SAN FRANCISCO — Internet search leader Google is testing technology that will find the location of people using its mobile mapping service, even if the phone making the connection isn't equipped with a GPS receiver.
The new tracking feature introduced Wednesday is being touted as an added convenience because it will enable people on the go to skip the task of typing a starting address on a mobile handset's small keys when they turn to Google's maps for guidance.
Using the technology, dubbed "My Location," simply requires pressing zero on a mobile handset equipped with the new software. The sender's location shows up as a blue dot on Google's mobile maps.
The tracking system isn't set up to collect a user's phone number or any other personal information that would reveal a person's identity, said Steve Lee, product manager for Google's mobile maps. As a safeguard, the feature can be turned off at any time by simply clicking on a link in the help menu.
Those assurances probably will alleviate privacy concerns raised about the new service, said analyst Greg Sterling of Sterling Market Intelligence.
FIND MORE STORIES IN: Google GPS Greg Sterling GPS receiver
After trying out "My Location" on a Blackberry device, Sterling predicted people will embrace it. He called it "an incremental improvement but still meaningful."
Unlike GPS, Google's tracking feature works while handsets are indoors. "My Location" also drains less power from a phone's battery than a GPS receiver does.
On the downside, Google's service isn't as precise as GPS. In most instances, Google hopes to get within one-quarter to three miles of a user's location — close enough to provide helpful "neighborhood-level" information, Lee said.
The database that identifies the location of a mobile phone is still under construction, so the service still sometimes draw a blank. The company expects to fill in the holes as more people use the service, Lee said.
The tracking system's database currently spans more than 20 countries, including United States, much of Europe, Australia, New Zealand, the Russian Federation and Taiwan. It doesn't yet work in China or Japan.
By knowing more about a mobile phone's location, Google conceivably could make more money displaying ads from nearby businesses hoping to lure in more customers. The Mountain View-based company currently doesn't plan to show ads on mobile maps but may in the future, Lee said.
Already the owner of the most lucrative advertising network on the Internet, Google eventually hopes to do a better job of mining profits from the mobile Web.
To help realize that goal, Google plans to introduce a new mobile software package called Android next year in an attempt to make its online services more accessible to people while they're away from computers at home or the office.
Although a growing number of so-called smart phones come with GPS receivers, Google estimates that about 85% of mobile handsets now in use don't have the satellite-powered technology.
Google's alternative will work on most smart phones, including the Blackberry and the latest generation of Nokia handsets. But it's still not compatible with the iPhone, Motorola Q, Samsung Blackjack and Palm Treo 700w and other models.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
1 comment:
As more and more users are going mobile, mobile services are no longer just phone calls, internet access. It’s starting to tag along more application services. The stated story tells one of the examples.
The invented google service is easy-to-use and very customer oriented. Like what described in the blog, typing a zero on a mobile handset is much easier than using the small keys on the mobile handset to input “my location”. This service can be attained by different approaches. Relying on the Internet access and accessing such a nice google service should be the best approach compared to the one using GPS receiver. This is how efficiency and cost come into the picture.
Such a service involves multiple technologies. The small application deployed on the mobile device is getting software support. Then going through service provider’s network to obtain Internet access eventually reach the service provided google. Supported by google application, the data flow bounced through Internet channel back to the mobile device displaying “My Location”.
This service sounds like more like a solution to the mobile user in order to find out his own location. The drawback is that it is less accurate than GPS. But that might be still acceptable. As mobile users can be anywhere to access such service, it becomes the challenge for google to construct a huge database to identify as many locations as possible, including all those “neighborhood-level” information. In addition, performance would be another key factor for such a service
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