USA Today has a detailed piece on Skyhook Wireless, the company behind the technology which finds a location by triangulating WiFi signals which Steve Jobs promoted in his MacWorld keynote. While there’s plenty of location technology around, the WiFi system is deemed more accurate—although it only works in urban settings with high WiFi penetration, of course. Also, Skyhook had to send teams wardriving across the US and Canada to map the hotspots, which sounds pretty labor intensive. Skyhook get a royalty on each handset with its technology, and has raised $16.8 million in funding.

Skyhook want to put the service on other devices, and the analysts quoted seemed bullish: Charles Golvin, an analyst at Forrester Research, said “Getting the credibility associated with not just a well-liked company (Apple), but one with such huge visibility, is very significant...And then to be associated with the iPhone as well makes it really extra special.” The Jobs endorsement is a huge boost, and is potentially far more valuable to Skyhook than the royalties from the iPhone and iPod Touch. Greg Sterling, an analyst at Sterling Market Intelligence, linked the technology to advertising, claiming the mobile consumer “is typically closer to a purchase than somebody sitting behind a desk”. I don’t think Skyhoook would want to link advertising to the service though—it’s far more likely that third-parties will offer location-based advertising based on whatever location technology is on the device.