Google announced through its blog that the “Near me now” feature is live on iPhone and Android phones.
“Near
me now” was designed to address two user problems. First, to make it fast and easy to find out more about a place in your immediate
vicinity, whether you’re standing right in front of a business or if
it’s just a short walk away. For example, you may want to know what
other customers think about a restaurant before you go inside or what they have been raving about on the menu
before you order. By selecting the “Explore right here” option, you can
find out more about a place “right here” with just a few clicks..
Searching for popular categories of nearby places is simple. Imagine
that you emerge from the subway station and you want to grab a coffee,
but you don’t see a coffee shop around you. You can search for
all nearby coffee shops by using “Near me now”. To search other
categories of places not shown, “Browse more categories” provides
access to Google local search with more category choices.
“Near
me now” is currently available in the US for iPhone (OS 3.x) or
Android-powered devices with version 2.0.1 or later. You must first
enable location in order for “Near me now” to appear, and “Explore
right here” works only if the phone provides location accuracy within
approximately a city blockTo try it out go to Google.com in your iPhone or Android browser and clicking on “Near me now” once your location has been provided by your phone.