Latitude

As part of the maps update announcement last night, Google noted that it would be retiring Latitude, just the latest in a string of high profile service closures including perhaps the most missed: Google Reader. Unlike Reader, Google seems to have some fallbacks in place:

One important change you should know about is that Latitude and check-ins are no longer part of the new Google Maps app, and will be retired from older versions on August 9. We understand some of you still want to see your friends and family on a map, which is why we’ve added location sharing and check-ins to Google+ for Android (coming soon to iOS). More details about Latitude and check-in changes can be found in our help center.

Google risks alienating early adopters and mainstream users alike with its now common closures of valued services. 
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In what seems to confirm our earlier reports, (here and here), The New York Times’ Nick Bilton offered more information today on the Heads Up Display Glasses that Google is building. Some of the new bullet points are as follows:

• The glasses are not designed for constant wear; although, Google expects the nerdiest users to wear them a lot. However, they will be more like smartphones—used when needed.
• Internally, the Google X team is actively discussing the privacy implications of the glasses, and the company wants to make sure that people know if someone wearing a pair of glasses with a built-in camera is recording them.
• One of the key people involved with the glasses is Steve Lee, a Google engineer and creator of the Google mapping software Latitude.
• The other key leader on the glasses project is Sergey Brin, Google’s cofounder, who is currently spending most of his time in the Google X labs.

On a personal note, I think this will be the most exciting technology product release this year.

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Google just revamped the look of Latitude, its location-aware service akin to Foursquare. According to a post by Google’s community manager for Google Maps, Danial Mabasa, the new Google Latitude interface can be now accessed on desktop browsers at www.google.com/latitude. As you can see from the above screenshot, it is not much different from Google+. However, upon remembering how the old website looked, it is definitely a major makeover that helps achieve consistent user experience across Google’s key properties.

You can now easily access your friends’ list in the left-hand column or click the wrench icon to customize your personal location history and location settings. Whenever you want to manually update your location, just hit the Update button next to your name and approve your browser’s location sharing prompt. Another cool feature lets you playback your location history (should you choose to preserve it) from a select range of dates by pressing the Play button on the bottom left-hand corner of the map.

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