Saturday, December 01, 2007

Google Maps Adds Locator

Google Maps Adds Locator, But Not For iPhone

Google has updated its Google Maps application adding a new feature called My Location.

Google has updated its Google Maps application adding a new feature called "My Location." While the new feature is available for many phones, Apple's iPhone is not among them.

My Location approximates your location by using the surrounding cellular towers instead of GPS data, which is often associated with such features.

"It's not GPS, but it comes pretty close (approximately 1000m close, on average)," said Google. "We're still in beta, but we're excited to launch this feature and are constantly working to improve our coverage and accuracy."

To find your location, you simply press the "0" button while in Google Maps. Your approximate location is shown with a blue dot on the map.

Google said the My Location feature is available for most web-enabled mobile phones, including Java, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile and Nokia/Symbian devices.

User interest in the discussion area for an iPhone version seems high, but the feature is not compatible with the iPhone

>> Comments from Sanne: I installed the update on my Blackberry and am surprised by the accuracy. At most, it locates you in the next street. I estimate that the accuracy is in the range of 100m

1 comment:

Greg G said...

I just installed the new version and it has migrated more of the functionality from the full web version into the mobile app. Some neat new features beyond "my location" include the live traffic overlay and directions. Unfortunately, the "my location" feature does not seem to work on my Verizon Motorola Q Windows Mobile Smartphone. As far as turning "my location" into a revenue source, I imagine it won't be long until Google recommends some featured restaurants nearby when I find my location.