Neowin News Feed for: Location

1Password now lets you add location to your passwords

Aditya Tiwari — Fri, 07 Mar 2025 06:40:02 +0000

1Passwords has rolled out a new feature that makes it faster to get your stored passwords when you need them. Read more...

Meta-owned Threads app gets a new feature that lets you add location to a post

Sagar Naresh Bhavsar — Sun, 29 Sep 2024 05:52:01 +0000

Now you can share more information about yourself via a Threads post, thanks to a new location tagging feature. Read more...

Google Bard now requests your actual location for better answers

Paul Hill — Fri, 02 Jun 2023 05:00:01 +0000

Google Bard now asks users for their precise location. This enables the chatbot to provide better information about local businesses, provide local weather reports, give you directions, and more. Read more...

Google slapped with $60 million fine for misleading customers about data collection

Usama Jawad — Fri, 12 Aug 2022 11:06:01 +0000

Responding to a ruling issued last year, Google has agreed to pay a $60 million fine in Australia for misleading customers about its data collection practices when it comes to your location history. Read more...

Google will erase location history data on visits to abortion clinics

Anushe Fawaz — Sat, 02 Jul 2022 07:46:02 +0000

Google has stated that it will protect its users' privacy on health. It will expunge location data on visits to fertility and abortion clinics, addiction treatment, weight-loss, and other facilities. Read more...

Snapchat will now allow you to share your real-time location with trusted friends

Usama Jawad — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 14:10:01 +0000

Snap has announced that it now allows you to share your live location with trusted friends on Snapchat. The feature is off by default but can be enabled for short periods of time with those you trust. Read more...

Google is getting sued for misleading users about their location data

Karthik Mudaliar — Mon, 24 Jan 2022 16:02:01 +0000

Google is getting sued by the Office of the Attorney General in Washington DC, Indiana, Texas, and Washington State for deceiving users about how it handles their location data and profits out of it. Read more...

Vodafone successfully trials highly accurate tracking technology

Paul Hill — Tue, 16 Feb 2021 22:48:01 +0000

Vodafone says it has successfully trialled a tracking mechanism that combines space satellites and its IoT platform. The firm said that it can track objects with an accuracy of 10 centimetres. Read more...

Google will eventually review all Android apps requesting background location access

Abhay V — Wed, 19 Feb 2020 20:18:01 +0000

In addition to a one-time location access permission on Android 11, Google will change Play Store policies to require all apps that use background location to seek approval from the company. Read more...

Microsoft unveils cross-Azure IoT collaboration with IoT Messaging

Hamza Jawad — Tue, 27 Aug 2019 07:02:01 +0000

Microsoft's introduced features for Azure IoT customers include the usage of spatial analytics with Azure Maps, with better information and insights about their "things" and where actions are needed. Read more...

Twitter admits to 'accidentally' sharing some iOS location data with a partner

Usama Jawad — Tue, 14 May 2019 07:30:01 +0000

Twitter has admitted that it accidentally shared the location data of a subset of iOS users with a "trusted partner". However, the bug has now been resolved and the data has apparently been deleted. Read more...

Google alters wording of controversial policy regarding user location tracking

Sharath Ravishankar — Sat, 18 Aug 2018 00:50:01 +0000

Google, in an attempt to appease its users and critics, has altered the wording on a policy that states that even if one chooses to turn off location history tracking it can continue to track them. Read more...

Google will now localise your searches by default

Paul Hill — Sat, 28 Oct 2017 23:18:01 +0000

Google has changed the way search works across all systems. It'll now use your location to switch you between its different versions and has phased out country code top-level domain names. Read more...

French man sues Uber after bug revealed his whereabouts back to his wife

Justin Luna — Fri, 10 Feb 2017 10:06:02 +0000

A man in France has taken Uber to court after the app continued sending his locations to his wife, who eventually divorced him over infidelity accusations. He is demanding $48 million in damages. Read more...

Google Maps now lets you save offline areas to your SD card

Vlad Dudau — Tue, 09 Aug 2016 12:44:01 +0000

A new update is rolling out for Google Maps users on Android and iOS. This improves upon previously launched features and now allows you to save offline areas on your device's external storage. Read more...

Google launches Emergency Location Service for Android to help users in emergencies

Jett Goldsmith — Mon, 25 Jul 2016 22:42:01 +0000

Google has launched its Emergency Location Service feature for Android devices in the UK and Estonia. The feature sends location data to emergency services, and will be expanded internationally. Read more...

Indian government says 'no' to Google Street View amid security concerns

Vlad Dudau — Fri, 10 Jun 2016 13:40:01 +0000

Google's Street View service has failed to get approval to expand in India. The government is blocking Google's requests amid national security concerns and lack of control over data. Read more...

Microsoft's Platypus can help robots locate and identify you

Vlad Dudau — Thu, 02 Jun 2016 12:34:01 +0000

Microsoft Research has developed a system that passively monitors the environment for electrical potential changes. Using that, it can find humans and identify them with up to 94% accuracy. Read more...

Improved Maps are coming to Windows 10 Insider builds, after HERE kills its apps

Vlad Dudau — Wed, 16 Mar 2016 11:16:01 +0000

After announcing that HERE maps would stop working on Windows 10 Mobile devices this summer, Microsoft is now promising to bring improvements to its own mapping solution to help out its users. Read more...

Nokia sells HERE to Audi, BMW and Daimler for $3 billion

Vlad Dudau — Mon, 03 Aug 2015 07:00:08 +0000

After months of rumors and speculation, Nokia has finally revealed that it has sold its mapping and location service, HERE, to a consortium of German auto-makers including BMW and Audi. Read more...

