Google Latitude, which launched in February 2009, was not available on the iPhone after Apple asked the search engine giant not develop an iOS App to avoid user confusion between the integrated Maps Application. After living 2-years as a web App, Google Latitude was finally allowed to be developed for iOS devices and was recently approved for the App Store. The App supports real-time location updating even when it’s not running.

New Features Of Google Latitude

With Latitude, you can:
- See your friends on a map – find out who’s nearby and meet up.
- Share your location continuously with whomever you choose – help friends and family stay in touch with you, even when you canÂ’t take out your phone.
- Control your privacy – share only city-level location, hide your location, or turn off background updating at any time.

Google Latitude is available from the App Store for the iPhone 3G, 3GS, iPad and iPod Touch.

Google officially announced that the desktop version of Google Docs is now iPad friendly. Previously, editing documents and spreadsheets wasn’t available on iOS devices. Google made progress by announcing a revamped mobile version but now the full desktop version is compatible with Safari on the iPad.

“The new mobile editor is fast and lightweight, but sometimes you want to make more style edits like changing a font, or center aligning a paragraph. If you’re on an iPad, you can do that by visiting the Desktop version of the document editor.”

However, it’s important to note that not all the desktop features of Google are usable on the iPad. It’s still progress on Google’s part and having expanded access to Google Docs on the iPad is still better than nothing.

MobileMe has been the subject of criticism for its previous stability issues, lack of new features and annual fee. Justifying the cost for MobileMe became harder when Apple’s Find My iPhone service – one of the main selling points of the online service – went free. However, Steve Jobs is looking to improve MobileMe.

A concerned MacRumors emailed Steve Jobs about his dissatisfaction of MobileMe stating problems others had (including me) spanning from syncing issues to unreliability. His response below:

I love my iPad and iPhone4 and am a huge fan of yours and all that Apple does. I desperately want to stay inside of Apple’e [sic] ecosystem as much as possible.

However, MobileMe is making it very difficult for me to do so. Unreliable/unpredictable syncing, creating duplicate entries (sometimes scores of them), etc. It’s almost unusable.

And I know from forums (including Apple’s own support boards) that I am not the only one experiencing these very real and frustrating problems.

Please tell me it will get better, and soon?

Steve Jobs replied with his typical short and almost cryptic response.

Yes, it will get a lot better in 2011.

Sent from my iPhone

Steve’s email lacks any sold dates or what Apple will do to improve MobileMe. The one thing Apple needs to do is make MobileMe free as so many free alternatives exist such as Google Sync and Dropbox for file storage in the cloud

that beat Apple’s online service. In the mean time, MobileMe needs its occasional syncing and unreliability issues fixed.

Got the Google app for the iPhone yet? No? Go get it now. I’ll wait.

[iTunes link]

Now that you’ve got it, let me explain what’s new. First, there’s the push notifications for Gmail and Google Calendar. Second, well there is no second. That’s it, just push e-mail and calendar notifications.

Which is huge.

I’m not a huge Google Calendar guy, but I have friends who swear by it. As a result, there’s always one calendar or another that I have to subscribe to just to keep up with things. Problem is, I can’t get iCal to play nice with Google Calendar, so I always seem to have a few different things happening at the same time. It’s ridiculous.

But now that the Google app does push notifications, it works out great. Now I can get a reminder when an appointment is coming up on a Google Calendar and not miss it. Admittedly, it was a bit hit or miss for me today, but it’s new so maybe there are a few kinks to work out.

Either way, this is a step in the right direction.

In the three years or so that the iPhone has been around, there have been a lot of iPhone killers. There was the G1, the BlackBerry Storm, The Nexxus … they all came and went with nary a peep. Closest thing so far is the Droid, and even that one doesn’t seem to have the staying power of the iPhone. None of that really matters though, because whether or not its true or not, Apple is the big target right now for anyone building a new phone, leading to lots of different versions of the iPhone killer coming down the pike.

I guess it shouldn’t be a big surprise to hear that there’s an iPad killer coming out. There’s the new HP tablet, which seems pretty cool on the surface, and then there’s talk about the Google Tablet, pictured above, and referenced in The Huffington Post. And you know what? It looks pretty cool.

Except here’s the thing: It’s vaporware. As of right now, the Google Tablet is just a myth. A unicorn tablet, if you will. If it ever does get produced, it’ll be pretty cool, and I’m sure they’ll sell lots of them.

Problem is, if they build it like it’s pictured above, they’re going to be building an iPad clone. By the time it’s actually built, the iPad will have moved on to V 2.0, or 3.0, or whatever it happens to be by that point. They’re chasing the dragon, just like everybody else.

Which is the same problem as the iPhone and all those iPhone killers. The premise goes like this: Design a product with all the same features of the iPad/iPhone, but add all of the things that Apple is lacking. Multi-tasking, tethering, cut & paste – whatever it is at the time. Then use those as the selling points for the phone, and a big diss against Apple.

So why doesn’t it work? It’s the base. Apple has a few million customers with credit card accounts on file, all using iTunes. Even if you don’t have an iPhone, chances are you have an iPod. So if you have an iPod, and all your music and/or videos are invested in the iTunes system, why buy into a new device that doesn’t support the iPod system? If you can’t sync it like your iPod, or use it with the music you already own, then why buy it? And therein lies the rub: Apple’s already got the customers, so the competitors have to come up with something better than the iPod way, then commit to that system for a long time. See: Made for Windows Media Player, Zune, Sony Atrac.

