Google Mobile App for iPad now available in the App Store

We’re pleased to announce that a new iPad-friendly version of Google Mobile App is now available in the App Store worldwide. By “iPad-friendly”, we mean that this new version has been designed to show neatly on the iPad’s screen, and that the usual features of Google Mobile App for iPhone, like search by voice and My Location, work well. From the Apps tab, you can also easily navigate to Google’s web-based apps, such as Gmail, which was recently optimized for iPad.

While this first version of Google Mobile App for iPad is essentially the same app we’ve built for iPhone, we’re working on improving Google Mobile App so that it takes advantage of iPad’s features. Stay tuned as we continue to make it and other Google products even better on this new type of device.

To download Google Mobile App to your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch (requires OS 3.0 or higher), search for “Google Mobile App” in the App Store or just visit http://itunes.com/app/googlemobileapp.

Posted by Alastair Tse, Software Engineer

Finding places "Near me now" is easier and faster than ever on Google.com

Last month, Vic Gundotra, VP of Engineering, demonstrated at the Computer History Museum the ability to search by using your location as the query. Starting today, you can try this yourself by going to Google.com in your iPhone or Android browser and clicking on "Near me now" once your location has been provided by your phone.

"Near me now" was designed to address two user problems. First, we wanted to make it fast and easy to find out more about a place in your immediate vicinity, whether you're standing right in front of a business or if it's just a short walk away. For example, you may want to know what other customers think about a restaurant before you go inside (see quick video below) or what they have been raving about on the menu before you order. By selecting the "Explore right here" option, you can find out more about a place "right here" with just a few clicks.



Second, we wanted to make searching for popular categories of nearby places really simple. Imagine that you emerge from the subway station and you want to grab a coffee, but you don't see a coffee shop around you. You can simply search for all nearby coffee shops by using "Near me now". To search other categories of places not shown, "Browse more categories" provides access to our local search product with more category choices.

"Near me now" is currently available in the US for iPhone (OS 3.x) or Android-powered devices with version 2.0.1 or later. You must first enable location in order for "Near me now" to appear, and "Explore right here" works only if the phone provides location accuracy within approximately a city block.



Posted by John Eric Hoffman and Jussi Myllymaki, Google Mobile Engineering

Google Mobile App for Windows Mobile gets My Location and more

It's easier and faster than ever to search Google using your Windows Mobile phone. Just visit m.google.com to download the latest version of Google Mobile App, which includes these new features:

• My Location. Get local results without typing your location. Once you see the blue My Location dot with your current location below the search box, simply search for a local query, for example "italian restaurant", and the search results will contain local business results along with web results.
  
  To protect your privacy, location is encrypted when sent to the server, and only your most recent location is stored so that successive searches can use the same location. You can disable My Location at any time in the "Advanced Options" screen.
  
• Google Suggest. Reduce typing time by selecting suggestions to complete your queries. You will also see URL suggestions, which bring you directly to a web page, skipping the search results page entirely. Try typing "facebook" to see this kind of suggestion.
  
• Search with Maps. If you have installed Google Maps, type a local query and wait for suggestions. Select the suggestion with the red pin next to it to launch your search inside Google Maps.

To download the new version of Google Mobile App, visit m.google.com from your phone.

Posted by Craig Wilkinson, Software Engineer

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

My Location now in Google Toolbar

Since its launch in Nov 2007, My Location has helped millions of people know where they are and get better local results on their mobile devices. We thought, wouldn't it be great if laptop and desktop users could also take advantage of My Location?

Today we're pleased to announce the launch of Google Toolbar with My Location, part of a new initiative called Toolbar Labs.

Imagine searching for pizza from your computer and seeing the closest pizza places without having to enter your location. No more entering zip codes or city names in your queries -- isn't that magical? Of course, you can already do this with your phone, and searches on the computer can sometimes use an IP address to determine the city that you're in. But now your location can be determined much more precisely on your computer (as long as you opt in) and you can get better search results.

How does this work? Google Toolbar with My Location uses information about surrounding Wi-Fi access points to estimate your location. Naturally, this means it won't work if you're on a computer that doesn't have Wi-Fi (or has Wi-Fi turned off).

Along with getting more locally relevant Google search results, we also have additional goodies. Entering "maps.google.com" in your browser takes you to Google Maps automatically centered around your current location. You are one step closer to finding what you want. There is also a Google Maps gadget that uses My Location, installed in the Toolbar by default.

We take user privacy very seriously, so we make it easy for you to disable or enable the "My Location" functionality in Toolbar with just the click of a button. If you would like to know more about our privacy policy, please refer to this link.

We are really excited about this launch and hope to hear from you what you think. Let us know!

Google Toolbar with My Location is currently available only for Internet Explorer and works only within the US. You can download it from here.

Written by Venkat Malladi and Tsuwei Chen, Software Engineers, Google Mobile

Google Maps on Verizon's BlackBerry Storm now uses GPS for My Location

If you own a BlackBerry Storm on Verizon Wireless, we encourage you to download a brand new version of Google Maps for mobile that utilizes the Storm's internal GPS. The Storm is the first Verizon BlackBerry that makes it possible for My Location to access GPS location. After you install the new version on your Storm, you will notice improved accuracy for My Location and Latitude. Based on interest in certain Google Mobile User Forum threads, this functionality should be a welcome addition.

So if you have a Verizon BlackBerry Storm, just go to m.google.com/maps from your BlackBerry's browser to download the latest version of Google Maps to your device - and start getting hyper-accurate!

(Note: If you have an older BlackBerry on Verizon, even one with GPS like the BlackBerry 8130, this announcement unfortunately does not apply to you. The Storm is currently the only BlackBerry Verizon phone that makes GPS available to Google Maps. We hope you enjoy using My Location through network positioning or Wi-Fi, when available.)

Posted by Tom Dimopoulos, Consumer Operations Mobile