Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Search with My Location for iPhone 3.0. And All that Jazz

I recently visited NYC where I met up with my friend Joanne, a jazz singer with a wonderful 1920's throwback style. I wanted to find a jazz club close to my hotel on the west side for us to meet. The problem was that I hadn't lived in Manhattan for 5 years, and my memory for places was failing me.

At Google, we want to make searching the world around you as easy and informative as searching the web. That's why we're introducing Search with My Location for iPhone 3.0. Now if I want to know which jazz clubs are near me, I don't have to specify a location - I just search for "jazz clubs".

As of today, when you visit www.google.com from Safari on your iPhone 3.0, you can choose to turn on My Location by tapping on the link on the homepage. When you tap on the "update" link, your location will be updated and displayed right there on the homepage. Whenever you want to refresh your location, just tap the "update" link. Testing this in New York, my search for "jazz clubs" returned a handful of places within walking distance. I picked one, tapped the phone number, made a reservation, and we were set for the night.

As always, your privacy is one of our top concerns. Google won’t use your location in search unless you explicitly opt in. And you can always disable the feature from Preferences at the bottom of the homepage.

Search with My Location from Safari is available in English in the US and UK. Look for other country and language combinations soon. You can also search with My Location using Google Mobile App, available from the iPhone App Store.

Posted by Joshua Siegel, Product Manager, Google Mobile Team
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17 comments:

  1. UnknownJuly 15, 2009 at 7:33 PM

    This is great. ANy idea when we can expect to see this on Google in the other countries? I dont see this option under google.com.sg on my iPhone.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wayne SuttonJuly 15, 2009 at 9:01 PM

    Ok, this is cool but what about Google latitude for the iPhone?

    Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownJuly 16, 2009 at 1:19 AM

    I just tried this from Sydney Australia, and the first return for "jazz club" was ... a list if jazz clubs in NYC...


    Hmmm...

    big

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownJuly 16, 2009 at 2:31 AM

    Congrats on the launch Josh! This is awesome!

    ReplyDelete
  5. UnknownJuly 16, 2009 at 3:54 AM

    Just tried this out in the UK and it worked perfectly.. nice work!

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  6. UnknownJuly 16, 2009 at 4:41 AM

    This is awe some . I love this ..when will be in India , Mumbai

    Piyush Bhargav

    ReplyDelete
  7. UnknownJuly 16, 2009 at 6:20 AM

    Or download the "AroundMe" app (it's free) and twice as convenient.

    ReplyDelete
  8. beeHJuly 16, 2009 at 7:03 AM

    no canada.... boooooooo to google

    ReplyDelete
  9. DJuly 16, 2009 at 7:10 AM

    Latitude for iPhone, please!

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  10. UnknownJuly 16, 2009 at 8:13 AM

    or just use the built in map app and type jazz clubs... :-/

    ReplyDelete
  11. Alec SaundersJuly 16, 2009 at 9:12 AM

    Is there a point to this? I just open up the maps application, and type my search query there if I'm looking for a nearby business.

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  12. CharlesJuly 16, 2009 at 10:43 AM

    I don't get it. Who uses safari to search on a map?

    ReplyDelete
  13. RonJuly 16, 2009 at 11:27 AM

    I don't get this either. I never go to google.com to do a search on my phone...

    ReplyDelete
  14. DehydratorJuly 16, 2009 at 11:43 AM

    Using "ManGo" to search nearby stores is easier.

    ReplyDelete
  15. UnknownJuly 17, 2009 at 6:22 AM

    How do we report errors?

    It's got my location wrong too (I don't live in Orange Ohio, though I do live in Orange Township).

    ReplyDelete
  16. AnonymousJuly 20, 2009 at 7:13 AM

    Nice addition! Latitude for iPhone and Voice for iPhone would make a complete suite.

    ReplyDelete
  17. gdwJuly 23, 2009 at 9:23 AM

    OK - so going to www.google.com/latitude now works! And about time too! Only as of this afternoon. Nice work! So how is this updating location? Haven't yet worked out whether it's just updating my location when I open safari or if it's using "Push Notification" (I'm currently stuck at my desk).

    ReplyDelete

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