Summary 203Desktop browsers also offer a good level of support. Safari and Google Chrome
include the required functions from version 5 and later; Firefox has been Geo-
location-capable since version 3.5. Opera integrates the function in its browser
in version 10.60 and later. Only Microsoft still fails to offer support for any kind
of geolocation in the browser, and unfortunately, this even applies to the mo-
bile platform Windows Phone 7.
Summary
In this chapter you encounter the new geolocation functions, which open amaz-
ing new possibilities, especially for mobile devices. With the rapid spread of
smartphones, location-based services are becoming available to more and more
people. They make it easy for users on the move to gather information, be it find-
ing the nearest cash machine or the best public transport connection. At the mo-
ment, these tasks are still carried out by special apps that have to be developed
and constantly updated separately for each mobile operating system. By imple-
menting the Geolocation API, such functions can in the future be handled by the
browser.