This article was published on February 4, 2009

Google Enters Mobile Social Networking with “Latitude”


Google Enters Mobile Social Networking with “Latitude”

googlelatitudeSeems like all I’ve written about the last couple of days is Google, I would apologise but lets face it, at the moment – Google runs things.

The latest nugget of news is in regard to a new Google Mobile Maps feature called Google Latitude. The new feature lets you broadcast your current location to a select few people based on where on the GPS from your mobile phone. 

As Techcrunch points out, the feature is an application in itself  where you are able to keep track of people’s locations, call, email or instant message them at any given time. The application also offers a “list view” which reads like a friendfeed stream.  Fret not however, you can fake your location or simply choose to not be shown at all. 

iPhone users will need to wait before the application is released however Blackberry, Windows Mobile and Nokia S60 users can access it very shortly via google.com/latitude on their phone.

Its bad news for location based social networks such as Loopt, Whrrl and Brightkite all of which are doing their best to become THE mobile social network, yet as with many areas Google is able to gain a large foothold of the market with just one update to a product.

The ultimate question however lies in the notion of trust – do you trust your location with Google as well as nearly every other aspect of your online life?

 

Read More:

Techcrunch, Wired, VentureBeat

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