This announcement was determined to find people wherever they were; in different forms, it popped up on the Official Google Blog, the Google LatLong Blog, the Google Mobile Blog, and in a formal press release. And interestingly enough, the announcement was about Google gaining a sort of location-seeking ability.
The new My Location feature of Google Maps for mobile can, if not exactly pinpoint users’ locations, at least put them in a smallish area. “My Location . . . uses cell tower identification to provide you with approximate location information, so it will work on phones without GPS,” explains Mike Chu.
Chu, a software engineer on the Google mobile team, later continues, “My Location kicks in faster than GPS in most cases, so you can access your location even faster on the map. It also works reliably indoors (unlike GPS) and doesn’t drain your phone battery at the rate that GPS does.” As an added bonus, it has one-button (“0”) access, as well.
Unfortunately, you will need a somewhat newer cell phone for My Location to work, and searches that stem from the use of My Location could transmit your location. But use of the My Location technology alone will leave you anonymous, and Google’s already working to increase its accuracy and coverage.
Cell phone advancements don’t often do much for me, yet this is pretty darn cool. Kudos to Google for releasing something so interesting and practical.
