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Search giant Google has this week unveiled Latitude, a somewhat gimmicky addition to its famous online mapping service that provides on-the-go users with the ability to know exactly where their friends and family are at any given moment.
Latitude provides mobile tracking for Google Map users. Image: Google.
Latitude arrives as an expansion on personal user-location technology first introduced to Google’s mobile maps application back in 2007, only this more in-depth variant enables the user to monitor and track the real-world movements of other people.
The application works by displaying small profile pictures on Google’s standard mobile maps service, with each of the pictures representing another user-approved Latitude contact. Through a system reliant on mobile phone towers, global positioning technology and Wi-Fi connectivity, the software is then able to pinpoint movements across the United States and 26 other countries worldwide.
In an effort to dodge emergent criticisms regarding the possible invasion of privacy, Latitude users will only be able to observe the positioning of other phones equipped with the application. Similarly, users will have total control of when the software is enabled and who has access to its signal. They will also have control over displayed accuracy so that their profile picture is only loosely shown within a citywide area as opposed to a specific neighbourhood.
Google is also offering a PC-based version of Latitude that will likely to appeal to those (cave people?) not equipped with a mobile phone. While the computer version still enables the monitoring of mobile phone movements, anyone installing the software on a Wi-Fi notebook will also be open to tracking.
Google has said it will not retain any movement-based information other than the last location picked up by Latitude.
Released this past Wednesday, Latitude is compatible with BlackBerry smartphones, handsets running on the Windows Mobile operating system. It also functions with phones equipped with Symbian and select T-Mobile and Android devices. A version for Apple’s iPhone and iPod Touch is reportedly in the pipeline.
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