Samsung Joins Skyhook Team, Adding Geo-Locating Tech To Wave Smartphone

One of the biggest issues that still plague phones and navigation devices that are equipped with GPS chips is indoor reception. Go under a bridge, or inside a tunnel, or inside of a building, and you'll probably have a hard time keeping a decent reception lock. It's a frustrating experience, and now that phones are being used more and more as true navigation devices, it's a growing problem that really needs a solution.

Skyhook Wireless has been working on this for awhile now, with their Core Location Platform providing indoor reception on tons of phones today. The solution uses a combination of GPS, cellular data and Wi-Fi in order to position you, and it basically relies on whatever of those aren't totally blocked in order to somewhat keep track of you. Now, Skyhook has managed to pick up another big customer: Samsung.

The upcoming Samsung Wave S8500 is looking to be one of the most impressive smartphones to emerge in 2010, and it will begin shipping with Skyhook's technology within. It'll also be one of the first Bada handsets, so it will be interesting to see how Bada's navigation skills improve with Skyhook helping to keep a lock on location. We're also hoping that this deal allows other Samsung devices to use Skyhook...maybe even a netbook, smartbook or tablet? That'll be nice, won't it?

 Skyhook Wireless Partners with Samsung Electronics for Leading Location System

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

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--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.

    “Samsung is committed to delivering the maximum benefits of smartphones for our customers and developer partners”

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.”