Ran across this on Boing Boing today (BTW - if you're not reading Boing Boing every day, what is wrong with you? It is simply the greatest blog in the history of ever.): Loki is a new, location-based Internet search and navigation service, currently in beta.
Loki uses within-range Wi-Fi networks and a database to figure out your current location for you. So, your directions start you out correctly, even if you have no idea where you are.
This is, of course, pure genius. The limitations are still fairly significant - you have to use your laptop (Windows XP only, at the moment) instead of a mobile device, there have to be some hotspots in the vicinity, and the database has to be ultra up-to-date - but this is a great idea.
Where it needs to go, of course, is onto a mobile device (my much-anticipated 30 gb, flash-memory, music-store-agnostic, 3G, Windows Mobile PDA/phone/mp3 player, natch), it needs to keep track of where I am, and it needs to be able to read directions to me out loud, so I don't have to squint at the screen while driving. I'm OK with it delivering location-based advertising, as long as I can mute the sound for that (while leaving the sound up for my directions).
This is in contrast to my current state of affairs: While touring my parents' new, under-construction house in Frisco the other day, I attempted to find directions to the local Romano's Macaroni Grill. It took me five minutes of drill-down on my silly little Cingular WAP phone, and the best I could do was a Yellow Pages lookup of the phone number for the restaurant. Not too impressive.
No comments:
Post a Comment