“Users of Google’s (Nasdaq: GOOG) location-aware mobile software
can now track their whereabouts over time and receive alerts when
contacts are nearby, thanks to two features added to the software
on Tuesday.“The free application, Google Latitude, introduced earlier this
year for a variety of cellphones, was originally designed to let
friends see each other’s locations and then contact each other via
SMS, IM or phone to meet up when they’re in close proximity.“Now, by enabling a new location history feature, users can
store, view and manage their own past Latitude locations as well.
With Google Location Alerts, meanwhile, they can be notified when
friends are nearby, thereby avoiding the need to keep checking
Latitude for updated activity.“Both new features were popular feature requests, software
engineer Chris Lambert noted in announcing the changes on the
Google Mobile blog.”