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Google Maps GPS Simulator

Posted by samzenpus on Wed Nov 28, 2007 07:32 PM
from the google-where-you-are dept.
Businesses Google The Internet Cellphones Handhelds Hardware
garbletext writes "A new version of Google Maps introduced this week includes a beta feature dubbed My Location that was designed to simulate the GPS experience on mobile phones and handheld devices that do not include GPS hardware, like Apple's iPhone. Essentially, the My Location feature takes information broadcast from mobile towers near non-GPS equipped mobile phones to approximate the device's current location on the map down to about 10 city blocks. "It's not GPS, but it comes pretty close (approximately 1000m close, on average)," the Mountain View, Calif.-based search giant explained on its website. "We're still in beta, but we're excited to launch this feature and are constantly working to improve our coverage and accuracy." The My Location feature is currently available for most web-enabled mobile phones, including Java, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, and Nokia/Symbian devices."
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  • iPhone (Score:2, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Except this doesn't actually work on iPhone.

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by bconway (63464)
      Don't worry, that was covered in the article.

      The My Location feature is currently available for most web-enabled mobile phones, including Java, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, and Nokia/Symbian devices. However, it is not yet compatible with Apple's iPhone.

      Still, Apple has promised to continuously update and improve upon the feature set of its inaugural mobile handset, making it more than likely that the feature will turn up once it emerges from the beta stage.
  • Now I can pay to have my cellphone tell me I'm somewhere in downtown Toronto. Just what I've always wanted - I always keep forgetting these minor details.
    • You're saying you'd rather type in "Toronto", on a cell phone, rather than just have Google Maps know already?

      What, are you some kind of privacy nut? (rim shot)

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by colonslash (544210)
      That's better than somewhere in Canada; a map zoomed in to near your current location could be much more helpful, especially because of slow networks and high bandwidth costs

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by Fyre2012 (762907)
      I've used the service on my Blackberry 8800 in downtown toronto, and in my experience I was able to narrow my location down to within 10 meters or so on any given downtown street.
      It even points in the direction you're moving
      Pretty neet to have it using the satelite view as well. Very quick and responsive, and you can always just press '0' to go to 'my location'
      Works well using directions too... you just tell it to use 'my location' as a starting or destination point.

      Tho it doesn't work indoors...

        • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

          by Fyre2012 (762907)
          Hm, interesting... when I check the GPS status in my options, it says it's disabled and the coordinates are all 0's, so I was always baffled when I got a blue dot on google maps.

        • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

          by TooMuchToDo (882796)
          Yes, but people running the MyLocation version who DO have GPS are helping those of us with Blackberry Curves that don't have built in GPS. Google is taking the GPS data, correlating it to the tower identifiers the cellphone is picking up at the time, and building a database for triangulation. Not only can they provide that data to their users, but they then could resell that data like Navteq sells driving direction data.

            • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

              by TooMuchToDo (882796)

              Where does it say that they do that? This would be an extremely stupid idea. They already know EXACTLY where all the towers are and how best to triangulate the signals - they don't need to collect that from Blackberry users. Are you sure someone isn't having you on? Sounds made up to me. Please link to your source.

              http://www.google.com/support/mobile/bin/answer.py?answer=81873&topic=12595 [google.com]

              How accurate is My Location (beta)?

              Mobile towers are placed by operators throughout an area to provide coverage for their users. Each of these towers has its own individual coverage area, usually split into three non-overlapping sections known as "cells." These cells come with identification numbers, but no location information. Google takes geo-contextual information [from anonymous GPS-readings, etc] and associates thi

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by ILuvRamen (1026668)
      lol that's not what it will tell you. When you're inside a building it will tell you you're 2 miles away from the tower. And in the elevator it will tell you you're 4 miles away from the tower. And as soon as you walk out, you're suddenly one mile from the tower! All it can go by is the signal strength as far as I know. That's so stupid. With one tower, it can tell you you're somewhere on a ring around the tower. With two it can approximate a linear area that you're in. With 3 towers it can tell you
      • Wow, Google is better than I thought. Now, the (my) body will be in two places at once.

        (I had to borrow a modified phrase from Captain Crain of the Seaview, when the enemy agent in Sickbay hosed their INS (inertial navigation system), in the episode "Hail to the Chief"; her brain-cooking MK-G machine at full power threw off Seaview's compass in the Control Room (proximity of the MK-G), but not in Maneuvering Control... Crain got reports on the two directions, and, frustrated as hell, he proclaimed to Adm. N
      • Even with 3, it won't be accurate because signal strength goes up and down.

        It won't be "accurate" regardless, but it will still be ballpark. Your examples are nisleading. If you're in a building, or an elevator for that matter (per your example), the signal strength is degraded for all nearby towers and thus you can still be triangulated in the same way.

