New Core Location technology in Snow Leopard brings cool new mobile apps to the Mac
BOSTON, MA- January 26, 2010- Today, FoursquareX announced that it is utilizing the new location feature built into Snow Leopard, the newest version of Mac OS X, to allow for check-ins to the popular Foursquare application via your desktop, eliminating the app’s sole availability on mobile phones.
FoursquareX is one of the first apps to utilize Snow Leopard’s built-in Core Location feature powered by Skyhook Wireless. Core Location allows FoursquareX to automatically detect surrounding venues for easy check-ins, and to notify users of friends’ nearby check-ins. You can quickly see where all your friends are on the built-in map, and find new places close by to explore that you might not have known about before.
"Using Core Location, powered by Skyhook technology, in my app was seamless, and allows my users to experience the same great location performance on their desktops as on their iPhones," said Eric Butler, developer of FoursquareX. "Users are happy to finally have a way check in to Foursquare from a desktop, and the location is spot on."
"Skyhook now powers location on devices outside of mobile handsets, like Apple Macs and Dell netbooks," said Kate Imbach, vice president of marketing at Skyhook. "Broader location availability will allow cutting edge developers like Foursquare to expand the location based applications beyond the traditional uses cases on mobile handsets."
Skyhook’s Core Location is available natively for any location app developed for Snow Leopard. FoursquareX is a free download for Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard users.
About Skyhook Wireless
Founded in 2003, Skyhook Wireless has pioneered the development of the first hybrid positioning system to fully leverage Wi-Fi, GPS and cell towers delivering precise location data supporting the growing market for location-based services. Skyhook’s hybrid positioning system XPS requires no new hardware, works indoors and outdoors, provides an instant location and is more accurate than current technologies in congested downtown areas. Skyhook Wireless is headquartered in Boston, MA, and is privately held. Investors include RRE Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures, Intel Capital and CommonAngels. For more information visit www.skyhookwireless.com