Back a few months ago Apple made their "Find My iPhone" service that locates your iPhone in the event it gets lost free. Sounds great, right? Well if you read the fine-print in the MobileMe terms of service, you'd know it only applied to iPhone 4's and I myself happen to have a 3GS. Darn.
Up until recently, I had been looking for a solution in the off chance I lose my iPhone. I don't lose devices all that often, but you never know what can happen. So I was pleased to find out that Google's own service "Latitude" offers the same location service for locating your lost device. If you don't qualify for "Find my iPhone" and you don't find MobileMe compelling enough to pay for a subscription, this may be a good solution.
Google Latitude is both a web-based application, but to actually locate your device, you have to download the free Google Latitude app for your iPhone. (Quick note: There are also Latitude apps for iOS, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile and Nokia phones) One thing I noticed about the app is that it is ALWAYS retrieving your locating, even if you've quit the app. This is indicated by the "GPS icon" in your menu bar. Of course you can configure this in the app's settings and turn that feature off, but if you're sensitive to that feature or would like to conserve your battery life, you may want to turn that off.
The Latitude website gives you a live Google Map showing your estimated location with a confidence circle. That confidence circle is large and broad at first, but as it has the opportunity to get a more accurate reading on your location, tue circle decreases in size giving you, in most cases, a very accurate reading on your location.
In conclusion, Google Latitude may not have the slick UI of MobileMe, and you probably won't hear many stories of chases in Tel Aviv over people trying to find their lost iPad, but Google Latitude is the best free solution for people looking to track their mobile device in the off chance you lose it or the more likely scenario, it gets stolen. Google Latitude links to you existing Google account, which doesn't require you to sign up for an additional service.
No comments:
Post a Comment