Up to this point, those using Google Latitude and Foursquare have basically been tracking a small handful of their equally tech-savvy friends.

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Google is making another attempt at becoming a player in the location space with the launch of a free, open API for Google Latitude, the company announced today.

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Neither did Skype or Dodgeball (which was bought by Google in 2005, shut down only to resurface temporarily as Google Latitude then Foursquare in 2009) both of which have gone onto enormous mass-market successes but have both changed the way we relate with our world.

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Google's Latitude service, launched in February, constantly updates users' location, enabling contacts to see their whereabouts on a map as well as their activity via status updates.

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Last year Google launched a service called Latitude that allows friends to track one another's movements.

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Despite being more polished than its Android counterpart, Google Maps for iOS lacks some features, such as Latitude (it's a separate app).

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While Apple's tightly controlled ecosystem offers little room for customization, Google's Android software is far more malleable, providing latitude for Facebook and handset makers to shape the user experience.

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Reports suggested Apple made the move after Google proved unwilling to upgrade its service unless it was allowed to include more of its own branding and Latitude - a service which shows users where their friends are located.

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Dell has already tried to crack the mobile tablet market with its Latitude and Inspiron tablets that run on existing versions of Windows and its Streak tablets that run on Google's Android.

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