One of the hottest trends in technology today is location-based services (LBS). GPS and other location positioning technologies are some of the key ingredients in the next stage of mobile computing. And I’m not just talking about car nav systems or Google Maps on your iPhone.

Today’s emerging hit services such as Foursquare are built on the idea of being able to share where you are. And as smartphones get smarter, companies like Google and Apple are building new technologies that will transform the way we search, network, shop, and much more… all thanks to location.

Without launching a satellite into space, few companies have had as much of an impact on location positioning as Boston-based Skyhook Wireless. Since first introducing their Wi-Fi Positioning System (WPS) to rave reviews in 2003, Skyhook now offers a hybrid technology (XPS) that combines the signals from GPS, WPS, and cellular towers. Basically, they’re making location positioning faster, more accurate, and more reliable for everybody.

We chatted with Skyhook’s VP of Marketing, Kate Imbach, about location-based services, what’s cooking at Skyhook, and what the future holds. In addition to her work at Skyhook, Imbach is also Co-Founder and Organizer at the Boston and Silicon Valley chapters of Mobile Monday (MoMo), the world’s largest mobile industry community.

Featured recently on our list of Boston’s Mobile Industry Heavy Hitters we were excited to pick Imbach’s brain. Here’s what she had to say:

BostInnovation: What role does Skyhook technology play in all the new location-based apps and services we see on mobile devices?

Kate Imbach: Skyhook’s core technology, the Wi-Fi Positioning System, is based on a network of the known locations of 220 million Wi-Fi access points worldwide. Indoors and in urban areas, Skyhook can provide 20 to 30 meter accuracy results in under 1 second. This matters because GPS performs poorly indoors and in urban areas. GPS can take minutes to get a location fix, and often the results can be very inaccurate. What this means is that any device needs to use a combination of positioning methodologies (Wi-Fi, Cell, and GPS) to determine location reliably everywhere consumers travel.

BostInno: How are location-aware services changing how people do things?

Imbach: The coolest trend we’ve come across is that all types of applications are using location, not just the traditional LBS apps like navigation. Shazam uses location the help you remember when you’ve tagged songs. Evernote geotags notes. The widespread adoption of location in surprising new applications has created new opportunities for Skyhook, like Local Faves.

BostInno: So, can you tell us more about Skyhook’s new Local Faves SDK and what you guys are trying to accomplish with it?

Imbach: Local Faves makes it easy for iPhone developers to add social location features like “checking in,” cool map views, and gaming elements to their apps. We built Local Faves when we realized that virtually any app could become more engaging and relevant just by adding location.

iSwig is Skyhook’s app that we built to demo Local Faves, and it acts as a cocktail travel journal. With ShareTunes, users can see what music is playing all across the world. BabyMate tags the location of major events in your baby’s life, like where you held a first birthday party. Cambridge-based Drync lets wine lovers tag where they’ve enjoyed their favorite wines.

BostInno: Between your work at Skyhook and MoMo Boston, you’ve had a great view of the Boston mobile scene’s growth. Is it safe to say that Boston’s one of the hottest cities in the world when it comes to mobile technology?

Imbach: It has been awesome to watch Boston turn into one of the hottest areas in the world for mobile. Things are changing, though. Boston mobile in 2008 and 2009 was all about large venture capital investments and big acquisitions. In 2010 we’re starting to see a lot more small, young startups. Startup costs are getting lower and lower, venture investments are getting smaller, our universities are releasing great young talent. It will be fun to watch how companies like SCVNGR and Peekaboo Mobile evolve.

But over time things will change even more. Someday there will be very few ‘mobile’ companies. Mobile is just as necessary as the web — and we don’t call every company with a website an “Internet company.”

BostInno: Which Skyhook-powered app could you not live without?

Kate Imbach: ShopSavvy is an awesome Android app that uses Skyhook to improve location.

Thanks go out to Kate Imbach for taking the time to chat with us about location-based service and the mobile landscape in Boston. To learn more about Skyhook, be sure to follow them on Twitter and like them on Facebook. We also suggest your follow Imbach on Twitter @Kate8 as well as Mobile Monday Boston @MoMoBoston.