Google Latitude Will Find You
February 5, 2009
"What Google Latitude does is allow you to share that location with friends and family members, and likewise be able to see friends and family members' locations," said Steve Lee, product manager for Google Latitude.The software will be completely opt-in. If you don't want to be tracked you don't have to be. To use the software you must first have a Google account to allow other people permission to see your location. This can be set for each user, if you want your wife to be able to track you but not your mother, that is your decision to make. Google Latitude can also use contacts that are stored in Gmail or Picasa. Google Latitude allows users to regulate how accurately they are tracked. The software can tell other users your exact location if you wish or just which city you are in. You may also hide from people on the fly, just input a location that you want people to think you are in and simply disappear. So what's in it for Google since the software is entirely free? Google hopes its technology will lead to location-based advertising revenue in the future. The software will work in 27 countries at launch. Initially, it will work on most color-screen BlackBerry phones, most phones with Windows Mobile 5.0 or later, and most Symbian-based devices. They also hope to bring it to Android based handsets as soon as possible. According to Google, the software will be available for the iPhone and iPod touch "very soon." If you just can't wait, give it a try on your computer. All you need is a Google account and a browser plug-in available for download at their site. [via cnet]
