Video:What Is Google Latitude?

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Transcript:What Is Google Latitude?

Hi, I'm Shane Murphy, your technology Guru for About.com. Today we'll look at all the features of Google Latitude and how to use it.

What Is Google Latitude?

Google Latitude is simply a program you and your friends can use to display where you are located at any given moment on a Google Map, based on the GPS location of your cellular phone. Both individuals involved must agree before the service will work, and there are other privacy measures built in as well.Latitude allows you to update your status on your phone with a message, letting your friends or business contacts know if it's a good idea to drop you a line. It also makes it easy to send a text message, instant message, or phone call to your contact.

Using Google Latitude

Visit "google.com/latitude" and you'll see a page prompting you to pick which phone type you'd like to install Latitude on. After selecting your device, follow the individual instructions for your phone and you'll have the program up in no time.You can also just install Latitude on your computer, in which case it works identically. Click the link at the bottom left to skip a phone installation, then follow Google's instructions to implement the tracking feature on your computer. Check out About.com's dedicated Google channel for more useful information on optimizing Google's wide array of applications.

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