As any geek worth their page rank already knows, the search engine giant’s Google Latitude app has survived Apple’s tribunal and is now apart of the iOS family.
Starting today, you’ll never again have to answer (or ask) that question when you’re on the go with your iPhone. With the new Google Latitude app for iPhone, you can see where your friends are and now, continuously share where you are – even in the background once you’ve closed the app.
Since launching last year, Latitude’s focus has always been on one goal: make it simple to stay in touch with friends and family by sharing where you are with each other. Simple setup. Simple sharing without fumbling for your phone. Now, you can use Latitude on your iPhone just like the more than 9 million people actively using it from Android, BlackBerry, Symbian, and Windows Mobile smartphones. (Google Mobile Blog)
While it’s not surprising to see Google Latitdude’s appearance (especially in light of Google Voice being approved) it’s entrance could signal that Google is about to invade the iPhone with a slew of official iOS apps.
It’s still unclear as to which iOS apps Google will release upon the iPhone, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Google launch these apps early next year (if not by next summer).
Gmail
If there was ever a need for an app to launch upon iOS it would have to be this one. While Google’s Gmail web app is decent, there is no way to upload media files (images, videos, office documents, etc.) for your friends and colleagues.
Although Apple’s default mail app is “okay” when it comes to a general mail client, it’s lack of priority inbox (a real one as the “Important” folder doesn’t count) is extremely frustrating for Gmail power users.
Despite competing with Apple, Google will probably release an official Gmail iPhone app that will probably be very similar to Android (except much more polished).
Google Docs
There has been an intense demand for an official native Google Docs app ever since Steve Jobs allowed developers to create apps upon the app store.
Even after improving their Google Docs web app, users have been demanding a native solution to make it easier to edit office documents in the cloud.
I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw Google launch a Google Docs app suite next year, although Google will have to release a highly functional and very polished app (as the office suite competition is fierce upon iOS).
Google Reader
Although I would prefer that Google would simply buy out Reeder, the company is probably trying to create an app for Google Reader fans everywhere.
Google has already released an official Android app, so it would not be surprising to see one appear upon iOS devices as well.
Google Buzz
Despite failing to match either Twitter or Facebook, Google will not surprisingly launch an official Google Buzz app out of the small hope it will attract iOS users to its social service.
Even though users can already Buzz on iOS (either from the web app or via third parties), I have not seen much interest in Buzz with the exception of a few hardcore geeks and artists.
While an official app would be okay on the iPhone, it may end up being a waste of time (especially in light of Facebook’s awesome iPhone app).
Google Longshots
No, there is no official Google product called “Longshots,” however these apps Google will probably not dedicate resources towards: Blogger, Picasa Albums, orkut and Knol mainly due to the fact of lack of interest (regarding the former) or declining marketshare (the latter 3).
While I would love to see an official Blogger app, Google seems content to let BlogPress represent them upon iOS, despite the fact that BlogPress is a multiblogging client.
Other Apps?
Although I would not be surprised to see Google unveiling other products upon the iPhone (like Finance, Checkout, etc.) Google may simply tie most of their other services within their default Search app.
While flooding the iOS market with official apps will help Google strengthen its position just in case the Verizon iPhone slows down the Android march in the US.
Originally posted on December 13, 2010 @ 4:34 pm