November 30, 2007, 10:53 AM — Google has introduced version 2.0 of Google Maps for mobile, introducing a
new "My Location" technology, which uses mobile phone tower ID information
to offer U.S. users their approximate location, helping them determine where
they are, what's around them, and how to get there.
There is now speculation that Apple could introduce the technology to the iPhone,
which has been criticized for lacking a GPS receiver.
Google points out that the most common source of location information - GPS
technology - is supported on fewer than 15 percent of the mobile phones expected
to be sold in 2007.
Google's new My Location technology lets users who don't have GPS-enabled mobile
phones get such information. The My Location technology also complements GPS-enabled
devices, as it delivers a location estimate faster than GPS, provides coverage
inside buildings (where GPS signals can be unreliable), and doesn't drain phone
batteries as quickly as GPS.
The My Location technology takes information broadcast from cell 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 and the
feature can be disabled by those not wanting to employ it.
The My Location technology is available on most smartphones, including all
color BlackBerry devices, all Symbian Series 60 3rd Edition devices, most Windows
Mobile devices, newer Sony Ericsson devices, and some Motorola devices. However,
it isn't (yet) available for the iPhone, as the existing iPhone Google Maps
feature would need to be updated to support this.
