Location: Interview, Ted Morgan

Ted Morgan founded Skyhook Wireless with Michael Shean in 2003 to capitalize on the explosive growth of Wi-Fi usage and the emerging demand for location-based services. Prior to founding Skyhook, Mr. Morgan was the Vice President of Marketing for edocs Inc., a provider of customer self-service solutions that was sold to Siebel Systems in January 2005. At edocs, he ran marketing communications, inside sales, product marketing, and product management. Prior to edocs, Mr. Morgan was Group Product Manager for Open Market, one of the early leaders of the e-commerce revolution. Prior to that, he was a product manager for Harbinger Net Services in Atlanta. Prior to the technology industry, Mr. Morgan spent four years in the financial services industry, as part of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, Alliance Capital, and Allen & Company. Mr. Morgan has an undergraduate degree in mathematics from Georgetown University and an MBA from the University of Chicago.

Q. Give us an overview of Skyhook Wireless.

Skyhook was founded in 2003 to capitalize on the increasing demand for location-based services (LBS). The first location solutions such as GPS and cell tower triangulation were inadequate - leaving frustrated mobile consumers with inaccurate position information, sporadic coverage and slow time-to-fix. In response, Skyhook developed WPS - the first Wi-Fi positioning system. Taking advantage of the tens of millions of Wi-Fi access points that exist in all major cities, WPS consistently provides accurate location information indoors and in dense urban areas.

Q. What is Loki? What does it do that is new and useful?

Loki demonstrates the power that location brings to the online experience. It is the first location-aware Internet search and navigation application that uses XPS' Wi-Fi Positioning capabilities to pinpoint physical location. This location information and its one-click user interface makes it simple and easy to navigate location-based Web content - such as weather, directions, nearby entertainment venues, and more. Users also can quickly find their location, share that location with their friends, find local points of interest, and search for anything they like – locally.

By integrating Google Adsense advertisements into the Loki site and driving ad placement based on current location, Skyhook has seen an amazing five percent click-through rate on the ads. This rate is ten times higher than that of standard online text ads. The only difference is that the ads are location-targeted

Q. Do you think the market of location based services is going to evolve into a valuable tool set. If yes, what will it need to get evolved and the various obstacles coming in its path.

Location awareness is emerging as a standard technology on mobile devices. There are over 400 location-aware applications in the iPhone App Store. Most of the applications in Android's Marketplace are location-enabled. The Geode plugin from Mozilla has helped to bring location to the browser. Chipset makers are starting to support this increasing consumer demand for location.ABI Research is predicting that hybrid chipsets which integrate multiple radios will become standard on mobile handsets.

Q. Explain us about Skyhook Wireless' XPS hybrid positioning system.

In 2008, Skyhook launched version 2.0 of XPS, the world's first true hybrid positioning system. Recognizing and leveraging the relative strengths of each underlying location technology (WPS, GPS, cellular tower triangulation), XPS is the fastest, most accurate, most reliable and most flexible location system on the market today. As a software-only implementation, XPS doesn't require additional specialized hardware embedded on the device or installed at the cellular base-station.

Q. Tell us about your Wi-Fi Positioning being demonstrated on latest version of Symbian OS

Skyhook Wireless has demonstrated Wi-Fi positioning on the latest version of Symbian OS, v9.5. The native integration resulting from the collaboration between the two partner companies demonstrates support for Skyhook’s Wi-Fi Positioning System (WPS) by Symbian’s LBS architecture, enabling fast and accurate location acquisition in urban and indoor environments.

Q. Who are your key customers and key market targets?

The applications for location-based positioning software on any device are endless but Skyhook Wireless has seen adoption in several primary markets including Mapping and Navigation; Communication and Social Networking; Content Access; Search and Advertising; Gaming; Tagging and Tracking. Key customers include Apple (iPhone and itouch products), AOL (Instant Messaging), Cyber Angel, Locr, Plundr, SiRF, CSR, Broadcom, Trapster, Navteq, Socialight and more.

Q. Tell us about the new innovations in location based services in the coming years with respect to Skyhook Wireless.

Consumer-ready location is becoming a standard technology on mobile devices. Consumers are currently becoming adjusted to fast, always availabe location results. To support this new standard, chipset makers, operators, ODMs, and more must support hybrid positioning methods so that location is always available, regardless of environment. Skyhook is positioned to enabled location awareness on all of these platforms.