Location, Location, Where Am I Again?!

Image by playerx via Flickr

Google announced this week that its location based social network Latitude was available on the iPhone. I have been interested in this since it was first announced so was eager to check out the functionality through the handset.

To try Google Latitude, type google.com/latitude into your iPhone's browser. You can also add a bookmark to the home screen by opening Latitude in Safari and tapping the + icon > Add to Home Screen > Add. Google worked closely with Apple to bring Latitude to the iPhone, although they developed a Latitude application Apple requested they release Latitude as a web application in order to avoid confusion with Maps on the iPhone.

My initial impressions mirror Marshall Kirkpatrick from ReadWriteWeb who states that It's Terrible, Try Brightkite. Yesterday I enjoyed an evening in Brick Lane, I wanted to share my location with friends but due to limitations of the web app I opted to update using Brightkite. Through the Brightkite app I was able to upload a photo, short status update and provide details of my exact location. Another example is that we were trying to locate a suitable restaurant but there's no history, context or relevance through the web app. The aim was to release a Latitude application so it's hard to be critical on Google, hopefully we will see improvements to the service although there's a lot to be done to rival Brightkite!

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• Google Latitude for iPhone arrives as Web app (macworld.com)
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