Google Latitude is a useful way to track your location on a mobile phone or GPS laptop. But you can get roughly the same sense of fleeting privacy on any old Wi-Fi PC. Latitude is a new feature of Google Maps that lets users see the real-time location of friends and colleagues. Users can also communicate with each other through Latitude, if they wish.
Now before the privacy people get all worked up, Google built in robust privacy settings, allowing users to share their precise location, a general city-level location or no information at all. You can even lie about your whereabouts. So privacy is not an issue here: you decide who knows what and when. Latitude is currently available in 27 countries and it works on a big list of cell and smartphones, with more coming.
You can use your Google account to sign in and easily invite friends to Latitude from your existing list of contacts or by entering their email addresses. Google Talk is integrated with Latitude, so you and your friends can update your status messages and profile photos on the go and see what everyone is up to. You can also call, SMS, IM, or email each other within the app. Check out this video to see Latitude in action.
Mainly there are two primary ways to use Latitude right now:
1. On your mobile phone: visit google.com/latitude from your phone's mobile browser to download Google Maps for mobile with Latitude. Currently most of the popular smartphone platforms are supported: Android, Blackberry, Symbian S60, and Windows Mobile, and iPhone will be added to the list soon. It will be available through Google Mobile App, and you'll just need to download or update the app from the App store to find Latitude in the Apps tab.
2. On your computer: go to http://google.com/latitude from your browser and add the Latitude gadget to your iGoogle homepage. If you've installed Google Gears or if you're using Google Chrome, you can choose to automatically share your location from your laptop or desktop computer -- no smartphone required!
Google Latitude and similar services like BrightKite and Loopt are yet more proof that the future of the Web will be all about maps.
Now before the privacy people get all worked up, Google built in robust privacy settings, allowing users to share their precise location, a general city-level location or no information at all. You can even lie about your whereabouts. So privacy is not an issue here: you decide who knows what and when. Latitude is currently available in 27 countries and it works on a big list of cell and smartphones, with more coming.
You can use your Google account to sign in and easily invite friends to Latitude from your existing list of contacts or by entering their email addresses. Google Talk is integrated with Latitude, so you and your friends can update your status messages and profile photos on the go and see what everyone is up to. You can also call, SMS, IM, or email each other within the app. Check out this video to see Latitude in action.
Mainly there are two primary ways to use Latitude right now:
1. On your mobile phone: visit google.com/latitude from your phone's mobile browser to download Google Maps for mobile with Latitude. Currently most of the popular smartphone platforms are supported: Android, Blackberry, Symbian S60, and Windows Mobile, and iPhone will be added to the list soon. It will be available through Google Mobile App, and you'll just need to download or update the app from the App store to find Latitude in the Apps tab.
2. On your computer: go to http://google.com/latitude from your browser and add the Latitude gadget to your iGoogle homepage. If you've installed Google Gears or if you're using Google Chrome, you can choose to automatically share your location from your laptop or desktop computer -- no smartphone required!
Google Latitude and similar services like BrightKite and Loopt are yet more proof that the future of the Web will be all about maps.
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