Slash LaneEssentially, the My Location feature takes information broadcast from mobile towers near non-GPS equipped mobile phones to approximate the device's current location on the map down to about 10 city blocks.
"It's not GPS, but it comes pretty close (approximately 1000m close, on average)," the Mountain View, Calif.-based search giant explained on its website. "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 currently available for most web-enabled mobile phones, including Java, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, and Nokia/Symbian devices. However, it is not yet compatible with Apple's iPhone.
Still, Apple has promised to continuously update and improve upon the feature set of its inaugural mobile handset, making it more than likely that the feature will turn up once it emerges from the beta stage.
For a more detailed explanation of My Location and a visual demonstration, please see the video below.
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35 Comments
10 city blocks is a pretty big margin of error. Hmm. This would not be very useful inside NYC or LA, for example.
10 city blocks is a pretty big margin of error. Hmm. This would not be very useful inside NYC or LA, for example.
I agree. The are still working to update all their tower info, so hopefully it will improve.
Best,
K
well, it's still very good for a lot of google maps features like looking up nearby businesses. i've always disliked having to find the address of my location in order to find nearby businesses. even within a ten block radius this is a useful feature for that. not so great for turn by turn directions obviously, but better than nothing. if you can't find the guided route within ten blocks, then you're not that good at finding your way around.
making it more than likely that the feature will turn up once it emerges from the beta stage
1) I hope Apple adds it before then as Google likes to keep their web apps in beta for years.
2) I love the simplicity of the video.
3) We've had a lengthy discussion about the range of different cell technologies on these forums about a year ago. The 1000M range is a really a worst case scenario for rural areas.
Will it have features like turn by turn voice prompts and automatic rerouting if you go off course? If not, then I would rather have someone make a mapping application for the iPhone which can be paired with a bluetooth GPS receiver.