Following its competitors down the path of familial omniscience, AT&T has rolled out its aptly-named FamilyMap service for tracking signed-up phones from afar. Interestingly, any AT&T phone is supported -- if you're looking to track one that doesn't have GPS / AGPS, it simply falls back to less-accurate techniques like tower triangulation, which is better than nothing. Besides simply scouting your kiddies (or spouse, or whomever else agrees to your oversight) on a map, you can do cooler things like set up automatic emails or text messages to get location updates, track a swiped phone, and more. Sadly, your ability to spy is limited by the fact that AT&T periodically sends tracked phones text messages reminding them they've got Big Brother on their tail, but it's better than nothing. The first 30 days are free to try, then you're looking at $9.99 a month for up to two phones or $14.99 for up to five.

[Via Boy Genius Report]

If your smartphone came with a built-in GPS receiver, you can choose to just overlook Google's latest technology, but if your mobile is among the 85-percent (or so) out there lacking an integrated GPS module, listen up. The search giant has revealed new software (dubbed My Location) that enables non-GPS-equipped phones to be pinpointed within three miles of their actual location. Google is claiming that it can provide "neighborhood-level" data, and that pressing "0" while in the app will enable users to skip the task of entering in a starting address when looking up directions. Notably, the system is not set up to collect phone numbers or any other personal details, and for those still paranoid, it can indeed be switched off. Currently, the tracking database still has a few gaps to be filled -- namely locales in Europe and all of China / Japan -- but Google could very well use the location data to eventually provide targeted ads to those who use it.

[Image courtesy of TracyAndMatt, thanks to everyone who sent this in]

We know the pencil pushers, er, Excel gurus out there are already crunching numbers, mapping out routes, calculating the opportunity risk in ditching work entirely on Friday, and figuring if you'd rather wait for the next iteration, so here's one more asset to help you wrap your mind around an attack plan. AT&T's "Find a Store" feature now boasts a selection that enables users to find retail outlets nearby that will definitively stock iPhones, meaning that your strategy of misguiding your local "friends" to an empty store is likely to backfire. Additionally, an anonymous tipster has noted that current Cingular / AT&T customers who aren't yet eligible for a new contract can still purchase an iPhone, but it sounds like an extension to their current contract will be tacked if this does prove true. Enough chatter -- now, get back to your scheming.

[Thanks, Anonymous, image courtesy of Seattle Post-Intelligencer]

It's quite possible that you're at least somewhat familiar with Skyhook's ability to use WiFi in order to track down various objects, and while you've likely become desensitized to SiRF after seeing it in just about every GPS / NAV device ever produced, the two are teaming up to deliver a GPS / WiFi hybrid module for wireless carriers. Skyhook's WiFi Positioning System (WPS) will be getting a boost after inking a deal to get inside SiRF's Multimode Location Platform, which "promises to boost the availability and adoption of location-based services." The new duo will join ACCESS (among the throngs of others) at 3GSM next week in order to showcase the new technology, which is slated to provide a new level of accuracy by giving handsets the ability to find your way with two tracking protocols. Additionally, the inclusion of WiFi is said to help lock onto an initial signal much quicker than a typical standalone GPS receiver can, and if all goes as planned, we could see the hybrid technology alive and well in SiRF's Star III series of chipsets "later this year."

[Via GigaOM]