If you don’t have a clue where you are and there is no help around, why not find your exact location using your mobile phone? Google has announced the release of version 2.0 of Google Maps for mobile, a mobile mapping and local search application which, the company claims, comes with Google’s “My Location” technology.
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The “My Location” technology works by taking information broadcast from mobile towers and sifts it through Google-developed algorithms to approximate a user’s current location on the map. This approximation is anonymous, as Google does not gather any personally identifiable information or associate any location data with personally identifiable information as part of the My Location feature. The feature can also be easily disabled by anyone who prefers not to use it.
With this new technology, users who don’t have GPS-enabled mobile phones will now be able to take advantage of the added speed and convenience afforded by location information. The My Location technology also complements GPS-enabled devices and provides coverage inside buildings (where GPS signals can be unreliable), the company says.
The My Location technology is available on most smartphones, including all colour BlackBerry devices, all Symbian Series 60 3rd Edition devices, most Windows Mobile devices, newer Sony Ericsson devices, and some Motorola devices.
To download Google Maps for mobile with My Location, point your mobile or desktop web browser to www.google.com/gmm.
See: mobile.google.com
