How Google Latitude helped me find my phone
Wednesday, August 26, 2009 10:13:32 PM
I drive a scooter. I have driven a scooter since I was 16, and drive as fast as I can, all the time. As a result I have lost keys, memory sticks and now, my cell phone. A bloody expensive, Samsung Omnia HD, which cost me approximately €739.82.I was done at work late in the evening, and went home. So I twisted the throttle and jumped over bumps in the road and all. Over a path, and through a parking lot. When I got home, I discovered that I had lost my cell phone. I had no idea where my cell was located.
So I took the wheels hold and drove back to work. It was dark and I used the light on my scooter to look for my cell phone on the road. I locked myself in to the work building and searched for my phone, without any luck. So I called my mother by the phone at work and asked her to call my cell phone while I drove home. I couldn't find it.
But all hope was not lost. I knew my phone had GPS. But not only that. Google Maps was running on my phone with Latitude. A service where you can show your friends where you are. It is useful for friends, but I never imagined it would be useful for me. Because I can actually tell where my phone is located via Google Latitude on the Internet. I turned on my computer and found out that my phone was located near the path I drove on. So I asked my mother to call the phone and jumped on my bike.I parked in the parking lot and walked up the trail while searching with a flashlight. As I stood in the middle of the trail, I stopped. I could hear my ringtone in the distance. I continued forward, and could hear my ringtone more clearly. When I came to the crosswalk on the main road I saw it. Lying by the roadside. I answered my mother's call and said I found it. Back home I saw that my phone had some scratches. Oh well. Better than losing the €739.82 I bought it for.
Google Maps runs on almost all phones, and Google Latitude works even if you do not have GPS on your phone. You can use it to see where your friends are on Google's Latitude, or check where your phone is in the world, like I did.