        Obviously a GPS-enabled phone is still the best solution.

    • Re:Wow! This is exactly what I always wanted!!! (Score:4, Funny)

      by ashitaka (27544) on Wednesday November 28 2007, @08:17PM (#21512807) Homepage
      Remember, this is just telling you where you are, not where you should or would like to be.

      Which probably isn't in downtown Toronto.

      And no matter where you go, there you are.

    • Re:Wow! This is exactly what I always wanted!!! (Score:5, Insightful)

      by kevinbr (689680) on Thursday November 29 2007, @03:13AM (#21515519)
      Location on a phone has always been potentially very useful as a part of user context. You might not be able to use it as a turn by turn mapping guide, but what the stupid mobile operators forget is that other people could think of useful location services. Example: Travel Agent. I used to fly from Nice to London via Frankfurt a lot. My connection in Frankfurt is at 9:15. If my phone reports that I am in Frankfurt at 9:30 and the flight left at 9:15, then I missed my flight. An application could use this to automatically rebook me.

      I order a taxi from an office. Today I wait on the street because I do not know within a minute when he will arrive. With location, when the taxi enters the same cell as me, it could trigger an SMS for me to go down to see taxi. Saving me time and money.

      Wap Link: Give me the weather HERE. I remember years ago showing a friend the weather forecast on the phone. After I typed in the City, he asked why? He was right of course , the phone knew what city I was in.

      Going for a train - rush or have a cup of coffee and wait? Push the button "Next Train" and application knows you are in work not home and tell you next train from work to home. Or vice a versa.

      Too many people stupidly believe that location has no real use unless it can locate a person within meters. The granularity is fine as a basis to give contextual input to many many app.

      I could go on and on, but for 7 years the mobile operators have blown their lead in this space all because the idiot marketing people believe that if THEY cannot imagine a service no would could possibly want such a service. I had to laugh at Vodafone idiot CEO in a recent interview discussing how he "owned" location as a service and Apple did not. He owned it for 7 years and did fuck all with it.

        • Mobile Operators have had this ability for years, but they cannot decide what to do.

          The other interesting location ability is to "tag" a location with data, so people can come for example to a park, and read comments left in "space".

          again.....as mobile operators we sit on our collective ass, listening to idiots like Arun Sarin who has no real ideas how to make money off of data services.
  • So, hypothetically speaking, if I had been driving to my relatives' house on, say, Thanksgiving, and I possibly took a right turn instead of a left one and ended up 3 miles away before turning back, I was, in theory, also pretty close?
    • Not every invention you see started off being perfectly usable. That's what development is for. The very cellphones that one will be using this on were not exactly convenient to carry around once upon a time, were they?

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by DigitAl56K (805623)
      Yes, 1KM is pretty close for a non-GPS-equipped phone.

      Think about the workflow - Google Maps can automatically zoom you in to a really small area of global mapping data, and in most cases you're going to want to browse 1KM or greater anyway to have an overview of where you are, what the nearby roads are, and where you are going. You can easily zoom in and out or scroll around from there, getting to exactly what you want to view in seconds.

      The alternative is to have you sit there and type in your location, w

  • Still... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by E. T. Moonshade (591333) <<sirepsilon> <at> <hotmail.com>> on Wednesday November 28 2007, @07:40PM (#21512443)
    It's not terribly useful if you're truly lost. Once they can get the triangulation between towers to work better, it'll be pretty damn slick. Until then, 'tis just a toy.
    • For a toy, it has been fun to use so far. Of course this is just with locations I know. The truth in the end is that there's room for a lot of improvement. Alas, for something that is free, it is pretty sweet.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by TubeSteak (669689)

      It's not terribly useful if you're truly lost.

      Define truly lost.

      If you're "truly lost" in [major city] then stop and ask someone.

      If you're "truly lost" out in the middle of nowhere, a 10 city block guesstimate from your phone is more than enough to get you back on the right path.

      For anything in between those two extremes, I can't imagine how the guesstimate won't be helpful. I mean... how lost can you be that you don't know what street you're on? And you're staring at a map.

            • Lost person calling Google (not that you can really call them, but still)

              Lost person: Hi, I'm lost in the middle of nowhere. Can you tell me how to get back to the city?
              Google: Sure, where are you?
              Lost person: I just told you...I'm in the middle of nowhere?
              Google: Sorry sir, but if you don't know where you are then I can't give you directions. I can however give you...an exciting offer from one of our featured advertisers about a book that details a journey through "The Middle of Nowhere"

    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      by centinall (868713)
      If you do have GPS on your phone you'll find that it probably IS "useful if you're truly lost". For those that don't have GPS and until they can get the triangulation between towers to work better you might be right that it's just a toy. However, it will certain save some time bringing up a map of your general vicinity.