So the way I see it, people can talk about these iPhone/iPod/iPad killers until they’re blue in the face. Until another company comes up with a system better or more attractive than Apple’s, then it’s just not going to happen.

Of course, if anyone could do it, Google could.

Newsie is a Google Reader client app that:

• Downloads my Google Reader subscriptions at lightning speed. I’m not kidding, this thing’s fast, because it doesn’t take forever to sync all your feeds (I have over 200!)
• Supports starred items, and automatically saves the item’s original web page with a virtual “paperclip” so I’ll remember to get back to it later.
• Works well with Tweetie & Twitterific, letting me tweet interesting posts. Not something I really do, but I like knowing that I can.
• Is beautifully designed, with a simple user interface and support for full-screen.

If you’re an RSS feed junkie like me, check Newsie out. It’s currently $3.99 at the App Store.

I’m a fan of Google. I use Gmail all the time, Google Maps is my co-pilot, and I use Google Reader and Alerts to get info for this very website. What I don’t like however, are Google’s other software, Chrome and Android. I can’t get used to Chrome, and Android just does nothing for me. It’s like dating a really hot chick who can only talk about potato pancakes. Sure, she’s fun to take around and show off to your friends, but you end up wanting to smother yourself with a pillow every time she opens her mouth.

But enough about my ex.

Thank you, I’ll be here all week. Tip your waitress.

CNNMoney is reporting that Google is working on a tablet of their own, which would run on the Chrome OS. From the article:

The tablet running Google Chrome OS would also include a virtual keyboard at the bottom of the screen or a keyboard that could be opened in a separate window that could be placed in different areas of the screen. Applications would be placed at the bottom edge of the screen and could be opened with an upward dragging motion.

When Google first announced that it was building an operating system, the company said it was focusing on the netbook market. Though Chrome OS’ developers said they are still primarily focused on netbooks, the operating system “could eventually scale to a wide variety of devices,” including an iPad-like tablet computer.

“Google Chrome OS is still in development and we are constantly experimenting with various user interfaces to determine what designs would produce the best user experience,” said a Google spokesman.

A lot of people criticize Apple for having such harsh controls over their hardware and not allowing anyone to install their OS onto just any old computer, but this is one of those instances where it makes sense. Ever play with an HTC-build Google G1? Maybe you have a Droid and you love that battery cover that just falls off whenever you pull the phone out of your pocket? Apple controls the hardware so they get quality control in the mix as well. Google, not so much. This tablet may have the best OS in the world and dominate over the iPad, but if it falls apart in your hands, what’s the point?

This thing might be coming out later this year, but who really knows. Until it does, I’ll reserve judgment.

Like any Microsoft product this application has it’s quirks, and at least a couple of discernable bugs: for instance half the time one asks the voice recognizer for directions it misunderstands what is said. Asking for directions without going first to the “Map” or “Directions” section, (which is only one click away) will result in businesses near to the desired destination coming up first. Scroll down and down to get past this; it is no surprise that Microsoft would favor businesses over their customers.

Still the “bing” application is interesting. Upon opening the App, it asks for the user’s current location, and uses this to discern what businesses, maps, directions, news and movies are near to that locale. Click on movies to see all of the flicks that are playing nearby, and by touching “Avatar 3D” with a thumb a summary, rating, release date and the closest theaters playing it are shown, with the movie-times as well. This functions remarkably similar to “Flixster.”

The design of “bing” looks attractive, with a sleek desert background, filled with fun facts, and it would appear that Microsoft has attempted to copy “Google Maps” and “Flixster,” among other useful applications, and combined them to provide a marginally convenient information finder.

Grade: C+/B-

Well that’s New York, and its useful, necessary and intricate underground train system, the subway, is a mystery to tourists, and at times, a hazard to locals that have to travel the city’s evolved horse and buggy system, and attempt to catch the right train at the right time.

Welcome the NYC “KickMap” application, which has now become a necessary component in subway travel throughout the boroughs in and surrounding the greater Manhattan area. The NYC “KickMap” Lite App for the iPhone is free, and displays an entire zoomable subway map, that does not require internet, as in the dungeons even the fastest 3G internet connection can lapse.

The reputable “KickMap” App has been featured by The New York Times, and in this application every single subway line, stop and connecting train is shown. The innovative design screams touch-screen glory, as you can scroll, zoom, pinch, and peruse this program as if it were Google Maps on the iPhone: it is easy, detailed, and clear.

For a couple of dollars there is also the “24 Hour KickMap” version of the App, which shows the night service cutbacks of the trains in an additional NIGHT map, and it also has a built-in compass within the map itself to orient you to exactly which side of the train tracks you should be on!

Grade: A [iTunes link]

Schmidt, who sits on Apple’s Board of Directors, said (without commenting specifically on the rumor) Google and Apple are “doing more and more things together. We have similar goals, similar competitors.”

cough…Microsoft…cough…

While this is the first I’ve heard of anything related to Google being involved with a Mac Tablet, it will be interesting to see where the Google/Apple alliance goes in the future.