Skyhook Wireless has licensed their WiFi Positioning System which is a method of combining massive professional wardriving databases with geographical latitude and longitude to Qualcomm.
WiFi Positioning System can be used to offer a location with a few dozen feet in urban areas, such as with the first-generation iPhone or combined with GPS in the form of assisted GPS to speed up a satellite lock.
Qualcomm currently offers GPS in their gpsOne package that is integrated into four hundred million mobile phone handsets on the mobile market. The addition of Skyhook Wireless’s WiFi Positioning System will not affect those mobile handsets presently on the market but wll be part of future platforms.
Source — arstechnica