Verizon opens up their network. Things are changing. Why Microsoft Loves|Hates Google’s Android
Nov 28

The new Google Maps with My Location product is an update to Google Maps for Mobile that has location information even if you don’t have GPS.

It uses information from cell towers a la Navizon on the iPhone.

As for privacy:

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.

And more info:

If you have a GPS-enabled device, this blue dot corresponds to your GPS location. At times, or if you do not have a GPS-enabled phone, you might see the blue dot surrounded by a light blue circle (as shown on the right) to indicate uncertainty about your location.

Why the uncertainty? The My Location feature takes information broadcast from mobile towers near you to approximate your current location on the map - it’s not GPS, but it comes pretty close (approximately 1000m close, on average). We’re still in beta, but we’re excited to launch this feature and are constantly working to improve our coverage and accuracy.

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

Just press “0″.

2 Responses to “Google Maps for Mobile can now grok your location”

  1. Steve Finkelstein Says:

    Would be exciting to see this technology become available on the iPhone. Darn shame it’s not available for us yet.

  2. Jesse Kuhnert Says:

    Sweet!! Thanks whoever did this!

    @Steve: I don’t have an iphone but I’ve heard that you can download some sort of add-on app/something that makes google maps use the same tower triangulation info stuff that this one does.

Leave a Reply

Spam is a pain, we are sorry to have to do this to you, but can you answer the question below? If so, the comment will go through!

Spam Question: What is the number after 4?

Your Answer: