Loki

Loki

By Stephan Wright

www.loki.com

Loki is a browser add-on that allows users who are traveling or at home to search and browse the Internet catered to their specific location. Loki is the basic concept of a search engine but, your computer knows exactly where you and makes your search results location specific. This is perfect for business travelers, college students, and vacationers who don’t know their way around where they are and don’t know their exact address or zip code. The unique thing about Loki is that it doesn’t use GPS technology; instead it relies on WiFi technology.
Loki has partnered with many of the popular location based websites, such as Fandango.com (a website that gives you movie times at theaters near whatever location you enter in) and accuweather.com (a website that gives location based up to date weather forecasts). Easy to use channels give one-click options to find certain types of attractions around you, such as restaurants, movies, weather, news. All of this happens with the “Find-me” button that instantly tells you where you are. So far 75% of the U.S. population is mapped out on their site. If by chance your location isn’t within the coverage of their network, users can enter in their location and Loki will forever remember it.
Their SMS feature allows you to text friends and co-workers to tell them where you are and any personal message they want to add to the text. Also, the “Address” feature highlights all the addresses found on a page and gives users instant directions to that location from their current location. Loki can even automatically change your time zone for you, updating you calendar and never leaving you doing math in your head of when your next meeting is.
This is a great add-on for any member of your organization that is being sent on a lot of trips away from the office. Never again will you have to worry about getting your bearings on your next trip out of town.

Pros: -easy to use add-on, straightforward interface, WiFi is easier to find in hotels and places of travel than GPS technology, mobile version offered for WiFi-enabled Windows mobile device.

Cons: -no version for Linux, only works in the United States, Mac OS X users must download Firefox, it won’t work with Safari (the standard browser for Mac users).

Rating: 4 out of 5, because it isn’t as Mac friendly and is still in the Beta version, which means it still has some kinks that need to be worked out.