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Skyhook 讓 Google 現出原形?

coolcd
joined: 2008-01-21
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1subject: Skyhook 讓 Google 現出原形?Promote 0 Bookmark 02011-05-08quote  

Is Android Really Open? Skyhook's Battle With Google Challenges That Claim

...

What Skyhook is upset about is that it says it was led to believe by Google that Android would be an "open" platform. Morgan said that Google had initially said that Android contained no location resources and hence Skyhook felt free to go ahead and negotiate contracts with original equipment manufacturers like Motorola and Samsung. Skyhook spent $1.5 million wooing Motorola and thought it had a foot in on the ground floor of Android in 2009.

Stop ship

Literally, that is what the the court documents say, say, at least according to the complaint filed by Skyhook. Google's head of Android, Andy Rubin, reportedly sent a message to Motorola co-CEO Sanjay Jha telling him to stop ship of Android devices loaded with Skyhook location software. Morgan said that is exactly the same thing Google did between Skyhook and Samsung.

Skyhook is accusing Google of threatening to take away the Android licenses of Motorola and Samsung if did not launch with Google Location Services.

"We looked at these deals that we wanted and we thought they were all pretty big," Morgan said. "We thought we were on an IPO track after seven years in business and this happens."

Skyhook. Meet carpet. Yeah, the one that Google just pulled out from under you.

"Being told you are going to lose your Android license is Google's nuclear option," Morgan said. "And Google uses its nuclear option often."

Then we come back to the notion of "open." Skyhook would not be upset with Google if they had been upfront with their intentions for Android in the first place. Apple and Microsoft were straightforward with Skyhook in saying that they were going to use their own location services (for better or worse) and Skyhook, though probably disappointed, was OK with that.

"It is all a cover story to be able to control the location [on Android devices,]" Morgan said. "We would be fine with it if that is the way it started but it wasn't and we feel that might be illegal."

The next phase of the process will take about another six months as lawyers go through the discovery process. Skyhook's attorneys will be looking to prove that Google is stifling innovation and forced Android OEMs to break contracts with Skyhook because the search company wanted to control the location data. There is a side case to all of this where Skyhook is suing Google over four location-based patents.

coolcd
joined: 2008-01-21
posted: 2601
promoted: 348
bookmarked: 95
2subject: Promote 0 Bookmark 02011-05-17quote  

看到這篇Google WiFi 定位的原理,才曉得為什麼 google 這麼希望人們使用他的服務-越多人使用,越多人幫他們更新圖資,真是太聰明了。

WiFi 定位:靠的是偵測附近周圍所有的無線網路基地台 (WiFi Access Point) 的 MAC Address (類似 10-78-D2-93-58-C2 這樣的格式),去比對資料庫中該 MAC Address 的座標,交叉連集出所在地。此法尚須有網路連線做資料庫查詢才能完成定位。

所以問題來了:這份無線網路基地台 MAC Address 對應到經緯度的資料庫,是怎麼建立起來的呢?

基礎建設靠的是 Google 街景車。Google 街景車除了拍下街景以外,另外還做了兩件事情:(訊息來源:Google blog)

沿路蒐集所有公開的無線網路 MAC Address,與當時的經緯度一併記錄。

根據拍下的街景來建立建築物 3D 模型資料。

(此效果截至本文刊出時僅能在 Google Android 手機上看到)

但資料庫一定會面臨過期與需要更新的問題,這時候全世界有在使用行動裝置 + Google 定位程式的人,等於是在不知不覺中幫忙做這件事情。更新的方法是當 WiFi 與手機基地台定位或 GPS 定位同時開啟時,手持裝置藉由手機基地台定位或 GPS 定位這兩種方式可以獲得目前的座標,再透過 WiFi 搜尋到附近所有的 MAC Address,背後向 Google 的資料庫做更新。(訊息來源:Google 員工 Christopher 的公開說法)

eliu

joined: 2007-08-09
posted: 11473
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新竹, 台灣
3subject: Promote 0 Bookmark 02011-05-17quote  

原來上次 google 搜尋 wifi 洩露個人隱私是用來做這個用途。

edited: 1
coolcd
joined: 2008-01-21
posted: 2601
promoted: 348
bookmarked: 95
4subject: Promote 0 Bookmark 02011-05-17quote  

不知道能不能修改無線路由器的 MAC Address 來擾亂它 XD

ychao
joined: 2007-10-25
posted: 298
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bookmarked: 3
5subject: Promote 0 Bookmark 02011-05-18quote  

eliu

原來上次 google 搜尋 wifi 洩露個人隱私是用來做這個用途。

上次關於 google 街景車 wifi 的隱私侵權爭議,在於街景車不只把 mac addr. 存下來,連帶 wifi ap 收發的資料 (payload) 都一併存下來。從一方面講是 coder 偷懶,直接用類似 sniffer 全抓存下來,回去再慢慢撈 mac addr.。可是就陰謀論的看法,要是 ap 沒有好好加密,google 的搜尋技術可以撈出來的東西,可是「無價」!

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