To make Google Latitude more useful and to better integrate it with other social services, Google added support for check-ins. "You can still use Latitude to automatically update and share your location, but check-ins let you add context to the location — like captions to a photo," explains Google. It's an opportunity to improve Google Maps by sharing your favorite places, which could also make social recommendations better.
Check-ins connect locations to places and they're better suited for sharing because there's no real-time tracking involved. Google says that check-ins will be added to your Google Buzz stream and you can share them with your friends, make them public or private. There are some additional features that help you use check-ins: notifications to check in at a nearby place once you arrive, automatic check-ins at specific places, the option to check out and status level (visitor/Regular/VIP/Guru). Google Places pages include information about your check-ins, your friends' check-ins and your status.
Check-ins are supposed to work if you use the latest version of Google Maps for Android. If you use an iPhone, you should see a new version of the Latitude app in the near future. I've installed Google Maps 5.1 for Android, but I couldn't find the new features.
Google says that there are 10 million active Latitude users. Check-ins could attract new users and make Google's social services more popular.
Ironically, check-ins were made popular by Foursquare, a startup created by Dodgeball's founder and former Google employee Dennis Crowley. Dennis quit Google two years after Google acquired Dodgeball. "The whole experience was incredibly frustrating for us - especially as we couldn't convince them that dodgeball was worth engineering resources, leaving us to watch as other startups got to innovate in the mobile + social space."
{ Thanks, Michael. }
The fact that sharing requires Buzz is awesome, and as you pointed out here: http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2010/09/google-buzz-notifications-for-private.html further proves Google is putting some stock in Buzz, for which I am grateful. Now if they could just make a web app that could silence Laporte and Parr we would be all set. Boom. ;)
ReplyDeleteI hope they support a private mode for this new check-in service, as well as public.
ReplyDeleteIt could be useful to have check-in information as part of my location history but, as with the rest of my location history, I don't necessarily want to share this with my contacts.
I've been using my latitude history recently to help me bill clients - looking at my history I can see how long I was on site.
It does appear to support private.
ReplyDeleteGoogle is like the new Microsoft. Remember when Microsoft would wait for something to become popular, then use their gorilla size and force to crush everyone even though they were late to the game. Well, it didn't work for Microsoft, and I don't think it's going to work for Google either.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand when they pick up these startups why they don't just let them be and foster their creativity, it's mind numbing. Almost every entrepreneurial person they have acquired has been squeezed out of the company...
Nice feature however, as as Google App, user I can't use it. As google still hasn't given access to buzz or profiles to app users
ReplyDeleteobviously directly in competition with Facebook Places
ReplyDeleteThe fact that Google tries to find ways to force you use Google+ is disturbing.
ReplyDeleteridiculous that one cannot add locations though... I was at restaurant that's not shown on Latitude and there is now way to add it, 4Square is way better in this regard, one can add type of location, etc. Google needs to sort this out, especially in places where their dbase on locations is poor...
ReplyDeleteNeed to be able to add locations.... was in an area with about 10 restaurants and cafes and Latitude showed none! brilliant, google skipping the basics again...
ReplyDelete