Opera Software and Skyhook Wireless have partnered to bring geolocation to the wired and mobile Web.

Consumers can now choose to share their location with any Web site and get a range of information about related products and services around them. Whether it is local searching, social networking, geotagging photos, local advertising or discovering nearby content, geolocation is a key factor in creating a relevant and meaningful experience on the Web.

"We think that location-based services on the Web are something that will be really interesting for Web developers on different platforms and devices," said Lars Erik Bolstad, vice president of core technology for Opera, Oslo, Norway. "We didn't want to develop the actual location acquisition platform ourselves, the component that tells Opera where the device is, and Skyhook has this solution in place, so it makes sense for us to integrate this third-party component.

"This gives our users access to GPS, and Skyhook will work regardless of whether the device is connected to network," he said. "You can expect interesting services to be provided that make use of users' locations -- a whole new category of services that are not available on the Web today, and a whole new context for types of services and information that you'll be able to access as a user."

While this could be an invaluable tool for marketers, there are privacy concerns.

"It's a topic we're discussing, and there's a need for good privacy protection here, because we need to make sure we prevent the abuse of this information," Mr. Bolstad said. "Our intention is to make this a standard feature in our Web browser for Web developers to use, and we're already seeing a great amount of interest in this functionality, especially on the mobile side."

Opera Software ASA's cross-platform Web-browser technology, Opera Mini, makes wired Web sites viewable on feature phones.

Founded in 2003, Skyhook Wireless developed a hybrid positioning system that leverages Wi-Fi, GPS and cell towers delivering precise location data supporting the growing market for location-based services.

Skyhook Wireless' investors include RRE Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures, Intel Capital and CommonAngels.

Traditionally, geolocation was considered to be only a part of a downloadable mobile application, but,with Skyhook's Wi-Fi Positioning System, or WPS, any computer or mobile phone with a wireless adapter can take advantage of its positioning technology and locate a consumer, making this service available to any Web site.

With the new W3C Geolocation Application Programming Interface, Opera will make Skyhook Wireless' groundbreaking location platform available to any Web developer with just a few lines of JavaScript.

For example, a popular coffee chain will write the necessary JavaScript code on their Web site, Opera will ask consumer for approval, then the location will be submitted to the Web site servers and their service will display the coffee shop locations nearest to the user on a map.

A technology preview is available for download at http://labs.opera.com.

"We look at the world from a technology provider standpoint, working with Apple and camera guys, and browsers are one of those spaces that are critical to bring geolocation to the Web and consumers," said Ryan Sarver, director consumer products for Skyhook Wireless, Boston. "Opera has great mobile distribution internationally, and we want to location-enable every mobile device out there.

"We're adding context and relevancy to the Web, and while there's not necessarily a killer locatioin-based app, there is a killer context, for example CitySearch automatically knowing the restaurants near a certain consumer, location letting brands and publishers get information about consumers so that they can tailor the experience to them," he said.

In addition to being the location provider for Apple's iPhone and iPod touch, Skyhook provides similar technology to Qualcomm.

"Traditionally, if you're a small business and you want to advertise on the Web, smallest area you can target is an entire city, but if they want to advertise within a mile of their location, this allows advertisers to pull in that information so they know exactly where consumers are and match them with businesses around them," Mr. Sarver said.

"This will increase the relevance and CTRs of ads and increase the amount advertisers are willing to pay," he said. "There is a general awareness of LBS and ever since the launch of the iPhone, people are expecting services that are more tailored to them right away and developers are asking for it, so hopefully there will be a groundswell."