Google announced today that it has launched the Gears Geolocation API for mobile and desktop browsers, which will allow website owners to develop location-based services for their sites and help you find points of interest, nearby locations, and countless other information about your general area.
According to Google, the API can "determine your location using nearby cell phone towers or GPS for your mobile device or your computer's IP address for your laptop. Google provides this service for free to both developers and users."
Right now though, the Geolocation API will only work on IE Mobile and Internet Explorer and Firefox on the desktop, but Google did promise that it's "working hard to bring Gears to more mobile platforms, such as Android and others." Let's hope it works a bit harder.
Google didn't say how many sites would employ its new solution, but it has me thinking of all the ways it can be implemented. Will sites use it as just another POI implementation or will it do much more than that? Will it provide you with the crutch you need to get back on track when you're trying to find your favorite restaurant?
At this point, there's no way to tell. But if past Google implementations are any indication of what may be in store for Geolocation API, big things might happen.