Wednesday, November 28, 2007 | 8:48 AM

Posted by Mike Chu, software engineer, Google mobile team



We've all been there: You're out and about, and you need to figure out where you are, what's around you, and how to get there. Google Maps for mobile can help you do all that, but first you have to enter in a starting point using the keypad. And let's face it -- entering things into your phone using the keypad is so 2006. While some people are lucky enough to have GPS-enabled mobile phones that provide location information for Google Maps for mobile, the vast majority of us are not. So what to do?



Starting today, we have an answer: Google Maps for mobile with My Location . My Location is a new beta technology from Google that uses cell tower identification to provide you with approximate location information, so it will work on phones without GPS. Simply fire up Google Maps for mobile, press [0], and the map will indicate your approximate location by centering on a blue circle like this:



If you do have a GPS-enabled device, My Location can actually complement it. My Location kicks in faster than GPS in most cases, so you can access your location even faster on the map. It also works reliably indoors (unlike GPS) and doesn't drain your phone battery at the rate that GPS does.



Of course, this feature is in beta, which in this case means a few different things: First, although accuracy and coverage may vary, both will improve over time as more and more people use Google Maps for mobile. Second, My Location isn't currently supported on all devices (see our Help Center for more on this); we're working on that. Third, we'd love to get your feedback on it -- feel free to leave your comments below.



To give Google Maps for mobile with My Location a try, text "MYLOCATION" to 33669, or head to www.google.com/gmm on your mobile browser.



If you'd like to learn more about the My Location technology, take a look at this short video:



