Google announced the release of Google Latitude this morning. It's the latest service in a string of enhancements to the Google Map service. 

The new service allows users to pinpoint the location of friends and family on a Google Map. The service is similar to the Loopt application available now on the iPhone and iPod touch.  Users can adjust their level of privacy from, not sharing their location, to allowing the service to automatically update their location.

For automatic location sharing users need to install Gears on their browser of choice. Without Gears installed, users can still manually update their location via the Latitude gadget on their iGoogle page.  

The service works on supported mobile devices with Google Maps and on computers via iGoogle.  The mobile application is available now for the G1, most BlackBerry devices, and a host of other phones. iPhone and iPod touch support is stated to be coming soon.

Like other Google announcements, the company has created a handy video--complete with a narrator whose friends are way too cool--that explains all the juicy details.