I recently got an iPod Touch and it is the best gadget I've ever had. One of the features of the powerful little machine is the location service. This service uses the wifi radio to listen for wifi beacons, the signal an access point sends out every second or two to let clients know the AP is there. When you refresh your list of wireless networks, it gathers these signals to make the list. Anyway, the utility of this feature is actually quite extensive. You can use it to find nearby restaurants, movie showtimes, and make getting directions a breeze. Unfortunately in my home area, there is no coverage.

I began searching and found an article on MacRumors that mentioned Apple uses a company called Skyhook to provide their database of AP MAC addresses and their coordinates http://www.macrumors.com/2008/01/23/skyhooks-wi-fi-location-technology-f.... Skyhook, according to their website, keeps a database of MAC addresses and associates them with their GPS location. Using this database is claimed to be accurate within 10-20 Meters.

After visiting Skyhook's website, I found the form where you can add your Wifi Access Point to their database. The page is at http://www.skyhookwireless.com/howitworks/submit_ap.php. Unfortunately it can take up to a few weeks to have the data updated with all of their partners. I will repost here if it ends up working for me.

P. S. If you can't find your MAC address, this article might help http://getsatisfaction.com/skyhookwireless/topics/how_do_i_find_the_mac_....

UPDATE 12/22/2008
It worked! Now when I push the current location icon in Google Maps it centers right on my street. 12 days later ain't bad.