Mozilla has announced that future versions of Firefox plan on supporting the new W3C Geolocation Specification, which adds the native ability for Web sites to request, and you to optionally grant access to, your location. Users will have multiple choices to enter their location- GPS, Wi-Fi,/WLAN, Manual, etc.

Firefox 3 users can get a head start in using this geolocation technology by installing Geode, an experimental add-on that provides location-aware experiences in the web browser. It includes a single experimental geolocation service provider so that any computer with WiFi can get accurate positioning data using Skyhook’s Loki technology to map WiFi signals in your area to your location.

With Geode when a web site requests your location a notification bar will ask how much information you want to give that site: your exact location, your neighborhood, your city, or nothing at all. Unlike normal GPS-based methods which can take upwards of 45 seconds for a lock, Geode works both inside and outside with an accuracy of between 10 to 20 meters, normally within a second.

The potential here is for more than just resturant lookups. For example, imagine an RSS reader that knows the difference between home and work and automatically changes it’s behavior appropriately. Or a news site whose local section is, in fact, actually local. Or Web site authentication that only allows you to login from certain physical locations, like your house.

To see Geode in action you can check out the demo Food Finder, which shows you the cafes and restaurants within walking distance. Two other websites that include support for geode are Pownce and Yahoo Fire Eagle.

Click here to download Geode for Mozilla Firefox 3 or later.