If you want to book a nearby hotel using the Kayak app for Kindle Fire, location-based services certainly would come in handy.
And, Kayak has now built location services from Skyhook into the Kayak app for Kindle Fire, giving this app location-based services for the first time.
However, there are location-based services and then there are location-based services.
The Android-based tablet doesn't have built-in GPS services so Kayak integrated Skyhook's Location Engine, which uses Wi-Fi positioning, cell-tower triangulation and GPS, into its Kindle Fire app.
Kayak's other Android-based apps already had GPS services so the need to get the functionality into its Kindle Fire app was a no-brainer.
"Kayak relies heavily on location services to show users nearby hotels, flights, cars and airport information," says Bill O'Donnell, Kayak's chief architect. "It is absolutely essential that our Kindle Fire users experience the same level location performance as users on our other Android versions, so integrating Skyhook was an obvious choice."
Ted Morgan, Skyhook's CEO, says the company's Android Software Development Kit "provides consistent location functionality across all Android versions, including Kindle Fire and the Barnes and Noble Nook."
But, then again, at least one observer points out that not all apps and features are created equally.
NB: Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.