Latitude works with your iGoogle page to display the locations of your family and friends on a Google Map. If you already have a Google account and a personalized iGoogle page, you can easily add the Latitude gadget. Otherwise, sign up for a Google account and get started right away.

Google uses some Google Gears magic in the background to allow you to share your location without requiring a GPS receiver. Using wifi signals and IP address tracking, Gears allows you to pinpoint your PC and then share that information via Latitude.

Having a computer network track you on your travels about town raises some important security questions. Should you automatically share your location as it changes? Just share which city you're in? Choose which locations to share? Or share nothing at all? The choice is yours in Latitude.

Google Latitude's reason for being is so that friends and family can find each other, wherever they may roam. If your friends and family have authorized you to see and are currently sharing their locations, you can see where everyone is on a Google Map.

Once you're up and running with Google Latitude you can follow your friends and family on their treks across town or around the globe. You can find friends to meet for a coffee on your PC or on your mobile phone from just about anywhere.

Google Latitude lets you share your real-world comings and goings with your friends and family online. Latitude lets your network know where you are by grabbing GPS data from a compatible phone and uploading it so your friends can see where you are on their phone or on in a web browser... and maybe even come meet you there. It's social networking meets actual social interaction.