Google is apparently looking at releasing a new feature for Android which will notify you when people, places and things are, well, nearby.
Android Police who announced the rumoured feature, have seen glimpses of what they think is the underlying code for Nearby, in Google Search code over the past few months. The main hint towards the Nearby feature in the code is the existence of a ‘remind me when I’m with this person’ option. But it doesn’t appear to be fully fleshed out yet.
Their theory at this stage is that the location aware feature has been brought about by their purchase of Bump late last year, as well as audio based security firm SlickLogin earlier this year.
Android Police have provided a description for Nearby, which comes via the ‘onboarding screen’ which pretty much explains it :
When Nearby is turned on for your account, Google can periodically turn on the mic, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and similar features on all your current and future devices. Google+ and other Google services need this access to help you connect, share, and more.
When you turn on Nearby, you’re also turning on Location History for your account and Location Reporting for this device. Google needs these services to periodically store your location data for use by Nearby, other Google services, and more.
The feature is said to be integrated with Google Play Services, so could be rolled out to a large number of devices quite quickly when it’s announced. When it will be announced, is, given the timing, likely to be at Google I/O later this month.
Android Police have mocked up some imagesScreenshots and further explanations on how it will work, so head on over to check it out.
This is nothing new, it used to be called latitude before they removed the product. Latitude would alert you when your friends were near by. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Latitude
Just a small correction, Daniel – these are not mockups, they’re screenshots.
Thanks Artem – Corrected.