In February 2009 Google Inc. launched PC or mobile locator tool called Google Latitude, which tracks and shares your mobile location information with your friends, family and colleagues in real-time. To use this service, you need a Google account to choose your friends from your gmail or Picasa contacts, sending invitation and getting acceptance to share location information with each other. Through settings you can hide your location from individual contact or all contacts. For privacy reasons, you can also turn off this service completely.

Google Latitude service is a software-only location solution that allows any mobile device with Wi-Fi, GPS or a cellular radio to determine its position with an accuracy of 10 to 20 meters. Latitude can determine your location through location data receiving from Wi-Fi access points or GPS satellite signal or cellular tower signal. If device can not determine the location by it self, it takes the raw location data and transmits it via a GSM, CDMA or Wi-Fi link to a server. Server determines the location through rigorous algorithms and sends back the exact location data back to the mobile device.

Google latitude is part of Google Maps for Mobile. This service works on most color-screen Black Berry phones, phones installed with Windows Mobile 5.0 or later and Nokia smart phones. Google is planning to make this service available to iPhone and iPod Touch users in near future.