Google expands Latitude mobile friend finder

Google announced the addition of two new applications to bolster its Latitude mobile friend finder solution. The new Google public location badge enables users to publish their Latitude location on public websites or blogs--writing on the Official Google Mobile Blog, Google Mobile software engineer Rohan Seth says users who share their information this way will lose control over who can or cannot determine their [1]whereabouts, and suggests users who wish to retain control over their privacy can choose to share their best available location, share only their city-level location or simply disable the badge. In addition, Latitude will now feature Google Talk location status, allowing users to share their Latitude location with all of their Gmail chat and Google Talk contacts and automatically updating their status message in relation to their current whereabouts.

Google launched [2] Latitude in early February--the opt-in service enables smartphone users to triangulate the location of family and friends as well as communicate via SMS, Google Talk, Gmail or status updates. Latitude seeks to prevent privacy concerns by only storing a user's last recorded location, making it impossible for Google to track their whereabouts over time. Speaking on a mobile Internet panel at Mobile World Congress 2009, Google vice president of engineering Vic Gundotra announced [3] that more than a million wireless subscribers signed up Latitude in its first week of service.

For more on the Latitude enhancements:
- read this Official Google Mobile Blog entry [4]

Related articles:
Google [5] Product Search goes mobile
Google [6] upgrades Gmail for iPhone and Android