Google Latitude allows to track movements of others

The engineers at Google have developed a new way people can find one another using Google Maps. It's a little feature they call Google Latitude and you can install it for free on a variety of platforms.

Google Latitude is initially available for use on Blackberry, S60, and Windows Mobile with plans for availability on Android and iPhone coming shortly. It lets one see the approximate location of others who have have decided to share their location information. Google says, for example, one could see if his or her spouse is actually stuck in traffic.

This new Google Map function will also let you get in touch directly with those people via SMS, Google Talk, Gmail or by updating your status message. Fr those concerned about privacy, several options have been built in. Each user can control who sees their location as well as being able to set where they're at. A user could, for example, set their location to be showing one place while actually being at another.

Latitude is initially available in 27 countries, with more planned over time. It can also be used via a desktop or laptop by installing the corresponding iGoogle gadget.

You can visit Google Latitude.