Although the emphasis of much location-based technology has been on its mobile implementation – the ability to stay updated on whereabouts when you’re out-and-about – there’s still a place for desktop uses.
And with that in mind, Google has updated Google Latitude so that you can both see where your friends are as well as share your own location.
Google Latitude has been available as an iGoogle gadget for over a year, with the ability to monitor others’ locations, but Google says “we’ve since learned that a desktop experience is important to you.” A new Latitude site allows you to share your location, as well as see where your friends are on Google Maps.
The new site also gives access to some of the app’s other features, so you can see your personal location history for example, as well as adjust your location alerts for when friends are nearby.
While these are all improvements to the site, it’s hard to say how much Google Latitude will be used, as the emphasis of location-based check-ins are on mobile phones, not to mention via services like Facebook, Foursquare, and Gowalla.
