Mobile / Cell Phone Thoughts & Reviews

Warning, I’m about to RANT:

I’m a huge fan of Google Maps.  It’s really a great stand alone app and it keeps getting better but I’m amazed that when they added Latitude they did not include (even just a basic form of) instant messaging with your Latitude friends.

Latitude shows you were your friends are on Google Maps, but how are you supposed to contact them if they are near by and you want to grab a drink?  I don’t want to have to call or SMS them, if I’m already in a Google application I should just be able to IM them from within the app.

With Google Voice now more widely available then it was before I think we should be able to SMS from within Latitude also.  It seems most of my friends have their mobile number showing when I click on their icon, so why can’t I send an SMS to it utilizing Google Voice?

That’s the end of my rant today, more to come later about more deep integration of services into our so called smart phones.