Mountain View, California — Earlier, Google Latitude has been available for mobile devices only via an iGoogle widget or smartphone devices, Latitude now more prominent. Earlier this week search engine titan Google on the Official Google Mobile Blog announced the introduction of a dedicated Google Latitude website that now enables users to find/track their friends and share their location from the comfort of a computer.
While there has been loads of discussion about the hot startups in the geolocation arena, Foursquare in particular, or about Facebook’s recent entry in the space, Google has one of the oldest and still one of the most prominent location-based services out there, Latitude. And now, you can check it out on your desktop as well.
“We are thrilled to introduce an easier way to use Google Latitude from your computer at google.com/latitude,” Kenneth Leftin, Software Engineer in the Google Mobile Team, wrote.
“You can now view where your friends are, start using Latitude apps, and share your location all from one place when you are at your computer,” he added.
The new Google Latitude website is located at www.google.com/latitude.
The moment you login to the new Google Latitude dedicated site, the application automatically detects your language, and once you opt-in, it then displays a map with your location as well as the location of your friends who have also registered. From the “Friends” tab on the Web-based Latitude, users can actually view where their friends are located on Google Maps, add new friends, share their location in Google chat, and control their privacy settings to determine who gets to see their location.
The second is “History” tab that does just what the name implies, allowing one to see a visualization of their location history.
Lastly, on the “Apps” tab, one can activate additional features that build on top of the standard Latitude functionality. For instance, Google Location Alerts, allows the user to know when friends are nearby. Google Talk Location Status updates the user’s status to read their current location and the Google Public Location Badge shares the user’s location anywhere he or she embeds the badge, like on a blog or other personal Web site.
“We launched Latitude with a desktop iGoogle gadget to help you stay in touch with friends and family that may not have a smartphone. We have since learned that a desktop experience is important to you even if you are already using Latitude on your phone,” he explained.