I was just talking about location in the browser this morning. Just a few minutes ago I stumbled across Mozilla Geode, a Firefox plug-in that captures user location through WiFi triangulation:
Geode provides a rudimentary implementation of geolocation for the current version of Firefox uses a single hard-coded location provider to enable Wifi-based positioning conforming to the W3C Geolocation specification so that developers can begin experimenting with enabling location-aware experiences today.
The next version of Firefox will likely feature this built in. I’m speculating that users will have the ability to turn this on and off, much as they do on the iPhone.
It appears that Mozilla/Firefox will beat Chrome to market with more precise location awareness. The Sprint/Clearwire WiMax (ISP) initiative XOHM has this capability as well.
I predicted this morning that we’d see location in the browser in 2009. However maybe it will be 2008 when Mozilla does a broader launch of Geode or its successor.
If Mozilla and Chrome do this in short order, it will put some pressure on Apple/Safari and IE to incorporate Wifi or cell-tower triangluation into their next releases.
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Update: Here’s a new Mozilla post:
We’re still working out the specifics, but we’re hoping that location will be provided by one or more user selectable service providers and methods, e.g. GPS-based, WiFi-based, manual entry, etc. You’ll be able to play with this in the upcoming beta releases of Firefox 3.1, as well as alpha releases of Fennec.
It uses Skyhook Wireless’ WiFi database to locate the user/browser and asks permission before it turns on. It can also be tuned to different levels of location specificity. Right now, it’s a plug-in (like Skyhook’s Loki) but later it will be part of the browser download/update itself.
Developers will need to build applications (or convert existing ones) to take advantage of the browser’s location awareness of course. I’ve just installed the plug-in. Here’s where I am right now:
Screenwerk 
October 7, 2008 at 10:09 pm
I went to the site and couldn’t seem to find the plug in.
October 8, 2008 at 3:23 pm
Scroll down on the page I link to to here:
Download & Try It Out
You can download Geode here.
October 8, 2008 at 5:01 pm
I downloaded the plugin.. where do i use it?
October 8, 2008 at 5:47 pm
Right now there are no developers that have tapped into this. It will need to be integrated by sites and applications.
October 9, 2008 at 1:15 am
Hey Greg, we just did this. Go to http://www.outside.in/radar and give it a whirl.
mark
October 9, 2008 at 7:33 am
Hi Greg – give this a try as well.. Nearby restaurants right from your browser – http://blog.boorah.com/2008/10/07/location-aware-restaurant-search-from-your-browser/
October 10, 2008 at 11:36 am
[…] Apps: BooRah, Outside.in I wrote last week about the new location plug-in for Firefox: Geode. This is a precursor to location being fully embedded in the next release of Firefox. Location […]
October 10, 2008 at 7:04 pm
[…] wrote last week about the new location plug-in for Firefox: Geode. This is a precursor to location being fully embedded in the next release of Firefox. Location […]
October 12, 2008 at 10:44 am
I think this is going to be huge – previous attempts to do this failed because websites did not develop for it.. the location capabilities of the iPhone though have allowed this capability to take off and now it looks like Firefox is going to do the same on the desktop – especially if it is built into the next release of Firefox.
IE will have no choice but to follow here..
October 15, 2008 at 2:16 pm
[…] Here’s my prior discussion of Geode. […]
May 21, 2009 at 1:23 pm
[…] awareness technologies (triangulation) are in many mobile devices now, but also in Mozilla’s Geode plug-in and, of course, the Skyhook PC Loki toolbar. Now the company has teamed up with an impressive list […]
June 30, 2009 at 5:53 pm
[…] to ascertain user location. It had previously enabled this feature in a plug-in called “Geode.” Across the board the user experience is still a little clunky on these browsers but […]