What About IE?

Internet Explorer does not support the W3C geolocation API that I’ve just described (see The Geolocation API). But don’t despair! Gears is an open source browser plug-in from Google that works on Windows, Mac, Linux, Windows Mobile, and Android platforms. It provides a number of features for older browsers, including a geolocation API. It’s not quite the same as the W3C geolocation API, but it serves the same purpose.

While we’re on the subject of legacy platforms, I should point out that there are a number of device-specific geolocation APIs on mobile phone platforms. BlackBerry, Nokia, Palm, and OMTP BONDI all provide their own geolocation APIs. Of course, they all work differently from Gears, which in turn works differently from the W3C geolocation API. Wheeeeee!

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