Windows 10 Tip: What is the little circle that randomly shows up in the system tray?

Brad Sams — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 12:26:02 +0000

Windows 10 has a built in notification system to let you know when an app is accessing your location. This notification does not show up in the Action Center but instead in the system tray. Read more...

Windows 10 Mobile features some new location settings and prompts

Vlad Dudau — Thu, 23 Jul 2015 09:10:01 +0000

Microsoft is detailing some of the changes that are taking place when moving from Windows Phone 8 to Windows Mobile 10. These include simplified location prompts and settings for better privacy. Read more...

Nokia: "We're winding down Windows Phone app development" of HERE Maps [Update]

Andy Weir — Thu, 25 Sep 2014 12:50:01 +0000

A Nokia executive has said that the company is scaling back - but not completely ending - its development work on HERE Maps for Windows Phone, as it now plans to focus its efforts on Android and iOS. Read more...

The next 13 Microsoft Store locations to open have been revealed

Brad Sams — Fri, 25 Jul 2014 01:19:13 +0000

The next locations for 13 upcoming Microsoft stores have been revealed, and it shows that Microsoft is heavily committed to rolling out retail outlets all over the United States. Read more...

Updated Google Maps leak before I/O

Vlad Dudau — Wed, 15 May 2013 10:38:40 +0000

A pretty major update is coming to the web version of Google Maps and we finally got to see some of the features. These include better UI and learning algorithms for better search results. Read more...

CO-GPS from Microsoft Research: better GPS with incredible battery life

Vlad Dudau — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 14:17:41 +0000

We all know Microsoft Research does awesome stuff but this time they seem to have outdone themselves. CO-GPS might bring better location services with only a tiny fraction of today's energy usage. Read more...

Nokia Maps to become default location provider for Oracle

Vlad Dudau — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 15:04:05 +0000

Oracle will officially be switching to Nokia's mapping and location services. The move was confirmed today and is expected to be publicly announced tomorrow at Oracle OpenWorld. Read more...

Microsoft is one step closer to opening UK retail location

Brad Sams — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 18:47:47 +0000

Microsoft has opened new retail locations across the United States for some time but it looks like their UK store is getting closer to launch as the company is now one step closer to opening a store. Read more...

Police burst into wrong house to recover stolen iPhone

Andy Weir — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 07:20:22 +0000

The ability to remotely track a lost of stolen smartphone is great - but it's not 100% accurate, as one man discovered when police broke into his house, following 'Find My iPhone' location data. Read more...

Google offers opt-out for WiFi mapping, the joke is on users

Owen Williams — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 09:32:40 +0000

It almost feels like Google is being cocky. The search giant today announced a method to opt-out of their location based service that uses your WiFi access point as an alternative to GPS. It's a joke. Read more...

Facebook makes changes to privacy and location features

Mike Brown — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 19:04:35 +0000

Facebook have announced on their blog a whole host of new changes being rolled out. Users can now choose to approve tags, non-friends can tag each other, and the Places feature is being overhauled. Read more...

Microsoft unveils location of 75 new retail stores on a map

Brad Sams — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 17:50:20 +0000

Microsoft has learned a lot from opening up its retail shops. The company has seen the value in the stores that it has opened and because of that, they are going to be expanding aggressively. Announced... Read more...

Apple patent reveals dynamic location and traffic aware iOS calendar events

Denis Wong — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 01:07:24 +0000

Apple has been on the receiving end of criticism lately over its handling of location data. But Apple appears to be pushing ahead with new creative ways to use its own location database and crowd-sourced... Read more...

Apple: "We have no plans to track our users' locations"

Denis Wong — Fri, 20 May 2011 09:18:00 +0000

Apple may have addressed the concerns of its customers by offering to completely purge the device's location cache if you choose to disable Location Services in iOS 4.3.3, but the company and its fellow competitor,... Read more...

iOS 4.3.3 now available; location tracking fixed

Andrew Lyle — Wed, 04 May 2011 17:49:10 +0000

Apple has just released iOS 4.3.3 for all supported iDevices. The latest update addresses location cache bug that caused growing concerns with iPhone, and even Android and Windows Phone 7 users, that your cell phone... Read more...

Google's South Korean offices raided over location-gathering concerns

Denis Wong — Wed, 04 May 2011 01:55:46 +0000

The buzz surrounding Apple's and Google's practices of maintaining large databases of location data gathered from its customers took a new twist today, with another probe from a federal government. Earlier last week, the two... Read more...

Report: iOS 4.3.3 due in a few weeks

Denis Wong — Mon, 02 May 2011 22:35:00 +0000

Apple came under heavy fire in the past few weeks over the database containing Wi-Fi hotspots and GPS tower locations stored on their iOS devices. The information was being encrypted and sent anonymously to Apple... Read more...

Verizon to put location tracking warning notice on its phones

John Callaham — Sun, 01 May 2011 10:43:40 +0000

Verizon has announced that it plans to put a notice on all of its phones, saying that they are capable of "determining its (and your) physical, geographical location". This revelation comes several days after it... Read more...

Windows 8 to allow alternate location for Windows installation files

Brad Sams — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 15:01:22 +0000

With each new leak of a Windows 8 build, more and more features will be uncovered. It was just last week that Windows 8 build 7955 leaked to the Internet and previous to that was... Read more...

WP7 does not log your location

Brad Sams — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 13:55:25 +0000

It was recently discovered that Apple's iOS logged your location and that it was possible to take the stored data and turn it into a graphic that showed your previous location. It was also noted... Read more...