Google Latitude

I’ve recently started using a particularly awesome service provided by Google called Latitude. This service, if you haven’t heard already, allows for real time tracking of friends, family or a select few contacts using a combination of GPS tracking and cell tower tracking technologies (they’ve come a long a way) to pin point you anywhere, at anytime in an instant.

Screenshot of Google Latitude

Admittedly, there have been some privacy concerns for some people who actually care about the concept of privacy on the Internet but for many users, this is a big step, for Google and Google users, to achieve a more mobile social identity. I for one have been using services such as BrightKite to let my friends and family know where I am and write about things that’ve happened at a particular location but Google Latitude makes it so much easier and simpler than BrightKite does.

The concept is simple, you want to let someone know where you are? enable Latitude on a compatible device and add the people you want to inform of your location and that’s that. No more work needs to be done on your part, the people who you inform only need to install the Google Maps 3.0 software themselves and enable Latitude as well and they can become apart of the mobile social phenomenon.

Latitude runs in the background, intermittently updating your location whenever you move and if you’re worried about GPS eating all your power or don’t have GPS? that won’t stand in your way, cell tower triangulation allows for some pretty accurate fixtures if you’re in a metropolitan area and doesn’t use any additional power whatsoever.

Easiest way to let the people you love know where you are.

If that isn’t enough, Google have created ‘badges‘ that you can put on other social media websites that display your exact current location which is really neat too. Worried about people knowing your exact location on the internet? play around with the badges and you’ll find that you can enable people to only be shown the city you’re in so you’re covered there. Google has also provided us with a nice little Google Talk feature that allows us to display our current location i.e – Windaroo QLD, Australia – as our status for all our Gtalk contacts to see!

I for one, love how Google have implemented Latitude. It really works for me. Did I mention that it will also use any wireless network you’re connected to find a location?

To see one of Google Latitude’s public badges check out my top tier page where I’ve got the default one uploaded. What we really need now is some web developers to work with the feeds provided by Google to get some decent Facebook and flashier looking badges available.