The crew at Mozilla Labs are working on Geode for Firefox 3. It attempts to localise search for desktop browsers in a similar way to mobile web. Instead of using GPS or mobile-tower triangulation common to mobile devices, Geode brings location based services to the desktop using Skyhook’s positioning system based on wireless hotspot meta-data .
The implications are obvious for both consumers and advertisers, but it’s yet to be seen what might come of this capability. Like other major LBS enablement providers, Mozilla is attempting to neutralise widespread privacy concerns by promising their trustworthiness in lengthy privacy policies and giving users control over how much information about their location is shared.