Here’s the score.. I live in the sticks. Ok, there, I said it.

As you can imagine, I was super-stoked when Steve Jobs first announced the SkyHook Wireless and Google Maps partnership. So much so, I upgraded my 1.1.2 jailbroken iPhone to 1.1.3 JUST so I could use the “locate me” feature.

Now, this would break my jailbreak in a time when jailbreaking actually involved using your dark matter, so it was a big risk. Granted, I already have an 02 contract (yes, but I bought on launch day so nerrrr) so all I really lost was the ability to install the wonderful third party applications.

No biggie.. and so, my iTunes upgrade was complete…or so I thought!

Upon loading up the 1.1.3 update I was greeted with lots of lovely jiggling icons, and of course.. the new maps. That is, until I discovered that Mr. SkyHook and chums have never heard of Wales, much less the area of the planet that I care to reside. Suffice to say, I cried.

I’d waited for a good hour for my crummy 1500kbps ADSL connection to suck the update from Apple’s choked servers on release day.. only to be kicked in the balls by a ever ironic “Your location could not be determined”.. Yeah thanks. NOT.

Now, this may come somewhat late, as many-a-rumor site is reporting that the next big iPhone update will carry true GPS hardware to the mobile party, but what about those who just don’t NEED the speed of 3G. After all, there are hundreds of thousands of existing iPhone users out there, and not to mention the iPod Touch users who rely on the pseudo-GPS black magic of the SkyHook Wireless team.

How do I harvest the power?

Simply go to this link and input some details of your modem, and Bob’s your father’s brother.

You are now input in to the SkyHook database. You exist. You win at life. Ok, maybe 2 out of 3 ain’t bad..

What’s better.. if you already have a jailbroken iPhone (lets face it, it’s not exactly hard to do these days) you can use a WiFi scanning app like Stumbler to search for Wi-Fi points in the surrounding area, and you’ll be able to input these for your not-so-tech-savvy neighbours.

Why?

So what’s the benefit? Well, apart from actually being a uber-geek and earning yourself an internet cookie, you’ll now have a much more accurate “locate me” app to use, which is always a good thing. I personally, have been submitting access points that are near me and that I use frequently (aka work) just so, until the 3G iPhone rear’s its head I can enjoy something of a comfortable life knowing that I can actually use the app as god Steve Jobs intended.