Today Skyhook released results of a survey of location-based mobile application developers, revealing that less than 10% of LBS developers plan to port apps to Palm and Symbian.  On the contrary, over half (58%) of non-Android developers will port to Android, and 40% of non-iPhone developers will port to iPhone.  The differences between interest in the four major platforms are stark.  Compared with the high percentage of interest in the iPhone and Android platforms, Palm and Symbian seem to be off the radar altogether.

While in the past location has been limited to navigation apps, these developers are using location in 21 different types of apps like games, business, photography, education and even healthcare.  Today, nearly every app available can find good use in the addition of a location feature.

The survey also detailed developers’ need for high quality and exact positioning location results.  Today’s LBS app developers require location platforms that quickly and precisely determine user location: 73% require very fast location results, and 73% require exact positioning.  Additionally, location performance is most important in metropolitan areas and indoors: only 3% want results at a broader city level.

These statistics speak volumes in that they show the desperate need for all platforms to provide developers with the best location available.  Developers understand that their users are no longer satisfied with location results that are not instant and exact, and are therefore only porting to the platforms that can provide this.