Google seems to be everywhere. First around the world with Google Earth. Then under the sea. Now into your social life.
On Wednesday Google launched a new service that lets you find out where your friends are and what they are up to. Call it a sophisticated spin on the concept of presence, where you can see if your friends are on their instant messenger or posting to their favorite social network.
Dubbed Google Latitude, the new Google Maps feature works on mobile devices and on PCs through the iGoogle gadget. After opting into Latitude, users can see the approximate location of their friends and family who are sharing information.
The Social-Networking Twist
Here’s the social-networking twist: Not only can you see where your friends are on Google Maps, you can also get in touch with them through text messaging, Google Talk, Gmail or by updating your status message. In true social-media fashion, Latitude also lets you upload a new profile photo any time.
“So now you can do things like see if your spouse is stuck in traffic on the way home from work, notice that a buddy is in town for the weekend, or take comfort in knowing that a loved one’s flight landed safely, despite bad weather,” said Vic Gundotra, vice president of engineering for Google’s mobile team.
Latitude is available in 27 countries, and Google hopes to add more soon. Latitude is available on Blackberry, S60 and Windows Mobile smartphones, and will be available on Android devices. “We expect it will be coming to the iPhone, through Google Mobile App, very soon,” Gundotra said.
Answering Privacy Concerns
Anticipating that privacy advocates might take issue with Latitude based on its ability to share sensitive location data, Google said it built fine-grained privacy controls into the application. For starters, everything about Latitude is opt-in. That means…