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One of the big topics on the news in Romania these days is related to a problem with the 112 emergeny services phone number. It appears that the emergency services are currently unable to trace the source of a mobile phone call so as to be able to promptly dispatch police, ambulance and fire department vehicles in situations when the caller is unable to provide them with any information about location or the nature of the emergency.
Mobile phone carriers will probably install the solutions necessary to fix this soon enough. If not for the good of their clients they will do it for their own good as there seems to be some EU regulation saying they have to. Imagine that!
Personally, I'm glad they'll do that, not necessarily because I will feel a whole lot safer, but because it means this will one day work in Romania as well.
I'm talking about Google Maps Mobile with My Location (beta)
Yes, it's Google Maps on your mobile, which in theory you could already use (if there were any detailed maps for Romania), with a neat new feature (which you can also already use if you have a GPS enabled phone). My Location enables you to find out where you are, using Google Maps and your mobile phone at the touch of a single button. And it works even if your phone is not GPS enabled by tracking down where you are in relation to the GSM towers you're connecting through. That's where the new technology they'll install for the emergency services comes in.
Read more directly on Google's page at the link above.
Thanks, Vlad, for the tip about this new feature.
P.S.: I know exactly who I have to buy this for as soon as it's fully functional
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