Providing Location-Based Services in a Distributed Environment Without Direct Control Over the Point of Access

Abstract

A method including executing, at a computing device, a location-based content retrieval application to transmit location information associated with the computing device to a location server and to receive location-based content from the location server in response to the location information. The method further includes generating a display output based on the location-based content, the display output including information based on a location of a computing device and an application of the computing device.

1 . A method comprising:
 executing, at a computing device, a location-based content retrieval application to transmit location information associated with the computing device to a location server and to receive location-based content from the location server in response to the location information; and   generating a display output based on the location-based content, the display output including information based on a location of a second computing device and an application of the second computing device.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the information includes a screen name assigned to a particular user associated with the second computing device. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 generating a prompt for additional data; and   responsive to the prompt, receiving the additional data via user input at the computing device.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the display output includes an icon, wherein the icon comprises a first particular icon responsive to the application being a particular messaging application, and wherein the icon comprises a second particular icon responsive to the application being a particular gaming application. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the display output indicates that a screen name assigned to a particular user associated with the second computing device is unknown responsive to the location based data not including the screen name. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the display output includes a map. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the map identifies a location of the computing device. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving user input at the computing device, the user input indicating a user preference, wherein the user preference indicates a category of information to include in the location-based content; and   transmitting the user preference to the location server, wherein the location-based content includes content related to the category of information responsive to transmitting the user preference.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the user preference includes a restaurant preference indicating a particular restaurant. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the display output includes an icon associated with the application. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the location-based content retrieval application comprises a plug-in of a browser, and wherein the computing device is configured to retrieve and display the location-based content in the browser in conjunction with internet content. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the plug-in is configured to be automatically executed by the computing device responsive to opening of the browser. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the location information comprises a network address of an access point. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the network address of the access point comprises a media access control address of the access point. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein executing the location-based content retrieval application further comprises retrieving the network address of the access point and sending the network address of the access point to the location server. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the network address of the access point comprises an internet protocol address. 
     
     
         17 . A computer-readable storage device comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
 executing, at a computing device, a location-based content retrieval application to transmit location information associated with the computing device to a location server and to receive location-based content from the location server in response to the location information; and   generating a display output based on the location-based content, the display output including information based on a location of a second computing device and an application of the second computing device.   
     
     
         18 . The computer-readable storage device of  claim 17 , further comprising detecting a first connection that provides the processor internet access. 
     
     
         19 . An apparatus comprising:
 a processor; and   a memory comprising instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
 executing, at the processor, a location-based content retrieval application to transmit location information associated with the processor to a location server and to receive location-based content from the location server in response to the location information; and 
 generating a display output based on the location-based content, the display output including information based on a location of a computing device and an application of the computing device. 
   
     
     
         20 . The apparatus of  claim 19 , wherein display output includes a map that identifies the location and an indicator that identifies the application.