      See your location on the map, with or without GPS. Save time and tedious keystrokes finding where you are, what's around you, and how to get there.

      If you have a GPS-enabled device, thi

    • "You're within 1000m of coffee. Can you smell it yet?". Thanks!
    • It is indeed very useful, if you can eyeball either sat imagery or a topo map (both of which are available from Google of course) you can easily identify exactly where you're at. The problem with doing this (normally) is two fold. First, you have to have access to the map (Google of course had solved this already). Second, you have to know what map to view, or in this case, what portion of the Earth to look at and establish you location. In this case, Google is simply pulling the right map for you...you

  • 1000 metres on *average*? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Colin Smith (2679) on Wednesday November 28 2007, @07:41PM (#21512465)
    Um... What's the standard deviation on that?

    While I like the sentiment, I suspect the usefulness is going to be... limited... It'll be as easy to put in the street names and such.

     

  • MapPoint? (Score:5, Informative)

    by phatvw (996438) on Wednesday November 28 2007, @07:44PM (#21512493)
    I believe MapPoint Location Server [microsoft.com] had these same features based on GPRS/GSM available back in 2004. For a price of course :)
    • http://www.nav4all.com/ [nav4all.com] - I haven't tried this so I can't vouch for it, but it looks interesting and is also free.

      Note that when people say "GPS" in the context of cellphones, they are usually talking about GPRS/GSM location-based services which use celltower triangulation. There are very few cellphones that have GPS satellite antennas, although there are a few Bluetooth GPS add-on devices available.

  • It could be useful (Score:5, Insightful)

    by xarien (1073084) on Wednesday November 28 2007, @07:45PM (#21512499)
    The usefulness will come from the fact that you now have a localized map of roughly where you are. As long as you think of it as a personalized map service instead of a GPS replacement service, it still quite handy
  • No, it's not going to tell you your exact location. But if you need to get somewhere it can give you direct starting within 1000 feet of where you are.

    It is NOT for Geo caching, or to give you constant real time updates as you hurl down the road.
    So if you are in downtown Toronto and decide you want to check out the new book store in BF Canada, you can get a close start position on Google maps. If you can't figure it our from there, then please stop using technology.Any technology.

  • Not Exactly Global (Score:4, Insightful)

    by cybermage (112274) on Wednesday November 28 2007, @07:49PM (#21512545) Homepage Journal
    If it's based on the deployment of Cell towers, it's not exactly a *Global* Positioning System. I think GPSs are more useful in remote areas than urban ones and probably less dangerous [betanews.com] there too.

    I think this product might lead people into a false sense of security:

    "Hey, I think were lost out here in the middle of the Oregon woods in a blizzard. Better check the GPS on my iPhone.

    "WTF?

    "We're doomed!"
    • I hope you aren't referring to the case [cnn.com] where Google maps or some other direction-giving site might have lead to the death of a well-known CNET editor.
  • It found my location to "within 2400 meters". It is about 2K off actually.

    But I am impressed by the fact alone that it started zoomed right into my city. And I am connected with WiFi, not even GPRS.

    Pretty swift if you ask me.

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by stg (43177)
      I think it's pretty cool. I tried through WiFi (as my packet data connection is awful AND pricy), and I wasn't within the limit it drew, but about 800 meters off. That, in a minor town in Brasil.

      That is not revolutionary, but it's clearly very useful.

      And I really like that it can use my phone's GPS (which was off for the test) - Google Maps is absurdly better than Nokia Maps, as far as directions and map data goes.

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by Tony Hoyle (11698)
        Didn't work on my N95 either.. there's an app and it shows a map position but it's at the other end of the country and pressing '0' just comes up with an error.

  • For those complaining of accuracy... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by the_wishbone (1018542) on Wednesday November 28 2007, @08:05PM (#21512717)
    It may not be as accurate as full-on GPS, but now you can do searches for nearby businesses...without having to type in your location. I don't know how many times I've been looking for something NEARBY and either didn't know what zip code or city I was in (keep in mind in a place like LA, something might be nearby but technically in a different city, and sometimes it wouldn't find things unless you gave it specific locations - I know this from experience). I finally resorted to doing a browser Google search because the maps app just wasn't finding stuff.
     
    I've also noticed that now, when you search without putting in a location (i.e. "pizza" instead of "pizza los angeles ca") it will search the nearby area visible on the map. With the previous version, for some reason, it kept giving me locations in the UK when I didn't specify a city/state in the US instead of just searching the area of the map that was currently visible.
     
