Maps Booster enhances GPS performance in urban areas

Skyhook has launched a plug-in for the Positioning system in S60 phones, dubbed Maps Booster and illustrated/reviewed below. Essentially, Maps Booster hooks into the Location sub-system in Symbian OS and adds WiFi-based location services, especially useful in urban areas, where GPS struggles on account of tall buildings and lack of sky coverage. Read on for more.

Skyhook has been around for a while,  I interviewed them a couple of years ago, for AAS. Essentially, they maintain a (somewhat) self-healing up to date database of Wi-Fi access points across parts of the developed world, which they then make available to mapping software on various platforms. Try to get a mapping fix on an Apple iPod Touch and you're using Skyhook's system, for example.

They've now made this system available to S60 phone owners, via Maps Booster (support web site here), now available for selected devices (listed below) in the Nokia Ovi Store. The unique selling point is that the Skyhook system excels in dense urban environments, where GPS systems struggle to get a fix - the two location technologies thus complement each other well.

I live in a suburban area, but decided to give Maps Booster a try anyway:

 

After installation, confirmation that Maps Booster is installed and working

 

Within the standalone Maps Booster config utility - confirming accuracy (left), quite impressive and GPS comparable in a middle class UK suburban street with about 10 WiFi access points, and 'About' (right)

 

On the left, Google Maps with just Maps Booster enabled; on the right, with just GPS/Assisted-GPS enabled

You can see that, in suburbia anyway, the GPS fix is generally more accurate than the Skyhook/Maps Booster fix, in which case, the mapping software (Ovi Maps/Google Maps/anything else) will use the more accurate of the two. In covered areas (e.g. malls) and in dense areas (e.g. city centres), I'd expect Maps Booster to be much more reliable, and it's great to see it integrated so tightly into the Symbian Location system.
It's also worth noting that the Skyhook system doesn't work as well as GPS once you're moving (since the WiFi-scanning operation takes a finite number of seconds) and so is better suited to pedestrian use or in slow-moving urban traffic.
There are also caveats in terms of device support (see FAQ below) and database coverage (ditto, see the link), but Maps Booster is certainly something I'm going to keep loaded for those trips into The Big Smoke.....