Google’s new Maps play includes friend-finding feature: Others in the location-based services field include Loopt, BrightKite, Fire Eagle, MobiFriends and Tripit

Google Inc. is jumping headfirst into the location-aware social networking space.
The Internet titan unveiled Latitude, a Google Maps feature that allows users to share their location information and check the whereabouts of friends who opt to divulge that information. The offering is integrated with Google Talk, enabling users to update messages and profiles by voice, and supports text messages, instant messaging, e-mail and voice calls.
Users can control how much information they want to share and with whom, and Latitude is offered in 27 countries and 42 languages.
The feature is available on Android, BlackBerry, Symbian 60 and Windows Mobile, as well as through the site’s personalized iGoogle page, on a desktop computer. Latitude is being rolled out in a new “maintenance release” for T-Mobile USA Inc.’s G1 phones and Google hopes to release an iPhone version soon.
Latitude comes on the heels of Google’s move to shutter Dodgeball, an SMS-based location business the company acquired for an undisclosed sum in 2005. And it signals the firm’s entry to a market where a host of competitors are looking to couple social networking services with location-enabled features. Players include Loopt, BrightKite, Fire Eagle, MobiFriends, Tripit, Dopplr, Useful Networks’ Sniff and Pelago’s Whrrl, among others.