Software turns laptops into navigators; Loki system melds global positioning, WiFi to find services
By Hiawatha Bray, Globe Staff | March 23, 2006
A Boston company is giving away software that can turn nearly any laptop computer into a global positioning system, enabling users to find the nearest restaurant, hospital, or gas station at the touch of a button.
Skyhook Wireless Inc.'s new Loki service uses the popular WiFi wireless data networking system in a radical new way. The company has created WiFi maps of the nation's 100 largest cities, with precise locations for five million wireless data signals. Loki uses these wireless signals to tell users with WiFi laptops where they are -- and where they can obtain a variety of products and services. Anybody with a WiFi-equipped portable computer that runs Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating system can use Loki, which is available for download at