilk, do you really want Govcorp Unlimited knowing more about where you are?
baron_army
wngchng87
Posted 9:14 AM 9/10/08
Im using FF 3.0.0 and after installing Geode I've crashed 3 times trying to use it :(
wngchng87
diegodd
Posted 9:59 AM 9/10/08
"Error getting your position. Mea Culpa!"
Blah, it didn't work the first time, and the next, it just crashed firefox!
I think maybe because i'm in mexico city, it didn't get my location. hell with it for now.
diegodd
BnWRainbow
Posted 7:34 AM 10/10/08
I don't know how good the SkyHook-Loki/Mozilla-Geode is on your side of the Atlantic, but here it does not seem to work well (if at all)
BnWRainbow
ryaninc
Posted 2:00 AM 12/10/08
Holy crap, how did it find me? It found my location PERFECTLY and I'm on my home network which is secured and doesn't even broadcast the SSID. That's pretty spooky. :-)
ryaninc