"Find My Friends" Service Coming Soon?
January 13, 2011
People are beginning to dig into the new iOS 4.3 developer build, and finding some things of interest. We’ve already noted the apparent changes coming for the iPad’s lock switch, and the inclusion of Photo Booth into iOS. Now, something else has been uncovered.
The developer build contains a label called “FIND_MY_FRIENDS,” which is tied to Apple’s MobileMe service.
According to MacRumors, Apple may be ready to integrate friend-finding services (similar to Loopt or Google Latitude) into the iPhone/iPod touch and iPad.
MacRumors said:
Services like Loopt allow you to find your friends who near you at any given time by leveraging your mobile phone's GPS signal. The constant updates can broadcast your location to your friends to know who is nearby. Obviously, these sort of systems are opt-in only, but shows what Apple maybe up to in fleshing out their MobileMe service. Steve Jobs wrote in an email in December that the MobileMe service will get "a lot better in 2011". [sic]We will certainly know more once iOS 4.3 is released later this year. [Photo: MacRumors]
