Digital Trends

A new Firefox add-on lets websites detect the physical location of computers, making it easier to find local restaurants when traveling.

Firefox is set to offer a location tool called the Geode Project as an add-on to its browser. The tool will let websites find the physical location of a computer.

That’s all well and good, but what’s the use of it? Well, if you’re in a strange town and want restaurant or shopping recommendations, it could prove very useful for instance.

The technology comes from Skyhook, which already has a system called Loki, able to detect the location of a computer to within 10 or 20 meters, according to the BBC.

The user controls Geode, offering the choice of whether to give location, which should play well with privacy advocates. The social network Pownce is giving Geode a trial, which sees a location element as a useful tool for those wanting to send files.
Mike Shaver, Mozilla's vice president of engineering, said it was important to gauge the reaction of users to Geode:

"That's one of the reasons why we want people to try out Geode. We want people to tell us about their experiences and we realize it could become irksome, for example if every website is asking you whether you want to reveal your location."

The location technology will get a full release in Firefox 3.1.