14 DAY TRIAL // A few months ago, a new free feature for mobile and iGoogle users was launched, namely Google Latitude, which offers them the possibility to share their location with their friends. On May 4, 2009, Google announced two new and fun applications for Google Latitude users, Google Public Location Badge, which allows them to easily publish their current Google Latitude location on their blogs or web sites, and Google Talk Location Status, currently a Beta, which offers them the possibility to share their Google Latitudes with all the Google Talk and Gmail contacts and friends.
Google Public Location Badge, as Google Talk Location Status, is an application designed especially for mobile users, at the moment only for US residents, but available all over the world in a short while. If this app is enabled, users will share their location publicly, but they won’t be able to control or see it. So, in order to keep their privacy, Google Latitude users can choose to share only their city-level location.
Google Talk Location Status offers Google Latitude users the option to share their latitude location with all their Google Talk friends and contacts. The application will update automatically their status message according to the places they are visiting, using GPS, Wi-Fi, or cell tower ID, providing a more specific location. However, they can also manually choose to see just the city they are in, as well as change their message status at any time.
In order to be able to try these applications users must have Google Latitude accounts. Furthermore, they don’t have to worry about their privacy because their location status will not be shared with any other application without their consent. Of course, these apps can be disabled at any time.