    Too bad the "My Location" feature doesn't currently work on Sprint Touch and Mogul phones (whether this is a Google or Sprint thing, who knows...) as it says the phones aren't reporting any cell towers (you can see this in Help>About where it says "myl: N/A". Oh, well...hopefully it will work sometime in the future.
  • Working pretty well on my BB - About one half block from exact location. Pretty cool for the price.

  • Privacy? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by bhmit1 (2270) on Wednesday November 28 2007, @08:45PM (#21513047) Homepage
    Where are they getting the information about what tower you're connected to and how strong the signal is? If it's from the app running on the phone, and you selected to install the app (plus agree to a very long disclaimer) then I have fewer issues. But if they are getting the information from the phone company or from the network requests (e.g. http headers added by phone company) then I'd question if the phone company is giving away private information on their customers.

    And if they get the information from the app on the phone, I'd be curious of what api's there are to do this ourselves and if that access infringes on some kind of separation between the phone and app that users and phone companies may want (e.g. apps dialing 900 numbers or racking up charges for sms messages without your knowledge).

    (And FYI, testing this on a Sprint Treo 600 claims to download the 2.0 version, but it's really the 1.2 version after the installer runs, so it doesn't work for me yet.)
  • The purpose of this is not to tell you where you are. It's to get you to the right map, without needing to type a location using clumsy cell-phone input. Once you're looking at a map, you can figure out where you are by looking at street signs. Think of it as a road atlas which always opens to the right page.

  • my mini review (Score:3, Informative)

    by johnjones (14274) on Wednesday November 28 2007, @09:34PM (#21513417) Homepage Journal
    OK
    my review -

    GOOD

    My Location actually WORKS !
    My Location works outside of the USA (at least in the UK)
    well put together app not a resource hog on my symbian Nokia Series 60 v2 phone (e50)

    BAD

    you cant do ANYTHING with "My Location" except watch a pretty blue point on the map
    No My Location for route finding
    No traffic outside USA
    Route does not work for a found location it adds a ")" at the end for some reason.

    Nice but you need to actaully finish it or it's just a plaything

    I am curious what Database of cell locations is google using do you gut think ?
    (the phone companies often lie about locations in there headers so you have to build your own (wiggle) or use OFCOM in the uk)

    regards

    John Jones

    http://www.johnjones.me.uk/ [johnjones.me.uk]
  • A few other very interesting features were released this week for Google Maps... and I'm sorry that this story is all we got on /. so far. Here's a copy from the site in my sig.

    Google Maps Adds Terrain
    Google Lat Lon Blog [blogspot.com] announces the addition of terrain to their free Google Maps [google.com] site. In addition to adding the Terrain button, they've removed the Hybrid button. They explain, "You may notice in this screenshot that the handy "Hybrid" button, which shows satellite images overlaid with labels and roads, seems to have gone missing. Don't worry -- this view can now be accessed by clicking the "Satellite" button and checking the "Show labels" check box that will appear under the "Satellite" button."

    New Google Maps Features Launched Including Collaborative Mapping
    In addition to the important new terrain layer [slashgeo.org] announced yesterday, Google Maps received a few significant updates, first, Google Maps searches are now providing a thumbnail of the related street view photo [blogspot.com], second, the My Maps feature somehow becomes Our Maps, allowing to collaborate directly on someone else's My Maps [blogspot.com], this has a lot of potential of getting big, and last, you can more easily share KML and KMZ files and GeoRSS feeds through My Maps [blogspot.com]. From the Our Maps announcement: "Just click the "Collaborate" link and enter the email addresses of the people you want to invite. They'll receive an email invitation with a link to the map. Once they open the map, they should be able to edit it, as long as they are signed into a Google Account that's associated with that email address. You can also open your map to the world so anyone can edit it by selecting the "Allow anyone to edit this map" checkbox."
    • More like "nowhere good enough", unless you're OK with ending up one kilometer from where you wanted to go.
    • Make sure you actually have version 2.0.0. I've been trying to download it for my Treo since noon and still get the older verison even though the link says 2.0.0.

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by PayPaI (733999)
        I downloaded it on my phone (samsung m500 on sprint) and while it's definitely the new version (double checked in the help/about) it says My Location isn't supported on this device. Also they changed the buttons around, it seems to only use 0-9 and the 4way directional, rather than using the button in the middle of the 4way and the * and # keys.
      • Rumor has it there will be no new version for PalmOS, despite the "download version 2.0 on your palm Treo 700p here" link on the site. But, you know, rumors are rumors and maybe somebody just screwed up the web site...

    • Oh, good, once a Google feature gets out of beta iPhone users can expect support. That'll only be a couple of years, then...
      Gmail is still in beta, the iPhone will never get support, mwahaha!

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