Google Maps mobile gets faux GPS

If you've ever jealously eyed GPS-capable phones, this will certainly come as welcome news: Google has announced "My Location," a new feature in the mobile version of Google Maps that uses cellular triangulation to simulate GPS location capabilities. Sure, it's not quite as accurate as real GPS (Google claims that the service is accurate "within 1000 meters") but it'll certainly do in a pinch. Even if you do have a GPS-capable phone, you might want to look into this, as cellular triangulation is faster than GPS, uses up less of your battery and can work in situations where GPS doesn't (inside a building, for example). Google now has a beta up on its site, which is designed to run on "most smartphones, including all color BlackBerry devices, all Symbian Series 60 3rd Edition devices, most Windows Mobile devices, newer Sony Ericsson devices, and some Motorola devices."

For more on My Location:
- watch this video demo
- and see this post on Google's Mobile Blog