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Google Latitude Lets you Track Your Friends' Locations

by Tim Stevens on February 4, 2009 at 09:30 AM


Ever been sitting at a restaurant waiting for a tardy friend, not wanting to call them and seem impatient, but also growing a little sick of the dirty looks you're getting from the waitress? If so, you may be interested in Google Latitude, a new extension to the ever popular Google Maps, which lets you broadcast your location and track those of your friends.

As the video after the break shows, you can install Latitude onto many smart phones, including BlackBerry and Windows Mobile handsets (thought not, curiously, Google's own Android handsets), or even on a desktop computer. Once installed, the application uses GPS to track your location, and then updates it online. You can then select which friends can monitor your position, enabling them to view you on Google Maps. You can even update your status and let people know what you're doing, such as eating lunch or watching a game.

The privacy concerns here are obvious, but since this is strictly opt-in and nobody can track you without your permission, we're not too worried. Getting that perpetually late friend of yours to actually nstall this, though, could be quite a challenge. [From: The Official Google Blog]

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Tags: google, google latitude, google maps, GoogleLatitude, GoogleMaps, gps, location, positioning, privacy, top

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