Location is a hot field in mobile computing. It makes sense — you’re on the move, and newer phones such as the Apple iPhone and T-Mobile’s Android-based G1 have global positioning systems (GPS) built-in. So mobile applications are being built in droves to use location, but web-based apps are largely being left out of the trend. Mozilla hopes to change that tomorrow, however, with the launch of Geode, its location web browser plug-in.

The plug-in will work with the Firefox browser. I’ve seen it in action and it works well. It’s not entirely clear how it’s pulling in the location data, but I assume it’s using either something similar to the Wi-Fi triangulation that the original iPhone used (before it had a GPS chip) or your computer’s Internet Protocol (IP) information.

Another product Geode certainly makes sense for is Yahoo’s Fire Eagle, its developer platform for location. Sites Dopplr, Dipity, Pownce and Brightkite all have signed up to use Fire Eagle to pipe in location information into their apps. Right now, that location still needs to be put in manually in the web browser, but that should change with the Geode plug-in. You’ll be able to pinpoint your exact location, neighborhood, city or turn it off. If you check the box labeled “Always do this without asking,” it’ll automatically pull whatever data you specified.

Tags: apple iphone, firefox browser, geode, global positioning systems, iphone, location data, mozilla, wi fi