Mountain View, California — In a recent update to its Maps application for Android, and now the search engine titan Google had sneaked in a very pleasant surprise by spreading its wings across social media–first with Google+, and now with Leaderboard, a new feature allowing users to earn points for checking in to a location via Google Latitude.
Just last week, Google quietly released a newest update to Google Maps for Android, bundled with a leaderboard element to Latitude, in addition, the search giant also appears to have embellished the new service with a gaming element to its Latitude location service. This service is pretty similar to the likes of a popular social check-in network called Foursquare.
Things seem to be a bit tricky now. The service is only accessible after a user checks in somewhere using Google Latitude. After check-in, the user earns points and is navigated to the Leaderboard screen that shows you just how many points you have accumulated for all of your various check-ins that week along with his or her Google+ friends.
As soon as a Latitude location is selected within the app, a small leaderboard screen is displayed and points tallied to the user’s leaderboard score. There is also a universal page that ranks all users based on points from check-ins. New check-ins get two points; repeat check-ins get one point. The person with the most points earns a crown above his or her No. 1 ranking. Leaderboard does not have a mayor, like Foursquare.
According to Engadget’s Terrence O’Brien, the leaderboard feature does not appear to be active for all Latitude users just yet, even for those who have downloaded the most recent update to the Maps application. But it is likely that Google is setting things up for a better check-in experience.
Moving forward, just one reference to the new feature can be traced at Google, buried deep within the Support section on the Google Maps for Android FAQ, where it says–“Now when you receive points from checking in at different locations, you will be able to see how the number of points that you have compares to your friends’ with the leaderboard.”
All of users Google Plus contacts to date appear on the leaderboard, and so far, Google has remained fairly tight-lipped about the future integration of Latitude’s leaderboard into Google Plus as-is. In any case, the search engine titan undoubtedly has plans to integrate the feature into Google+ some way or another, given that it explains that points will be made visible to Google+ users (even though they do not appear to be):
Moreover, your points may be visible to other Google+ users, making it effortles to find friends and play together. As always, your location and check-ins are visible only to those whom you have shared. Check-ins display on Google+ but there are no additional notifications to suggest it may be part of the new Leaderboard feature.
That said, a message within the new Leaderboard feature indicates that Latitude is definitely coming to Google Plus in some capacity. And if it ever hits Google+, we suddenly have a Foursquare competitor on our hands. The feature is certainly eligible for inclusion in the Google+ iOS and Android apps, making it available to its millions of mobile users. The score system is pretty similar to its more established location rival but Google has its large number of services and users to call upon.
So, if you have not updated Google Maps for Android, hit the Android Market and have a play with the new feature, then work out if it can replace the Foursquare app on your device.
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