Google Tracks Hot Spots to Improve Mobile Apps Geolocation service lets you find hot spots and developers find you Google appears to be working on a plan to track all cell phone towers and wireless hot spots in order to allow developers working on mobile applications to be more capable of tracking a user’s exact location. Geo-location services are increasingly popular on mobile phones (more than one gained attention in the Android application development challenge) but they currently rely on internal GPS which is considered to be unreliable and often inaccurate. By mapping out towers and hot spots, Google hopes to create a more reliable system for tracking a mobile user’s location. The information can also be used by customers who are trying to find the closest hot spot. Google is using a location services API on its Google Gears site to make this information free to developers but it is unclear what stage of development the project has reached.
|
 |  | | | Re: GPS NOT inaccurate as far as not being available on all cell phones. 98.99% of all cell phones have GPS now. And the ones that don't are being phased out by all the carriers. Nobody can say that its not available on all cell phones anymore. | |
|
Reviews:
 ·AT&T U-Verse
| Tracking locations Why would I want Google, or anyone for that matter, to track my location? It is none of Google's business where I am. If I believed that it would only be used by customers who want to be tracked, I would feel better about this, but I have very limited trust of commercial enterprises, and even less of the government. | |
| | | | Re: Tracking locations haha! typical austin response. "ITS A CONSPIRACY MAN!" i would not mind google knowing where i am, they probably already do. | |
| | | | | | | Re: Tracking locations Yes. Its per app. GPS 911 is default on. | |
|
| | | They want to help you find out where you are! | |
|
 CyberRagePremium,MVM
join:2001-03-21
Jasper, AL | Google People Heh, I can see it now. Using Google People, the exciting new people search engine, someone searches for their spouse. Realizing the location given is a sleazy, run down motel known to charge hourly rates they decide to do a Google search to find the most effective round for their handgun. Jumping on Google Shop then Google Map they find the nearest gun shop on the way to said sleazy motel. A couple of clicks later and the turn by turn directions are waiting for them on the vehicle mapping GPS system and away they go.
I guess when pursuing an illicit romp on the sheets it's best to turn your cell phone off and remove the battery. Of course you might want to disable the on board GPS in your vehicle as well.
--
Prop your feet up at Southeast Chat | |
| | | | Re: Google People Then don't forget Google being held accountable just as much as the wife/spouse that killed the other. You forgot the loop hole for the murder to get off. | |
|
 GuspazGuspazPremium,MVM
join:2001-11-05
Montreal, QC
kudos:16 | Cell tower triangulation isn't that bad either The worst I've ever had it do is about 250m away from my actual location. In some areas, it can peg me down to maybe 20m.
My conclusion: It's good enough for a wide range of topics. Automatically zooming in a map to your general area. Giving you weather info. And even location-sensitive searches.
If I want to search for "pizza", and it thinks that I'm a quarter kilometer away, that's not a big deal; it's only up to an extra 3 minutes of walking.
In short, I don't need hyper-accurate positioning on a cellphone, I just need "good enough", which I have. | |
|
| |
|
|
GPS NOT inaccurate
