Tucked up in Yahoo's new mobile widget for putting all your online networking contacts in one place is a feature that will give customers the ability to track the physical location of any other oneConnect user - regardless of whether they are on their contact list.
"We even have a user in the audience this morning," said Marco Boerries, senior VP of connected life at Yahoo, during a live demonstration of the application as part of a keynote presentation at MWC in Barcelona.
Appearing on the big screen behind Boerries was a list of oneConnect Beta users, some that were on his contact list and others that weren't, along with their proximity in feet or miles depending on distance.
Boerries then sent a text message to the audience member that said, "I didn't know u were here," which was followed by a prompt response that read: "Haha! You found me! Now get back to your presentation!"
Whether or not it was staged is another matter, but using his handset he was also able to bring up a satellite image of the Fira from Yahoo Maps , which showed the approximate location of other oneConnect users dotted all over the conference centre.
Consumers will have the chance to play big brother to total strangers from Spring 2008, but before you panic, bury your mobile phone and become a hermit, Boerries said the location-tracking element of oneConnect is entirely opt-in.
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