As support grows for newer browsers like Google Chrome and the upcoming Firefox 4, HTML5 is starting to catch on. That means we’re about to see some exciting new features on the horizon.
One of the most exciting features in HTML5 is geolocation. With a user’s permission, websites will be able to tailor content to that user’s specific location. The applications for this could be huge – everything from promoting local events to targeted ads to “check-in” services like Gowalla and Foursquare.
There’s a simple demo here which showcases the functionality ( works in Chrome, Firefox 3.6, Safari 4 and Opera 10.5 – Internet Explorer won’t support most HTML5 features until IE9 comes out next year, unfortunately ). The browser asks for the user’s permission to use his/her current location and displays the appropriate Google map. No input required.
There are plenty of paid, third-party tools like ip2location that provide this functionality already, but as HTML5 starts becoming more widely supported they will largely be replaced by this open standard.
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