Take a hike, leave a (virtual) trace?

February 13, 2009 Sandra Friend

Yesterday, Google launched a product that will make some hikers leap for joy and others wince. We go to the woods to get away from it all, right? At least some of us do. Well, with the new My Tracks application for Android-powered cell phones (like the T-Mobile G1), you can beam a real-time track of your hike to Google Maps to let your friends … or the world … know where you are. Safety concerns are always an issue with friends and family who aren’t out there with you, and this is a new way of checking in. Smart, or intrusive? You decide. It’ll certainly make creating trail maps a snap, provided you have some way to power that cell phone. To learn more, see the official Google announcement, and thanks to Anne Easterling for the heads-up on this one.

Comments

be_fit
February 13, 2009 at 5:37 pm
The new “my tracks” app looks really cool! I have been using the app CardioTrainer for a couple months and then sharing by exporting into my maps (CT provides an exportable kml that you can send to my maps — same place as “my tracks”). I’ve found CardioTrainer to be especially helpful with more intense hikes where im trying to stick to a time or distance. Watched the video on “my tracks” though…looks really cool! Anybody else out there trying CardioTrainer??…can share hikes with CardioTrainer too
Reply
Lorenzo
February 13, 2009 at 4:17 am
Hello,
very nice! There is a very similar free service started from Switzerland one year ago to help people communicating their position while out-door. Check it out, it runs on quite any Java enabled phone: http://www.eriadne.org
Cheers, Lorenzo
Reply