Skyhook's Core Engine is a software-only location system that quickly determines device location with 10 to 20 meter accuracy. View a demo of the Core Engine to see it in action now:

To quickly and reliably arrive at accurate location results, the Core Engine collect raw data from Wi-Fi access points, GPS satellites and cell towers with advanced hybrid positioning algorithms. By leveraging the strengths of more than one underlying position technology, Skyhook's Core Engine provides the best possible location available in any environment.

A mobile device with Skyhook's Core Engine collects raw data from each of the location sources. The Skyhook client then sends this data to the Location Server and a single location estimate is returned. The client is optimized so that it communicates with the Location Server only when the location cannot be determined locally. This behavior minimizes the user's data cost while maximizing battery life.

Skyhook's Core Engine leverages:

• A massive reference databases of Wi-Fi access points and cell tower ID's.
• Patented, groundbreaking algorithms.
• Raw position data from each location source available.

Skyhook's Core Engine is embedded into the MapQuest Android app to deliver an enhanced navigation experience on phones. This is the first turn by turn app to fully deploy Skyhook's hybrid location system. This video shows a comparison of the enhanced navigation provided by MapQuest over Google Maps in Boston.

GadgetTrak Inc., provides innovative anti-theft and data protection solutions for mobile devices. The application uses Skyhook's location positioning technology, provided by the Core Engine SDK, integrated with Flickr to capture the location and images of laptop thieves. The company has a 95% recovery rate for all devices running it's GadgetTrak application. This video shows just one example of how it works.

Wi-Fi positioning performs best where GPS is weakest, in urban areas and indoors. Click here for details on Wi-Fi data collection methodology and coverage.

GPS provides highly accurate location results in "open sky" environments, like rural areas and on highways. But in urban areas and indoors, tall buildings and ceilings block GPS' view of satellites, resulting in serious performance deficiencies in time to first fix, accuracy and availability. GPS or A-GPS alone cannot provide fast and accurate location results in all environments.

Cell tower triangulation provides generalized location results with only 200 - 1000 meter accuracy. It serves as a coverage fallback when neither GPS nor Wi-Fi is available. Skyhook maintains a worldwide database of cell tower locations, which increases our Core Engine coverage area and helps improve GPS satellite acquisition time.