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Google Maps updates My Location
Google Maps had released a handy feature for mobile apps last year which would detect the cell tower you were using in order to figure out your general area, though it wasn’t quite as precise as honest-to-goodness GPS. Well, Google has recently found a way to determine a cell tower’s coverage area, and will be incorporating that info into the My Location feature. If you’re in a densely populated area, you’re probably using a smaller cell tower, and so your location is within a smaller radius, making it easier for Google-powered mobile mapping apps to zero in on your location more accurately, even if your device doesn’t have a GPS unit. For folks in more rural areas, they’ve tweaked the centering system so that it will move to the closest city rather than cell tower (since it might be a ways outside of town). Cool stuff all around, and offers a lot to folks with more down-to-earth cell phones.
[via Official Google Mobile Blog]
About The Author
Simon Sage
Simon Sage’s education largely surrounded writing, technology and online community, leading him to begin his blogging career at www.BlackBerryCool.com and to quickly discover a vibrant and active community surrounding BlackBerry and mobile technology. In exploring RIM’s platform, he has learned what enterprises are looking for in mobility as well as what makes the innocuous BlackBerry so appealing to them. Recently Simon’s been covering RIM’s gradual move into an already-crowded consumer market, and the impact of burgeoning challengers, such as the iPhone, as well as long-time leaders, like Nokia, on BlackBerry’s advancement. With plenty of content under his belt, Simon will be branching off a bit to see what other smartphone manufacturers are working on while still using BlackBerry as a barometer. At IntoMobile, you can count on his posts being even-handed, well-informed and thought-out.
