I was waiting to announce it until the official press release came out but TechCrunch and Mashable both have coverage on the launch so I might as well post now.

In this launch we take MyLoki out of a private beta and open it up to anyone that wants to sign up and play with it. We also update Loki Toolbar to version 2.2 which adds MyLoki integration for automatic updates and new platform support. We now officially support Internet Explorer and Firefox on Windows XP, Windows Vista and OS X. And Loki Mobile gets in on the update now and makes it officially to 1.0. We now support the same WiFi location goodiness on Windows Mobile 5 and Symbian S60.

For those of you who haven’t heard of or used MyLoki its a new service to go along with Loki Toolbar and Loki Mobile that allows you to easily share your current location with friends using things like RSS, Badges for your blog or email and Facebook. I use the Map badge in my sidebar so you can know exactly where I am at any time. I also have a Location Feed that uses GeoRSS and exports the current city I am in.

We are also really excited to work with the great team over at FireEagle, the new Yahoo geolocation brokering service. If you have Loki installed, you can use it to automatically set your location and we will eventually be working with them to help publish directly to their service.

So go check out MyLoki, download Loki and add the Loki Facebook app…

Today we are rolling out a private beta for MyLoki, a new service for Loki. Using your current location, MyLoki can show your friends where you are on Facebook, Jaiku, your own site or blog, and on other popular platforms. Sharing location with MyLoki will keep friends up to date on your location, help you keep track of where you’ve been, stay in touch, arrange get togethers with friends in your current area, and much more.

MyLoki automates location sharing and lets you choose how and where your location is displayed. Every time you’re in a new place, you’ll check into MyLoki, simply by opening your browser or manually entering your location. The MyLoki Facebook application will post all of your locations to your Mini Feed, showing your Facebook network where you are. Updates to your location will be displayed on the MyLoki RSS feed on your profile page and can also be integrated into applications like Google MyMaps or anything that supports GeoRSS. We’ve also hooked MyLoki up with badges, so that you can post a map or icon of your location to your blog, website, or email signature.

And it’s up to you to decide which of these features you want to use. Pick only a few or use them all at once – you choose.

We believe that sharing location will enhance all of the good times you already have with social networking, but that you should have control over where your location information is posted and who has access to it. MyLoki gives you total control over who sees your location.

The beta version of the Loki Toolbar with MyLoki functionality is currently only available for Firefox on Windows XP. We will be rolling out support for all other platforms shortly.

Head on over and request a My Loki invite code now.

Last night at the MITX Technology Awards, Skyhook Wireless won the Impact Award for Web 2.0 Enabler. Skyhook was selected to receive this award because our WPS technology was identified as one of the most innovative and competitive technologies offered by all of the high-tech companies in the Boston area. It also demonstrates that in developing WPS and by deploying the Loki application, Skyhook has made a significant impact on content distribution and the development of Web 2.0.

The Loki team will be at Where 2.0 in San Jose next week, at sessions and our booth talking about the cool stuff that we’ve been doing with Loki 2.0. The new Javascript API lets developers enable their site with just a few lines of code. The support interface has been improved, and both Loki Mobile and Loki for Mac are now available.

With all these updates, Loki has been getting great user reviews and thumbs up from the press.

Naturally, all of these factors combined mean that we’re having a party. For those of you attending Where 2.0, the party is just around the corner from the conference. For those of you who aren’t, you’re still invited to come on over to the Loft in San Jose (map) and get your groove on. Logistics below. We sure hope to see you there!

In Barcelona last week, Skyhook Wireless was selected as one of three finalists in the Mobile Monday Global Peer Awards by some of the most influential analysts and commentators in mobile. Representing the Boston MoMo Chapter, we were selected out of 24 participants from Mobile Monday chapters all across the world (St. Petersburg to Melbourne to Bangalore…) with very cool and innovative mobile applications and services.

About 75% of our competitors used location as a feature or component in their nominated service. That’s a pretty high number, and suggests to us that LBS is gaining serious ground in the marketplace.