Google has launched a new service that allows people to see where their friends are at any given time.

The service, Google Latitude, was launched due to consumer demand after Google made its Maps service location-enabled to improve the mobile local search experience. Since then consumers have been eager to see which part of the world their friends are in.

"Latitude is a new feature of Google Maps for mobile, as well as an iGoogle gadget, that allows you to share your location with your friends and to see their approximate locations, if they choose to share them with you," said Charles Mendis, a software engineer for Google Mobile, Mountain View, CA, in a blog post.

Consumers can use their Google account to sign in and easily invite friends to Latitude from the existing list of contacts or by entering their email addresses.

Google Talk is integrated with Latitude, so friends can update their status messages and profile photos on the go and see what everyone is up to.

Users can also call, SMS, IM or email each other within the application.

"We've gone to great lengths to put this on as many smartphone devices as possible from day one so that most of the people you know will be able to use Latitude right away," Mr. Mendis said.

There are two primary ways to use Latitude right now.

The first way is on a mobile phone. Users just need to visit http://google.com/latitude from their phone's mobile browser to download Google Maps for mobile with Latitude.

Latitude currently supports most of the popular smartphone platforms: Android, BlackBerry, Symbian S60 and Windows Mobile.

Mr. Mendis hopes to see Latitude on the iPhone soon.

The offering will be available through Google Mobile App. Users will just need to download or update the app from the App store to find Latitude in the Apps tab.

Latitude is also available to consumers via desktop. Users need to go to http://google.com/latitude from their desktop browser and add the Latitude gadget to their iGoogle homepage.

Users who have installed Google Gears or are using Google Chrome, can choose to automatically share their location from their laptop or desktop computer -- no smartphone required.

Latitude is available in 27 countries and in 42 languages.

"Latitude gives you control over how much or little location information you want to share, and with whom," Mr. Mendis said. "And of course, Latitude is 100 percent opt-in."