We’re just back from a rather relaxing weekend in Fort William. And once again Google tried its best to help wherever it could.

I remember reading, what only seems like a couple of years ago, an article professing that one day location aware devices such as your mobile phone would be all the rage. At the time it seemed like a great idea on paper, and something that would be many years away (much like that self drying jacket in Back To The Future II).

However in those last two years, location aware devices have subliminally made their way into my life.  The self drying jacket still has yet to show.

Equipped with only my mobile phone (an HTC Hero running Google Android – something I keep meaning to blog about), here’s how Google affected my weekend.

Google Mail – http://mail.google.com

Not entirely new, but I felt it was worth a mention. My only email provider for 5 years now.

Whether you send an email to my gmail address, my ‘professional’ address (david [at] davidrlewis.com) or my work address, they all come into my Google Mail account, and are then sorted through various filters.  My whole life, and its past five years, are stored under my Google Mail account.

All the information for the apartment we were staying at in Fort William were saved on an email. Directions, times, cost, phone number and even the door code were there.  No need for any bits of paper.

With Google Mail being so well integrated into Android, it’s handy for emailing photos to people (or Twitter), and mailing your dad with your current co-ordinates (he likes keeping track of where I am).

There is one downside to email being so easily available, it’s difficult to ignore your boss when he emails you on your day off.

Google Maps - http://maps.google.com

Google Maps is hardly anything new either. I’ve used this on my phone for a good two years now.

It was the saving grace on a college trip to Orkney last year, and it still impresses me every time I need to rely on it.

It’s still not quite suitable for replacing your Sat Nav yet (although turn by turn direction for Google Maps is now available on the new version of Android), it is useful if you have a passenger in the car who can reel off directions or if you vaguely know the area.

Google Sky Maps – http://www.google.com/sky/skymap.html

Lack of light pollution is one of the nice things about getting out of the city.  I could sit and watch the stars all night if it weren’t too cold.

Google Skymaps is a very handy application for your phone.  It takes your location by GPS, and what direction your phone is facing via its built in compass, and presents a map of the night sky, customised especially for you. As you turn your phone to a different part of the sky, the map moves with it too. Showing you the names of the stars, constellations and planets in your eye line.

If you don’t tell the person you’re with at the time what you’re using, you can sound as knowledgeable as Patrick Moore.

What it can not do for you however, is get rid of cloud cover.  Of which there was quite a bit this weekend. I expect Google are working on this as we speak.

Google Places – http://googlemobile.blogspot.com/2009/06/places-directory-app-for-android.html

This is something new to me.  You tell it what you want to find (restaurants, bars, museums, that sort of thing) and by using your phones location (either by cell tower or GPS) it will tell you all those nearby. In fact it will give you exactly how far you need to go and in what direction. It will even show you turn by turn on Google Maps if you feel the need.

It will also give you user ratings and comments for the place you’re about to visit. Very handy if you can’t decide where  you want to have your Sunday Roast. Google recommended me the Snow Goose Vintage Inn in Inverness, and I can vouch for it’s recommendation.

Google Latitude - http://www.google.com/latitude

This runs within Google Maps, and it’s quite a good idea, in theory.

So long as you and your contacts use Google Latitude, you can see where they are at any time on Google Maps. In turn they can see where you are.  Your phone will then beep at you if one of your friends is nearby, so you can have a coffee, or most likely what I’d do, try and avoid them at all costs.  You can switch it off for privacy, or even lie about where you are (I was in New York City last week).

Where the idea falls a bit flat is that so far I know very few folk who use it. It’s a bit of a catch 22. It’s only good if people use it. But no one will use it because they don’t know anyone on it.

I so far know two people on it. One who lives in Greater London, and one who hasn’t updated their location since May. Not very useful.

What I do use Latitude for is the “I’m currently in” section on the front page of this website.  It’s set to vague mode so you don’t know exactly where I am (like my flat). It’s there because I was experimenting with coding something I plan to use in the future. I can imagine it’s also useful for potential burglars (although my brother in law lives right next door so don’t even think about it).

Google Latitude also provides a nice map of my location history, which only I can view. Great for fans of nostalgia and map geeks, two categories which I fall in to.

Conclusion

So there you have it, my weekend away with Google. Some of what they provide is very handy, some a bit more pointless. But it’s amazing to think what we could be using location aware devices for in only a few years.  All that, from the palm of my hand.

There is one problem with all this though.  When the mobile signal goes or the battery dies, so does your ability to do  anything. And the more and more we rely on Google, the more and more scuppered we’re going to be when it all goes horribly wrong.