Apple approves Google Latitude friend finder app for iPhone

Almost two years after Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) first introduced its Latitude mobile friend finder application, archrival Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has finally approved the solution for download via the App Store. Version 2.0.0.346 of the free Google Latitude app enables iPhone users across more than two dozen languages to map the locations of friends and family in real time, and continuously share location information even when the app is closed or the device screen is locked; privacy controls enable users to share only city-level location, hide their whereabouts or turn off background updates at any time.

Earlier this year, Google said Latitude tops 3 million active users, adding that more than 8 million users have signed up since the solution went live in early 2009. In addition, Latitude continues to grow 30 percent month-over-month, with over 10 percent of Android smartphone owners now using the service.

Apple's decision to approve Latitude follows weeks after the computing giant finally ratified the controversial Google Voice application, which promises cheap rates for international calls, free text messaging to U.S. numbers and voicemail transcription as well as push notifications to alert users of new voicemail or text messages. In August 2009, Apple found itself the target of a Federal Communications Commission inquiry after rejecting Google Voice and removing a pair of third-party Google Voice applications from the App Store. According to Apple, Google Voice and the related third-party apps were rejected or not included in the App Store because they interfered with the iPhone's "distinctive user experience"--Apple contended that Google Voice "appears to [replace] the iPhone's core mobile telephone functionality and Apple user interface with its own user interface for telephone calls, text messaging and voicemail."

For more:
- visit the App Store

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